Jesus often used the idea of an earthly father to teach us about God. The disciples came and said, "Lord teach us to pray." He said when you pray, pray like this, "Our father which art in heaven."

One day when trying to convince His disciples God was concerned about their needs, He pointed out how they were taking care of their children's needs and He said, "If you, then being bad as you are, know how to give your children what is good for them, how much more will the heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" This teaching is not about the maleness of God but the personhood of God. God is a person and is best to be understood as a loving parent.

The text is probably Jesus' most famous parable. It's about God's love for sinners but it is set in the context of a loving, caring, forgiving, reconciling father. We know it best as The Prodigal Son.

Most of us have identified with the prodigal. We have had the restlessness of staying home. We have been to the far country - some are still in the far country. Some have come to their senses and experienced what it is like to come home to God.

This is salvation's story. This is about how God loves us even when we live in rebellion to Him and how when we come home, we find His love and forgiveness.

Helmut Thielicke, the great German pastor/theologian, wrote a book on the parables of Jesus. This is the first parable he writes about in his book, The Waiting Father. He says the parable is not so much about a rebellious child as it is about a loving father.

Today, imagine you are this father -- get inside his thoughts and feelings, examine his decision and action, listen to his words. Ask "What did Jesus leave out of the story you would like to know? Would you have done things differently had you been there?" Some of you have played the role of this father so you will be especially good at this.

What was your dad like? My dad was the youngest child in a large family. He was a mountain man, spent most of his life with a chew of tobacco in his mouth, raised hunting dogs and loved to go to the store where people gathered around the stove in winter or sat on the porch in the summer and visited. He was standing on the porch at the store when a tornado came through and ripped all the trees up in the valley. He became the community's authority on the power of the tornado.

What kind of relationship did you have with your dad? When I was younger, I was embarrassed about my dad. Most children go through a period when they are ashamed of their parents and don't want to be seen with them. That is normal. My dad was an introvert and was very uncomfortable in all social situations; he had not had the opportunity to go to school so he could not read or write as well as his children after they had been through the first or second grade. This was a source of embarrassment to him.

He was a very superstitious man with many mountain superstitions. Long before he died, I grew up enough to know and to appreciate him for the many things that were admirable -- understood his sensitivity, found joy in his sense of humor, took pride in what a dependable man he was and enjoyed his love of nature. We used to walk in the woods at the farm and he would carry a shovel. He had lived in Idaho where there wasn't any water so every time he found a spring, he thought he had discovered gold. It was a joy to be with him.