Moneyball, and the Father's Blessing

(No. 1 in a series on the 2011 Oscar Films)

There’s a scene in the Oscar-nominated film Moneyball that took my breath away. But hold that thought a moment....

This artfully crafted film starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, General Manager of the 2001 Oakland A’s, is much more than a sports story about baseball lore. “Converted” by his number-crunching sidekick, Peter Brand, (Jonah Hill), Beane chucks the conventional wisdom of the baseball sages to put together a team where money and status bow to passion and heart - and the question of someone's real worth is brought into focus.

We see it in one especially funny bit in the film when Billy, surrounded by his team of seasoned scouts, keeps asking “What is the Question?” over and over, while the “experts” feed him what it really takes to win: a right stance on the mound, a sweet-looking swing, and even a good face for TV. But as the story unfolds, Billy and Peter wonderfully seek out the “hopeless cases,” players that the rest of the world has ignored. As Brand puts it, it’s like a fielding a team on the “Island of misfit toys.” Not unlike what God does with the church, I thought – the God who delights in choosing the weak things to shame the strong.

But one of the sweetest scenes for me (you knew I’d get to it eventually), however, is when Billy is serenaded by his daughter Casey, played by Kerris Dorsey. Shy and reluctant and first, she gives in to her dad’s requests in the middle of the music store to sing out instead of just hum. Why? Because she longs to hear the words her father will say to her…that she is worth more to him than others, and that she is treasured and delighted in. She wants his blessing, and to know that she is not alone...

I’m just a little bit caught in the middle

Life is a maze and love is a riddle

I don't know where to go, can’t do it alone I’ve tried

And I don’t know why

I am just a little girl lost in the moment

I’m so scared but I don’t show it

I can’t figure it out

It’s bringing me down I know

I've got to let it go...

Watching Billy’s face as his daughter plays the guitar and sings to him is a wonder, and Pitt plays it perfectly. It’s a study of deep joy, and of awe - and yes, of pure delight. To hear her voice makes his own soul sing. There’s nothing more beautiful.  

The Father’s Blessing

The scene especially reminded me how we long, even ache, to hear our father’s blessing. A strong case can be made that ancient Jacob, that deceiver who conspired with his mother Rebekah to steal his father Isaac’s blessing, was plagued his whole life by repeated attempts to fill the “blessing void” inside him with another person. Maybe it's partly why it’s a breeze for him to work seven years to win his Rachel (that, and her beauty). And when he finally comes to that climactic scene of wrestling in the dark with God Himself (in the person of Jesus, I would suggest), what does he want? He says it himself:

“I won’t let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26)

Out of this wrestling, Jacob gets more than he bargained for - a limp, and a new name: Israel (which means, “he struggles with God”). Note well: It’s the 2 marks every believer will carry with them the rest of their lives.

The Singing Savior

This longing for a blessing during the “dark nights of the soul” needs a vision. It’s why I love the coronation scene at the end of The Lord of the Rings,The Return of the King. There we see the assembled throng, as Gandalf lifts high the crown of the new king and places it on Aragorn’s head. But what happens next is the real wonder. He opens his mouth, and begins to sing over his rescued people. We get the sense that in the back of Tolkein’s mind, Zephaniah 3:17 is resonating:

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."   

In this life, you and I will often find it hard to sing. At such times, we must remember this: someone else also wrestled in the dark – for you, and for me.

But why would he do it? Why would the God-man Jesus want to take this on, for rebels like us? As Tim Keller asks, “Really, what do you get the man who already has everything?” Jesus had his father’s blessing already–  but he put it all aside, choosing instead to be hung on a cross and forsaken – for you. Because you were the one thing he didn’t have. You were the “joy set before him,” his true Rachel. And when morning comes, he will sing over you!

In Moneyball, there’s a reason that Billy comes to a place of dissatisfaction. Yes, baseball has a certain romance – the ninth inning home run, the rare no-hitter. But a winning season, just like the accolades of this life, is all just so….temporary. Like us, Billy wants something more, something that will last.

So remember this: the father longs to hear your voice. He loves it. The Savior who wrestled for your blessing longs to bring it forth. And though he speaks to you now by Word and Spirit, one day your fading ears will come alive to a new voice – one that will sing over you with such beauty, your heart will melt in gratitude. Until then, know that in Christ, you have his blessing right now (see Eph. 1:3)... and then listen for his song of comfort in the night.

Note: The psalmist remembers, and sings his songs in the night (see psalm 77). In the painful night times of your life you may also ask the question he asked: “has his unfailing love vanished forever?” (77:8). Here is where you must also ask yourself, What am I really longing for? Pain relief only? And who (or what) am I trusting in as my “Blessing substitute”? See how the psalmist himself wrestles for his hope, as he reminds himself of the Gospel story: “With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph” (77:15).