Third Sunday of Advent: Waiting for Messiah
In Samuel Beckett’s legendary play, Waiting for Godot , the two main characters Vladimir and Estragon wait endlessly for the arrival of the mysterious Godot. They wait and they wait, but Godot never comes. This play belongs to a class of literature knows as “theater of the absurd” because it deals with the seeming meaninglessness of life, leading characters to act in irrational and inexplicable ways. In our Luke 3 passage for this week, people are waiting on the Messiah. Some listen to John the Baptist and begin to wonder if John might be the one who is coming. John apparently hears what they’re thinking and tells them he isn’t the one they should wait for. Another is coming who is greater and more powerful than John. They should wait for him. John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; f...