Sermon Transcript: December 12, 2010 The Third Sunday of Advent The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin Readings: Isaiah 35:1-11; Canticle 15: (Luke 1:46-55); James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
From this morning’s Gospel reading, John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Are we there yet? When I was a child, each summer our family would load up the Buick and head off to our lakeside home for our summer vacation. Within 15 to 20 minutes of pulling out of the driveway, my sisters and I would start our annual chant, “Are we there yet?” Every few minutes, one of us would ask again, “Are we there yet?” This continued throughout what, for my parents, must have become a most tedious three-hour drive. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. Again, we hear lessons from scripture and our prayers echo the faith of the Church that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will come again. The early Church believed Christ’s return was imminent. But two thousand years have passed and Christ still has not returned. Are we there yet? The answer is a resounding, “No!” Why has Christ not returned? Like the early Christians and millions of others throughout the centuries, we continue to wait and some of us start to wonder, if Jesus really is the Messiah, why hasn’t he returned? Could we be wrong? Maybe Jesus isn’t the Christ after all. We call these kinds of questions “doubt.” And I have news for you this morning: it’s okay to have doubts.
From this morning’s Gospel reading, John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Are we there yet? When I was a child, each summer our family would load up the Buick and head off to our lakeside home for our summer vacation. Within 15 to 20 minutes of pulling out of the driveway, my sisters and I would start our annual chant, “Are we there yet?” Every few minutes, one of us would ask again, “Are we there yet?” This continued throughout what, for my parents, must have become a most tedious three-hour drive. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. Again, we hear lessons from scripture and our prayers echo the faith of the Church that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will come again. The early Church believed Christ’s return was imminent. But two thousand years have passed and Christ still has not returned. Are we there yet? The answer is a resounding, “No!” Why has Christ not returned? Like the early Christians and millions of others throughout the centuries, we continue to wait and some of us start to wonder, if Jesus really is the Messiah, why hasn’t he returned? Could we be wrong? Maybe Jesus isn’t the Christ after all. We call these kinds of questions “doubt.” And I have news for you this morning: it’s okay to have doubts.
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