WEBVTT 00:05.480 --> 00:06.730 - Well hello, friends. 00:06.730 --> 00:09.280 I'm Chaplain Kent Lundy, Wing Chaplain 00:09.280 --> 00:12.490 at the 181st Intelligence Wing in Terre Haute, Indiana. 00:12.490 --> 00:13.950 Even though I can't see you, 00:13.950 --> 00:18.253 I can picture you here on this virtual drill for December. 00:19.480 --> 00:24.480 So this is a brief Christian Protestant worship service. 00:24.630 --> 00:28.000 Certainly anyone is welcome to view this, 00:28.000 --> 00:31.220 but I am speaking and approaching this 00:31.220 --> 00:33.350 from my Christian perspective, 00:33.350 --> 00:35.860 and we're gonna talk a little bit about Advent 00:35.860 --> 00:38.700 and the season we're in now. 00:38.700 --> 00:41.090 So certainly I don't speak on behalf of the DoD 00:41.090 --> 00:43.510 or the Air Force or the Indiana Air National Guard, 00:43.510 --> 00:45.310 but I do speak from the heart, 00:45.310 --> 00:50.310 so all are welcome to participate in this act of worship 00:50.470 --> 00:51.880 in the Christian tradition. 00:51.880 --> 00:55.550 So to gather us together in worship 00:55.550 --> 00:57.510 here in this season of Advent, 00:57.510 --> 01:01.193 a familiar reading from Isaiah 9. 01:02.397 --> 01:06.880 "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; 01:06.880 --> 01:09.660 those who lived in a land of deep darkness, 01:09.660 --> 01:12.280 on them light has shined. 01:12.280 --> 01:14.210 You have multiplied the nation, 01:14.210 --> 01:16.630 you have increased its joy; 01:16.630 --> 01:18.360 they rejoice before you, 01:18.360 --> 01:20.573 as with joy at the harvest. 01:21.900 --> 01:26.900 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; 01:27.280 --> 01:29.600 authority rests upon his shoulders; 01:29.600 --> 01:34.130 and he is to be named Wonderful Counselor, 01:34.130 --> 01:39.130 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 01:39.640 --> 01:42.420 His authority shall grow continually, 01:42.420 --> 01:44.920 and there shall be endless peace 01:44.920 --> 01:47.710 for the throne of David and his kingdom. 01:47.710 --> 01:50.280 He will establish and uphold it 01:50.280 --> 01:53.340 with justice and with righteousness 01:53.340 --> 01:58.160 from this time onward and forevermore. 01:58.160 --> 02:02.490 The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." 02:02.490 --> 02:04.980 So it is with much rejoicing 02:04.980 --> 02:07.970 that we who walk in great darkness 02:07.970 --> 02:10.930 have seen a great light in Jesus Christ. 02:10.930 --> 02:14.950 And so we light this candle, this Christ candle, 02:14.950 --> 02:19.260 to remind us that without the Light of the World, 02:19.260 --> 02:22.530 we would continue to walk in darkness. 02:22.530 --> 02:26.040 And so as the days continue to get shorter and shorter 02:26.040 --> 02:29.400 and we have less and less light outside, 02:29.400 --> 02:33.100 may we tune our lives to the light of Christ 02:33.100 --> 02:35.300 within each one of us 02:35.300 --> 02:40.300 to find the meaning and purpose in this season of Advent. 02:40.660 --> 02:41.493 Let me pray. 02:43.380 --> 02:45.393 Gracious God, we gather together, 02:47.270 --> 02:48.633 virtually yet again, 02:49.750 --> 02:52.193 as members of the 181st Intelligence Wing, 02:53.310 --> 02:57.460 and I pray your blessing upon us as we gather in worship, 02:57.460 --> 03:00.933 to think together about what Advent means to us, 03:02.070 --> 03:05.840 about what this holy season of waiting and preparation 03:05.840 --> 03:09.093 can mean for not only ourselves today, 03:10.050 --> 03:12.963 but tomorrow and throughout this season. 03:14.460 --> 03:17.820 So meet us here in this simple act of worship. 03:17.820 --> 03:21.760 I pray this in the name of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, 03:21.760 --> 03:25.830 Mighty God, Everlasting, Prince of Peace, 03:25.830 --> 03:28.093 Jesus our hope and Lord, amen. 03:29.010 --> 03:30.190 Well, as you're probably aware, 03:30.190 --> 03:34.380 Advent starts the liturgical year. 03:34.380 --> 03:36.310 So in the church, in the Christian year, 03:36.310 --> 03:37.940 we mark time a little differently 03:37.940 --> 03:41.780 than in regular society, if you will. 03:41.780 --> 03:43.880 And so this season of Advent 03:43.880 --> 03:46.330 marks the beginning of our year, 03:46.330 --> 03:48.520 and Advent is a time of waiting, 03:48.520 --> 03:51.460 a time of preparation that you'll notice 03:51.460 --> 03:55.120 that we don't mark the beginning of our year together 03:55.120 --> 03:57.040 with the birth of Jesus. 03:57.040 --> 03:59.300 We mark the beginning with the announcement 03:59.300 --> 04:02.500 of Mary's pregnancy for Jesus. 04:02.500 --> 04:05.813 And so there is something sacred about waiting, 04:06.780 --> 04:11.780 something incredibly powerful about waiting well in hope. 04:11.880 --> 04:15.660 Now I'm a little confused when I look out the culture 04:15.660 --> 04:19.410 and try to take cues about waiting out from culture. 04:19.410 --> 04:23.950 Because on the one hand in culture, we hate to wait, right? 04:23.950 --> 04:26.070 We want instant gratification. 04:26.070 --> 04:29.130 We want our drive-through (fingers snap) now. 04:29.130 --> 04:31.180 We don't wanna have to wait, right? 04:31.180 --> 04:35.263 We want everything right here, right now, no waiting. 04:36.270 --> 04:38.230 But then on the other hand, 04:38.230 --> 04:43.230 I read about a recent restaurant opening in Colorado 04:43.570 --> 04:47.700 where people waited up to 14 hours 04:47.700 --> 04:49.810 for one sandwich. 04:49.810 --> 04:51.970 Friends, that is incredible 04:51.970 --> 04:55.430 to think about people waiting 14 hours 04:55.430 --> 04:58.570 for one little sandwich. 04:58.570 --> 05:00.310 So I don't get waiting. 05:00.310 --> 05:02.900 I don't understand it when I look to the culture. 05:02.900 --> 05:07.000 And so we need to look to our faith 05:07.000 --> 05:10.920 to understand how we can wait well in hope, 05:10.920 --> 05:13.630 on purpose, full of expectancy. 05:13.630 --> 05:17.110 And so we do that by looking at the story yet again 05:17.110 --> 05:21.440 of Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel 05:21.440 --> 05:23.180 found in Luke Chapter 1. 05:25.859 --> 05:29.520 "In the six month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God 05:29.520 --> 05:32.070 to a town in Galilee called Nazareth 05:32.070 --> 05:35.400 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, 05:35.400 --> 05:36.890 in the house of David. 05:36.890 --> 05:38.790 The virgin's name was Mary. 05:38.790 --> 05:39.910 And he came to her and said, 05:39.910 --> 05:43.687 'Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.' 05:43.687 --> 05:46.480 "But she was much perplexed by his words 05:46.480 --> 05:49.380 and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 05:49.380 --> 05:53.550 The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, 05:53.550 --> 05:56.140 for you have found favor with God. 05:56.140 --> 05:59.840 And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son 05:59.840 --> 06:01.870 and you will name him Jesus. 06:01.870 --> 06:03.280 He will be great 06:03.280 --> 06:05.900 and will be called the Son of the Most High, 06:05.900 --> 06:07.850 and the Lord God will give to him 06:07.850 --> 06:09.703 the throne of his ancestor David. 06:10.670 --> 06:13.200 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever 06:13.200 --> 06:16.447 and of his kingdom there will be no end.' 06:16.447 --> 06:19.430 "Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, 06:19.430 --> 06:21.907 since I'm only a virgin?' 06:21.907 --> 06:23.073 "Then the angel said to her, 06:23.073 --> 06:25.660 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, 06:25.660 --> 06:29.030 and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; 06:29.030 --> 06:33.980 therefore the child to be born will be holy 06:33.980 --> 06:36.260 and will be called the Son of God. 06:36.260 --> 06:41.180 And now, your relative in her old age has conceived a son; 06:41.180 --> 06:43.820 and this in the sixth month for her 06:43.820 --> 06:46.390 who was said to be barren. 06:46.390 --> 06:48.897 For nothing will be impossible with God.' 06:48.897 --> 06:53.290 "Then Mary said, 'Here I am, the servant of the Lord; 06:53.290 --> 06:56.097 let it be with me according to your word.' 06:56.097 --> 06:58.640 "Then the angel departed from her." 06:58.640 --> 07:01.680 This is the Word of God for the people of God. 07:01.680 --> 07:04.100 Thanks be to God. 07:04.100 --> 07:06.870 Well, when I think about waiting well, 07:06.870 --> 07:08.590 when I think about the difference it makes 07:08.590 --> 07:10.360 to be a person of faith, 07:10.360 --> 07:14.470 as a practitioner of being a follower of Jesus Christ, 07:14.470 --> 07:18.300 I think of three things we can learn from Mary's waiting. 07:18.300 --> 07:20.217 'Cause notice the story doesn't say, 07:20.217 --> 07:22.117 "And we hurried up to the birth." 07:23.200 --> 07:27.013 That there was still nine months of waiting for Mary. 07:28.230 --> 07:31.380 And so she did three things that I wanna highlight for us 07:31.380 --> 07:34.550 to maybe we can glean some insight from. 07:34.550 --> 07:36.810 The first thing, she inquired. 07:36.810 --> 07:38.330 She asked, "How can this be?" 07:38.330 --> 07:42.670 It's like, wait a minute, something doesn't compute here. 07:42.670 --> 07:45.623 That how can I be pregnant when I haven't been with a man? 07:46.860 --> 07:48.840 She inquired. 07:48.840 --> 07:52.870 And friends, I wanna suggest to us that we wait well 07:52.870 --> 07:57.210 when we question God, when we question ourselves, 07:57.210 --> 07:59.003 when we question in general. 08:00.096 --> 08:04.430 That there is power in wrestling with God like Jacob did. 08:04.430 --> 08:08.740 There is power in asking questions like Thomas did of Jesus. 08:08.740 --> 08:13.023 There is power in questioning, inquiring. 08:13.930 --> 08:18.563 And so friends, I wanna just lift up the power of questions, 08:19.470 --> 08:23.780 to think together that we deepen our relationship to God 08:23.780 --> 08:27.140 as we wait, as we question. 08:27.140 --> 08:31.923 So don't ever shy away from asking the deep questions often. 08:33.270 --> 08:35.610 The next thing she did is she conspired. 08:35.610 --> 08:37.990 She conspired with Elizabeth. 08:37.990 --> 08:42.720 That Joseph was off wherever, wasn't around. 08:42.720 --> 08:46.750 Legend has it that Mary's parents were not a support to her, 08:46.750 --> 08:49.340 and so she found support in Elizabeth, 08:49.340 --> 08:52.223 and so she waited with Elizabeth. 08:53.310 --> 08:57.103 Friends, there's a lot of woe to the world right now, 08:57.970 --> 09:02.970 and we cannot do this life by ourselves. 09:03.060 --> 09:05.260 No woman is an island. 09:05.260 --> 09:07.210 No man is an island. 09:07.210 --> 09:09.730 We were created for community. 09:09.730 --> 09:14.030 And so we wait well when we conspire with one another, 09:14.030 --> 09:17.400 when we share the weight with each other. 09:17.400 --> 09:19.230 We are made for community. 09:19.230 --> 09:21.730 And so I hope this Advent season finds you 09:21.730 --> 09:23.760 not only watching this video, 09:23.760 --> 09:26.840 but more importantly finds you in a church home, 09:26.840 --> 09:31.140 a community where you can learn and grow together 09:32.070 --> 09:36.280 because the Bible takes no note of an individual Christian, 09:36.280 --> 09:40.120 that we're only Christians together with each other. 09:40.120 --> 09:43.720 So Mary inquired, she conspired 09:43.720 --> 09:46.340 and then lastly, she inspired. 09:46.340 --> 09:50.973 She inspired to be her best self in that present moment. 09:51.900 --> 09:55.350 She said, "Here I am, serving the Lord." 09:55.350 --> 09:58.197 She didn't say, "Okay, God, hurry up, let's go, come on. 09:58.197 --> 10:00.640 "I want this baby to happen now." 10:00.640 --> 10:01.930 She didn't say any of that. 10:01.930 --> 10:03.320 She's like, "Here I am." 10:03.320 --> 10:05.500 She inspired to be her best self 10:05.500 --> 10:08.693 in the present moment she found herself in. 10:10.100 --> 10:11.930 Friends, friends, I get it. 10:11.930 --> 10:14.120 It's easy to think 10:14.120 --> 10:16.010 about all that we can't control right now, 10:16.010 --> 10:17.840 and we wanna rush through all of the things 10:17.840 --> 10:19.053 that we can't control, 10:20.130 --> 10:22.523 but we can control how we wait. 10:23.470 --> 10:26.680 And my hope and prayer is that we wait well. 10:26.680 --> 10:28.320 We wait in hope. 10:28.320 --> 10:30.033 We wait expectantly, 10:31.360 --> 10:36.113 knowing that we are about to give birth to new possibility. 10:37.340 --> 10:40.950 And so I wanna give you a moment of silence 10:40.950 --> 10:45.240 as you focus on this Christ candle's flame, 10:45.240 --> 10:48.590 to illuminate your way forward 10:48.590 --> 10:51.350 in waiting in hope and waiting well. 10:52.321 --> 10:55.571 (peaceful piano music) 11:08.780 --> 11:10.803 So friends, I hope you are encouraged, 11:11.741 --> 11:15.330 encouraged to wait well in this season of Advent, 11:15.330 --> 11:17.550 to let Mary be your example 11:17.550 --> 11:20.540 and challenge you and inspire you 11:21.440 --> 11:25.540 when you think about how she inquired, how she conspired, 11:25.540 --> 11:28.310 and how she inspired to be her best self. 11:28.310 --> 11:31.750 So let me pray for us as we go on our way 11:31.750 --> 11:33.773 to continue to wait well in hope. 11:35.750 --> 11:40.697 God of waiting, God of hoping, God of expectant potential, 11:42.750 --> 11:46.337 we pray that we would wait well in you, 11:48.500 --> 11:50.990 that we would bring our best self, 11:50.990 --> 11:55.620 to be fully present, to not wanna rush through this season, 11:55.620 --> 11:57.963 but to slow down, 12:00.320 --> 12:04.113 to mine each moment to its fullest potential, 12:05.310 --> 12:09.980 so that we can come to a true awareness 12:09.980 --> 12:13.933 of what's at stake in this time of waiting. 12:15.014 --> 12:17.910 So that when we come to Christmas, 12:17.910 --> 12:20.120 we can be ever so ready 12:20.120 --> 12:25.120 for Christ to be born again in us this year, 12:25.840 --> 12:27.753 now more than ever. 12:28.940 --> 12:33.940 I pray this in the name of the infant born king, 12:34.740 --> 12:38.173 Jesus, our hope and Lord, amen. 12:39.180 --> 12:40.333 Go in peace, friends.