Father's Day reflections on the cost of fatherhood

This Father’s Day, if you’re a father, grandfather, godfather or father-figure, you are carrying a great and sacred calling. Heaven takes notice. You are modelling the heart of God every time you show grace, speak truth, forgive freely. sebra/AdobeStock

As I was pondering Father’s Day, my mind turned—naturally—to Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:11-32. It’s famously known as The Prodigal Son but, let’s be honest, that title is a bit misleading. A more accurate title might be The Godly Father, The Waiting Father, or even The Good Father (which has a nice ring for a Netflix docuseries). Because at the heart of this story is not the rebellion of the son, but the radical, costly love of the father.Let’s consider three kinds of cost in this parable.

1. The cost of letting go

The parable opens with the younger son marching in and effectively saying, "Dad, I want my inheritance now." In essence: "You’re better off to me dead." It’s astonishingly offensive. In Middle Eastern culture, this would have been like punching your father in public, in front of the whole village, then demanding cab fare.And what does the father do? He lets him go.

The estate, ancestral land passed down through generations, has to be divided and liquidated. That would’ve been like a family selling off the farm, the business and the house all in one go, so that the youngest can blow it all on what the Bible calls "wild living".

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