On Feb. 6, 2003, Chris and I went to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.  We were surprised to discover that the speaker would be then National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleeza Rice.  You may remember that this speech was given 5 days after the tragic crash of the space shuttle Columbia resulting in the loss of all seven members’ lives, in the early years of the Afghanistan War and 1 ½ months before the US invasion of Iraq.  For Dr. Rice this was a chaotic time.  Her life was filled with decisions that would affect thousands – even missions – of people.  She gave testimony to how difficult those days were.  Dr. Rice is a Christian who grew up in a Presbyterian pastor’s home – in fact, in a family full of pastors.  In her speech, she remembered another turbulent time in her life when she had become the provost of Stanford University and had allowed her walk with God and her participation in church to move into the background of her life leaving her anchorless.  Here is a part of what she said:

       At Stanford when I was not attending church regularly…, something happened that I will always remember. One Sunday morning I was approached at the supermarket by a man buying some things for his church picnic. He asked me, “Do you play the piano by any chance?” I said, “Yes.” And he said his congregation was looking for someone to play the piano at their church. It was a small African-American church in the center of Palo Alto and I started playing there every Sunday. And I thought to myself, “My goodness, God has a long reach – all the way to a Lucky’s Supermarket in the spice section on a Sunday morning.” 

       The only problem was, it was a Baptist church and I don’t play gospel very well... I play Brahms. At this church the minister would start with a song and the musicians had to pick it up in whatever key he started it. I had no idea what I was doing. So I called my mother, who had played for Baptist churches, to ask her for advice. She said, “Honey, (when that pastor starts singing) you just play in the key of C and eventually they’ll all come to you.” And that’s true. If you play in C, the foundational key in music, people will come back. I have thought -- Perhaps God plays in C, and that’s why we can always seem to find our way back to Him when we turn to him -- sometimes in spite of ourselves.

       The make up of the audience was both Democrat and Republican – indeed, people from all over the world.  But all of us connected with what Dr. Rice was saying. We all have those times when the decisions before us seem overwhelming, when no decision we could ever make will please everyone (or even anyone), and when our work seems frenetic but purposeless.  In those times, we often cannot sleep.  Our minds race.  We’re unsure about how to move forward.  We need Someone to play in the key of C so that we can get things together and live lives that have purpose, direction and meaning.  I’m convinced that Jesus is the one – the only one -- who can do that for us. 

       And Colossians 1 makes that claim too.  The Apostle Paul uses several metaphors to make this point:

Metaphor #1:  From Chaos to Cosmos:  In v. 17, we see that Jesus is the one who holds all things together.  Using the language of the Genesis 1-2 creation account, the Apostle Paul reminds us of the way creation began with the world being “formless and void” (Gen. 1:2) and that through a very orderly and symmetrical process, God created a beautiful and orderly world.  According to Col 1:16, Jesus is the one through whom all things – and he goes to length to say “all” things – were created!!  And, the implication is that on a very personal level, Jesus is the one who can hold our otherwise chaotic lives together too.

       So, I’m guessing that some of you can relate to Dr. Rice’s life when there were so many things going on, you’ve worked hard, you’ve tried hard -- but things seem more chaotic than you had ever imagined.  Maybe your life seems to be like this set of electrical wires in Thailand.  (Show Thailand image.)  That pic forces us to ask, “Who could ever bring order out of that? 

       The message this second Sunday of Advent is that Jesus is the one who can hold your life together.  He can help you set priorities – and be patient in the midst of uncertainties.  Think of it this way:  In Jesus, all things in the universe hold together.  And, in Jesus, you and I can hold together too.

Metaphor #2:  From Darkness to Light:

        The Bible makes the claim in Col. 1:13 that this child born in Bethlehem is the king over all kings who can take us out of stumbling in darkness and into the light.  God the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 

       The language used here is of a powerful king who defeats and enemy and then transports people out of the enemy king’s rule and into a province under the victorious king’s control.  This happened all the time under Rome’s Caesars.  In fact, do you remember our studies in Philippians?  I pointed out that this is exactly how the city of Philippi was populated.

       In the context of Col. 1, the message is powerful.  Before Jesus’ sinless life and then death on a cross, there was no hope for us.  We were under the dominion of the world’s systems, our own imperfect flesh, and the devil.  V. 13 calls it “darkness” – and you know how hard it is to know where you’re going in the dark.  Jesus transports us into a whole new place in our lives – one in which we know the guidance of God.

       This is not to say that when we follow Jesus, we never feel like our lives are chaotic or that we’re never stumbling around in uncertainty.  There is a process in this movement toward order and light that starts with the willingness to trust that God knows where he’s taking us even when we don’t know – and the He is trustworthy.

       During a Billy Graham Center Board meeting this past October, Dr. Lon Allison told us about how he had climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania this past August.  Show Pics.  Lon said they went to the camp from where they would start at night.  After only a few hours of sleep, the guide, woke them up in the darkest part of the night to start the climb.  This made no sense to Lon and he asked the guide about it.  The guide only told the climbers to trust him.  Lon said the climb was even worse than he had anticipated (and he is a man who is very fit).  But, after a grueling journey, they arrived at the top.  Still, Lon couldn’t understand why they had started at night so he asked the guide again.  The guide only said, “We have learned that if people can see the challenges and dangers ahead of them, they will not go.  But after they arrive, they are thrilled that they did.  So we go through the night and ask you to trust us to bring you safely to the desired destination.”

        Much of our progress in growing to have these lives that are “held together” fully– feels like that.  But, in our text, the Bible gives us three clear words for us as we take the journey:  learn, live, and remember.   Paul lets us know it begins where the Bible always says that a transformed life begins, i.e., in the mind.

#1:  Learn – how your Maker wants you to live.  We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives… (1:9).

        The relationship between knowing and living is pervasive in Scripture.  We cannot live well if we have never learned how the Maker of life designed us how to live.  The Bible says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. I used to travel to seminary with a dear friend, John Mackett.  When we would have to take a test he would always say,  “I hate objective tests.  They force me actually to know things.  I like essays.  Then I can write and write whether I know anything or not.  Don’t bother me with the facts – just let me write.”  John was joking when he said that – but I do believe many people think they can live that way.

       According to the Bible, if we just go out and live hard and work hard without knowing how God would have us live, we will have a chaotic life.  Dr. Robert Walls of Seattle Pacific University has written, The biblical illiteracy that characterizes so many clergy and congregations today is largely responsible for 1) a church that seems powerless to a watching world, and 2) lives among church people that are indistinguishable from the world.

       This relationship between learning and living is captured in the word wisdom – found here in v. 9.  It is life consistent with the ways and character of God.   The Bible says we must take time to learn so we might know what the will of God is – in contrast to the ways of the world or the demands of our own human nature.

       How are you going to be able to be “filled by” (or, directed by) the knowledge of God’s will?  Let me give you some pastoral suggestions:

*Be a perpetual student of the Word of God – Read it on your own.  If you’re in a small group, make sure it’s one that focuses in Scripture.  Make sure you are in a church where the Scriptures are taught – no matter what else is true of it.  Get a Bible version on your phone or on Books on Tape.  Get it on your I-pod and listen while you’re running.  Keep listening for God’s voice in his Word.

*Worship with brothers and sisters  -- This is what Dr. Rice knew.  She knew that we learn to walk with God as we walk with others.  It’s not just Jesus and me but it’s Jesus and us!  And when you show up with your brothers and sisters in church at a service like this one, and our Father’s Word is opened, you will discover what I discover over and over – our Father speaks to us together in ways sometimes much clearer than when we are on our own.

*Find Counsel in Christ-centered community – In addition to the larger church gathering, make sure you have a few people who will look at Scripture with you on a regular basis.

*Take time to be guided by God’s Spirit – comes through prayer and experience of life with God.  Notice Paul’s words in v. 9:  Through all the wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives.  Take time to stop and listen when you study Scripture and pray.  I can only tell you that the Spirit will guide you into truth – but you must have some times of silence with him – time to hear his sometimes still voice saying, “This way or that.”

#2:  Live – with your single desire being to please God.  We pray thisso that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way… (1:10).

       Let me say that this is the intentional commitment that takes us from the chaos and frenetic activity of this world into an ordered and purposeful life.  If we try to please everybody, we will be driven back and forth by the winds of their ever-changing wishes.  If we simply try to please ourselves, we will go up and down depending on our mood or vacillating motives or our own sinfulness.  We have a single fear in this world – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  And we have a single desire that trumps all others desire, i.e., to please God.  And, how many times have I said it:  Putting God first in our lives does not harm other relationship – but strengthens them.  When first things are put first, second things are not diminished but enhanced (George MacDonald).   

       What drives us and focuses us is our longing to please him.  As Pastor Jeff Liou says, “This is not simply asking what will God allow but what will please him.”  If we just ask, “What will God allow?”, we’ll still find ourselves playing ceaseless video games or spending our money in frivolous ways.  But, if we ask, “What will please God?”, our lives will be completely transformed and re-ordered.

       And may I show you that the Bible says this will be a great way to live?  Knowing God’s will and seeking to please him is an energized life.  We don’t have time to chew on how great the Apostle Paul says it is but simply looking at his words will give us the heart of it.  According to vv. 10b-12, we will:

• Bear fruit in every good work,
• Grow in the knowledge of God (these first two phrases are from Gen. 1:28 and many other OT passages in which God tells us the lives he has made us to have – “bear fruit and grow”), 
• Be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, and
• Give joyful thanks to the Father.

       When I say Jesus will order your life, I’m not saying it will be a life of routine or uniformity.  No, it will be a life of daily adventure as you seek to see people as God sees people, represent God in a worthy way, tell others about him, work in a way that brings glory to the Lord.  Every day is new.  It’s not like a picture I was shown of new-fangled pumpkins.  Place image of pumpkins here.  As Beth Randolph suggested to me via email last week, “Following the child of Advent leads to an adventure.”  Amen.  But, it’s an adventure with a sure destiny for we are following the one who “hold’s all things together.”

       Just look at those four phrases in vv. 10-12 one more time.  This is, as Dr. Rice put it, “God playing in the key of C.”  This is our Father telling us today that if our lives seem chaotic – if we feel like we work hard but there is no purpose to it – if it seems that we’re stumbling in darkness trying to discover what we’re made for – then take a look again at this child born in a manger.  Fix your eyes on Jesus.  “In him all things hold together.”

#3:  Remember -- so that you might be grateful and recommitted to pleasing him.  God the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins… (1:13-14).

       The point today is that we were made to live in right relationship to God.  When God is truly God in our living, then our lives are no longer chaos but cosmos.  But we must go on this journey of faith with him – growing in our knowledge of him and his will, intentionally living with our desire being to please him.  But, let’s face it, we mortals will constantly be drawn to wanting first and foremost to please ourselves – that’s our bent.  You need to be here today and I do too.  We need to remember our deep need of God’s grace and ongoing forgiveness.  We dare never forget what it costs to redeem us – to forgive us!  As 1 Peter 3:18 puts it, Christ suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.

       So, we will remember together as we go to the Lord’s table together. 

For communion today, ushers will be dismissing you row by row (starting with the front) to avoid a traffic jam.  Take your advent response cards to the communion tables in the middle of the cross aisle instead of towards the front.  Baskets will be on the table for you to place your cards in as you take the communion elements.  If you are physically unable to come forward, raise your hand, communion servers will bring the elements to you.  The balcony has it easy and can pretty much figure out where the communion tables are.