They say it happened in Spain. There was a father and a son who did not get along. Who knows why, perhaps the father was over bearing. Maybe the son was arrogant and thought he knew everything. Maybe both of them were full of pride. For whatever reason, their relationship was so estranged that it broke. The son left home.

After a time the father went in search of his son. He really did love him. He looked every where. He searched for months and did not find him. Finally, in desperation, the father took out an ad in the newspaper in hopes that his son would read it. His ad simply read, "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper at noon Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father."

Can you imagine the anguish of that father? There was a grievance between him and his son and all he wanted to do was to forgive him. Of course the question was, would he come?

Saturday arrived and the father went with great expectation to the newspaper building. On that Saturday, 800 young men named Paco showed up looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers (In Other Words, Jan/Feb 1993, 6).

We have a built in need for a father. I miss my father, even if he had a perverse sense of humor. It was the kind of humor that says, "Son, hold this wire while I pull the starter on the lawnmower." You know what happens, a jolt of electricity shoots through your arm and your elbow feels as if it will jump out of the socket. And he falls on the ground laughing. But, the story does not end there. We were working under the hood of a 1964 GMC pickup truck. The truck is not running well, so my dad does a kind of diagnostic. "Son, we need to see if the engine is getting fire. Hold that sparkplug wire and see if you get a spark." Well, I am smart, I remember what happened with the lawnmower. So, I use a pair of pliers. But, you know what happened? It’s that same old feeling of electricity shooting up my arm throwing my elbow out of socket. And, of course he laughs. And I learn a lesson never to be forgotten. When you hold a live sparkplug wire, use rubber handled pliers.

In spite of his sense of humor, I still miss him. He shaped my life and instilled in me a sense of who I am. We all need a father. But, I think our need for a father is more than the physical need of a provider or an emotional need of one who shapes our character and instills in us a sense of self identity. I believe there is a still deeper level where we have our greatest need for a father. However, no human father can ever meet that need. It is at the center of our soul, it is a spiritual need. We have a need for a heavenly Father.

God revealed himself to us as Father. I think that God made us with this driving need for a father so that we may seek him. Jesus makes God known to us. In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, Jesus said that God is like a shepherd who goes and looks for a single lost sheep. He is like a woman who searches high and low for a lost coin. But the parable that is the longest and perhaps richest tells us that God is like a Father.

A certain man had two sons. We need to understand that this is a family parable. It is about a family. It is about God’s people. God is not the father of mankind, he is the father of his people. So, as we begin to think of this parable, bear in mind that this is a family story.

All of us have fathers. That father may be the most loving person in the world or he may have abandoned you at birth or may have been a rapist or a ship that passes in the night. But we all have a father. What kind of father is God? Is He anything like human fathers?

I call God the prodigal Father. The word "prodigal" means recklessly extravagant, lavish, yielding abundantly, luxuriant. This exactly describes the father. He is a wealthy man and has more than provided for his sons. He was easy going because the youngest son felt he could go and make unreasonable demands on his father.

This father is highly tolerant. If I had gone to my father and implied that I could not wait until he died so that I could have my share of the estate, he would have slapped my teeth down my throat. Yet, we find no such reaction. You know he had to be deeply hurt at the rebellion of his son. Yet, he gives him what he wants.

occasionally, good fathers let us learn the hard way. God lets us go our way. Sometimes we wrestle with life issues, we know what God wants but we also know what we want. We think we win over God. We violate our conscience and act as if God has given us his ok. In reality, God lets us go. He lets us have our way so that we may learn the lesson the hard way.

But, our Father not only tolerates us and lets us go, he waits for us. As we read the text, we get the impression that the Father does not take his eyes off the horizon. As he works, as he tends to his flocks and to his servants, his eye is always ready to catch a glimpse of his son returning home. This tells us a lot about the heart of God. His love is intense and deep. He does not forget his children even the disobedient ones. One day the father sees the son coming home. He had been watching. He saw the dust swirling on the ancient road. It was the walk of a man beaten down by life dragging his destroyed pride behind him. He was filthy, barely clothed, and yet, his father knew him. This Father takes up his robes and he runs to meet his son. This is dramatic because older men did not run, it was a matter of dignity.

Now we see the abounding grace of the Father. At the first words of repentance, he puts his arms around him, dresses the ragged son in royal robes, and he places the ring of sonship on his finger. He quickly places shoes on his dirty, bare feet. He restores him as only a recklessly extravagant Father can. He calls for the fatted calf to be killed and throws a party. Some say that the Father kept the fatted calf on hand because he knew his son would return.

Our father is full of joy and grace. The very minute that the arrogant, sinful son returns, he restores him to sonship and celebrates because his beloved has come home.

That’s our God. He loves us as no one else can even when we are totally unlovable. His love sometimes means letting us go to wander into the far country so that we may learn the hard lessons. We flee his reckless extravagance thinking that over the hill, in the next town, in the next lifestyle, there is something more fulfilling, more exciting. Yet he never stops loving us. He waits for us, and when we return, he is watching and meets us in great joy and celebration. He is our Heavenly Father.

This one whom we call Father, whom Jesus said we can call Abba Father, is no less than the righteous King, the creator of the universe, the Holy One.

It is He who gives the sun for light by day and the moon and stars for light by night, and stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (Jeremiah 31:35). He is clothed with splendor and majesty, covering himself with light as with a cloak. God stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters and He makes the clouds His chariot. He walks upon the wings of the wind and He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. He established the earth upon its foundations so that it will not totter forever and ever. Our Father covered the earth with the oceans as with a garment. The waters were standing above the mountains and at his rebuke they fled. At the sound of His thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which He established for them (Psalm 104:1-8).

Our God is clothed in majesty and splendor and righteous. At the very sound of his voice the earth trembles. He breaks the bow and causes war to cease. There is no One like Him. He is our Holy God, our Creator and Our Lord. And He is our Father, a Father who waits for His children to come home.

What a patient God he is! What love and grace he shows! How awesome is our God! How awesome are his ways! How awesome is our Redeemer and Savior! How awesome is Our Father who loves us and waits for us to return!