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Every parent who has children approaching or into the early teenage years knows that the day of reckoning is coming. The day of which I speak, of course, is the day when the once compliant, cooperative little girl or boy becomes the defiant young adult. Many a parent among us waits with bated breath for the day to arrive. Not a few of us wonder how we are going to handle those times when our desire to care for and love our children openly clashes with our children’s quest for a separate identity from us and their search for independence. It is curious that the whole topic of childrearing and surviving the middle and late adolescent years of our children should intersect with our first lesson today. The picture of our God which we see in this lesson is the picture of a God trying to be the loving parent to children who are just bound that they are going to go their own way. “When Israel was a child, I loved him… But the more I called him, the more he turned away from me… I took my people up in my arms, they did not acknowledge that I took care of them.” Doesn’t it sound like God was trying to parent teenagers here? In fact, the people of whom the prophet Hosea is speaking as he speaks the message of God are all adults, grown people, parents, people who themselves were the merchants, the shepherds, the priests, the leaders -- all people who should have long ago lived through these testing years. But, no, now even they are acting like immature adolescents. What’s up? Who is grown up and who still has some growing up to do? Amy is 16. Earlier this year she had the wonderful thrill of taking driver’s education and passing her driver’s test. At the same time her parents sat down with her and talked about the responsibilities of driving. They agreed that Amy, who had recently gotten a part-time job, would have use of one of the family’s automobiles. She would pay for her own gas and insurance and help with the upkeep of the car she was driving. A few weeks later Amy had her first “fender bender.” It really wasn’t her fault, so Mom and Dad did all they could to help her not feel so badly about it. They got the car fixed and said, “Let bygones be bygones.” Then after Amy had been driving three months, she let one of her boyfriends drive her car and he wasn’t as good a driver as Amy. The boy’s family paid to have Amy’s car fixed, but Mom and Dad were pretty upset. They had specifically warned Amy not to let any of her friends drive her car at any time without their permission. Five months later Amy had yet another accident. She was late for work and in her hurry, didn’t look both ways at the intersection and pulled into the path of a car which had the right of way. Fortunately no one was injured, but there was major damage to both cars and Amy was cited by the police. Amy’s Dad became very upset when he learned what had happened. To vent some of his own frustrations and disappointments, he yelled at Amy when he met Amy at home after the accident. Amy was already feeling really bad about what had happened. But her father wanted to “teach her a lesson.” Even as he lectured her, he had an inner, uncomfortable feeling that it was just not right. God came face-to-face with a people who were set on doing it their own way. They were just sure that they could do it much better than any way God’s laws would teach them to live. So they did -- again, again and again. There had to be limits on what God would let his wayward people do. Like a loving parent of teenagers, God had set limits. At times past he had punished his people because they did not follow what he had taught them. Now again he was being tested. “They insist on turning away from me. They cry out because of the yoke that is on them…” What was God to do? It was clearly time to act. Was it time for a new revelation of his anger? Was it time to “teach his children a lesson they wouldn’t forget?” No, no, no! God couldn’t do it. “My heart will not let me do it,” he says, “my love for you is too strong.” So instead of blurting out his anger, God waited. He waited for the moment that his wayward people would turn and recognize him for the God who had created them, given them life and guided them every step of their lives insofar as they would let him do so. It wasn’t even a week after Amy’s Dad had unleashed his anger upon Amy for her accident that he himself was in one, too. He too was at fault and was cited by the police. When he came home that night, he could not even bear to look Amy straight in the eye. He didn’t know what to say. Amy said it. She came over and put her arms around him and simply said, “I love you, Dad. It’s tough to be a parent sometimes, isn’t it?” “Amy,” he said, “I noticed in my last insurance billing that they are offering a refresher course on defensive driving. How about if we go take it together?” They both smiled and shared another hug. God very much wants to be a soft-touch God. Recall that softness of a bath towel when you step out of the shower on a brisk morning. Oh, how much our own hearts yearn for the soft touch of God when we have been the wayward ones. And that, we must confess, happens more times than we would like it to be. Several times a week at least, if it isn’t several times a day. We can say at least two things about the soft-touch God we encounter here in Hosea. One is that there really is a difference between God being our father and our own desire to be good parents to our children. We can certainly learn from God, but time and again our emotions will prevail and we as parents and children will say and do things which hurt one another. We need more of God’s good example. We also need his ever-present forgiveness. And we have it. As often as we seek it, he is already there waiting to forgive us and show us his mercy. Second, the softness of God of which we speak really is not like any softness we know. God himself confirms that, “For I am God and not man. I, the Holy One, am with you. I will not come to you in anger.” There are no better words than these for those of us who are parents who desire to be loving parents and discipline out of our love. There are no better words for those of us who are children becoming adults who want so much to find our own identity and have our own independence and, yet, always have as one of the strongest ties of our lives, love for the ones who have given us life and brought us to the day when we can take our own wings and learn to soar. We all need a soft-touch God and we have one. Amen.