"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

         In chapter one of Colossians, we notice that Paul writes to this church in a very affirming and positive way. These were people of faith, hope and love. He tells them that the Gospel they received is bearing fruit all over the world (verse 6) and that they also are bearing fruit (verse 10.) Although he does not use the phrase "rooted in Christ," I chose it for the sermon title today because it is clear from what he says that we bear fruit when we are in Christ.

         Paul begins his letter with affirmation, then moves to prayer that they may lead worthy lives characterized by fruit-bearing, and then turns to a description of Christ, who has qualified them, rescued them, brought them into his kingdom, redeemed them and forgiven them. Also in the message of chapter 1, we are aware of an undercurrent of an obstacle to faith, a philosophy that is opposed to the Gospel. It is not yet described, so we will wait a few weeks to talk about what it might be. But for now we see that there is a reason why he calls them to focus on Christ and to establish their lives in him.

         A few weeks ago I saw Jim Sundholm, the director of Covenant World Relief. Once again he expressed thanks for the work this church did at Kingdom Covenant in Miami to replace some roofs lost in Hurricane Wilma. In fact he had just talked to Pastor Ed Carey at the Covenant annual meeting, who had again expressed appreciation. Then Jim told me part of the story that I must admit I had not heard, or maybe I forgot it. After Katrina hit, Kingdom Covenant sent a group of volunteers to Louisiana to help in the clean-up. In so doing, they used up all their benevolent funds and depleted their financial reserves. But when they got home, Wilma hit them, and they were left without the means to do the repairs. So when our group teamed up with Covenant World Relief to replace the roofs, it was as if God refilled what had been emptied by their act of sacrificial giving and love. It became for them more than receiving help from a church from up north; it became for them an experience of the grace of God, that He cares and provides for those who do his will. It was a filling up of grace. So often God uses his people to be channels of his grace.

         Then Jim told me one other thing. Of all the churches he worked with in that time, churches that sent teams of people to help in the hurricane restoration, he has found that the sending churches have experienced reconciliation in their own church family. Where people were at odds with each other, where there was a lack of forgiveness, where there were arguments about small matters, God worked to bring peace. Some of these stories are really quite dramatic. God seemed to fill up something that was lacking in these churches with his grace.

         One more story of grace. I call it "Grace Thursday." We still own our home in Mt. Vernon, and so we went to check on it and thought we would focus on the yard work. But when we got there we discovered that things had grown up significantly more than we expected, and so we had a few days of work to do. On Thursday morning we got started about 7 a.m. When the morning walkers in the neighborhood came by, one couple from the church was among them. Glen said, "I'll bring my trailer over and you can put all the clippings and prunings in it, and I will take it to he composting station tomorrow."

         Another walker that we knew well came by and was surprised to see us. She told us of some family concerns. It seemed that through the day people stopped to offer help, give us water, provide lunch, but also to tell us what was happening in their lives. We learned of several illnesses. Now we can pray for them.

All day this went on. Grace Thursday. Unmerited favor. I had not asked for it. I did not tell people we were going to be there. It was all quite humbling, really, to be loved in such a way. It seemed to me to be the gift of God through his people. I was quite moved by it. As the day went on I began to sing in my heart,

"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful . . . is my Savior's love for me."

The experience of grace. The filling of what is half-full, the completion of something begun.

         Paul writes to people of faith and love. These are folks who have known grace, received it, been humbled by it, overwhelmed by it, surprised by it. They do not simply receive it, but give it away; their hearts and lives overflow. Now in their church life they are being threatened by some type of "philosophy." Yet they remain firm in their faith. They seem at once vulnerable, but at the same time they are choosing to love. They are not becoming anxious or controlling or harsh as they face this threat. They are choosing faith in Christ, hope in his return, and they are expressing love to each other.

         What does Paul say to them? He speaks to them about Jesus Christ. He wants to fill them up, to strengthen them, to complete their faith. In doing so he chooses to use words that are not familiar to me. He says Christ is "the image of the invisible God," and "the firstborn over all creation." He uses words like "thrones," "powers," "rulers" and "authorities." These are not easy concepts to understand.

         Then he says that Jesus is the "head of the church" and "the firstborn from the dead": "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." And finally he talks about "mystery."

         All that would be a lot to explore in detail. We could quickly summarize and say in David Garland's words, that in Christ

         "we see who God is, what God is like and what God does."

         "Christ sustains the universe, and keeps the cosmos from becoming a chaos."

         "Christ is the mediator of creation, the victor over the powers, and Lord over all God's created order."

         Today I want us to focus on just one of the descriptive phrases of Christ, - "the fullness of God dwelling in him."

         In verse 20 we see that it is this fullness of God that brings reconciliation and peace, and that it works through the cross. The Creator of all things in heaven and earth is the redeemer.

         When we read further we discover that when we encounter the fullness of God in Christ, we experience a filling up, a completion in our lives. If we live half-full, or partly rooted in Christ, or if we live with shallow roots in Christ, content with a surface, undeveloped relationship, then we are not able to confront philosophies that threaten our faith; we are indeed prone to wander into living in the ways of the world, we react to people out of our anxiety or out of old patterns of self-protection so that we are unable to choose love.

         The fullness of God in Christ is then vital to our living by faith. What is it? One Bible dictionary explains that for Paul, this word "fullness" means the totality of God with all his powers and attributes.          David Garland explains that the word means that God does not dwell in Christ part -ime or in a partial way. "God chooses to dwell fully and permanently only in Christ. Christ supplants the temple as the dwelling place of God."

         We meet God in Christ. We experience God through the redemptive power of Christ on the cross. The cross shows to us the fullness of God's love. When we experience the fullness of God's love in the cross of Christ, there is no need for something more, some additional teaching or ritual or wisdom. The fullness of God is found in Christ.

         Garland says, "Therefore, the Colossians need to be planted ever more deeply in the faith they had received." I'm not sure if Garland is a very good gardener or farmer. I don't think it is always wise to plant the seeds more deeply. I think the issue is one of roots. It is the roots that need to go more deeply into the good soil. We need to grow the roots of our lives deeply into Christ, to be firmly and completely attached to the fullness of God we find in him.

         This is where the reading from Hosea comes in. Hosea marries a prostitute, one who wanders, whose history has not been formed by faithfulness. When she leaves him and wanders, he goes and seeks her and takes her again as his bride. This is symbolic of God's relationship to his wandering people. This is unmerited favor, it is deep love.

         So we have this tendency to wander, to be blown around like tumbleweed in the wind. And God invites us, seeks us, and draws us again to himself. He says, "Grow your roots deeply into me."

Find a life of faithfulness in Christ.

Believe with all your heart.

I will fill you with my complete love.

I will show you what it is to live with deep roots in Christ.

You will learn who is the source of your renewal when you are weary.

You will be instructed in speaking more freely of the Savior.

You will be bold to express love, and to trust God's love more than your own anxiety.

You will hold more firmly to the Cross.

         Amen.