Watch this. Three minutes. Then three questions below it.
Ray Kinsella spent his life running from his father. He thought he was running from a stubborn old man. He was running from the fact that he never resolved what was unfinished between them. The whole movie is a man building a baseball field in a cornfield in Iowa for reasons he cannot explain. At the end he understands. The reason was the ten-second exchange at the end. Hey Dad. You wanna have a catch?
That sentence is what most men are still trying to say.
The catch you never had. The trip you never took. The conversation that never happened. The “I'm proud of you” you waited thirty-seven years to hear.
Some of you can still have that conversation. Pick up the phone today. Drive to the house this weekend. Don't wait until the ground is frozen and the chance is gone.
Some of you cannot. He is dead. Or he is too sick. Or he made it clear that the door is closed. For you, the conversation has to happen with the only Father you have left. Romans 8 says the Spirit you received does not make you a slave again to fear. By Him you cry “Abba, Father.” Abba is not a formal address. It is what a small boy yells across the yard.
Field of Dreams (1989) was directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the W.P. Kinsella novel “Shoeless Joe.” The catch scene at the end was added during filming because Robinson realized the entire movie had been about Ray and his dad, but they had never told the audience that explicitly. James Earl Jones' “people will come” speech got the press, but the catch is the heart of the film. It is the moment the man finally has the boy's conversation he was supposed to have at twelve.
Romans 8 was written by Paul late in his ministry. He had spent decades unpacking what it meant for a Gentile to be adopted into the family of God. The word “Abba” is Aramaic. It is what Jesus called the Father in the garden of Gethsemane. By using it here, Paul is saying that the same intimacy Jesus had with the Father is now offered to you. Not “Lord” only. Not “God” only. Abba. The voice a child uses when he is sure he will be answered.
Ray's father had to die before Ray could understand what he had lost. Most men do this in reverse. They wait until the man is gone and then carry the unfinished thing for the rest of their lives. The gospel is that even if it is too late with your earthly father, it is never too late with the Father who adopted you. The catch you never had is offered every day. Sit with it. Throw the ball. He will throw it back.