The Waiting Father: Sermons on the Parables of JesusThe Waiting Father is a collection of sermons by Helmut Thielicke, the great German preacher and theologian, which offer deep insights into the spiritual message of Jesus's fifteen major parables. They were originally preached in Michaelskirche, Hamburg, in the mid-1950s. Thielicke approaches the parables in novel ways. In treating the prodigal son, for instance, he concentrates more on the loving father than the rebellious son, emphasising the centrality of forgiveness. Similarly, when discussing the pharisee and the publican he shows that the publican is guilty of spiritual pride and arrogance, drawing attention to the dangers for the faithful. Both among expositions of the parables and among books for preachers, The Waiting Father stands in a class of its own. Great scholars are usually poor preachers, and great scholars are rarely good preachers, but Thielicke manages to combine distinguished scholarship with fine preaching. |
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actually become begin called child Christian church comes comfort conscience dare dark denarius disciples dishonest steward divine elder brother eternal everything eyes fact faith Father Father’s house feel fellow forgiveness give God’s Gottfried Benn grace grow hand happen hear heart heaven hell Helmut Thielicke hour human Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth kind kingdom kingdom of God Last Judgment Lazarus light live longer look Lord mammon marriage matter Matthias Claudius means merely miracle moral purchasing mystery neighbor never numbers once one’s ourselves parable parables of Jesus peace perhaps person Pharisee pious poor pray prayer prodigal son publican question religious repentance rich Saviour seed seed growing secretly servants simply soul sowed speak spiritual stand story strange suddenly surely tell thing thought turn understand vinedressers vineyard waiting weeds whole words