This is one of those stories where, when we hear it, we imagine what it would have been like to have been there, with the disciples, in that locked room.
The story takes place on the day of resurrection. Early that morning, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene, but (according to John’s gospel) no one else had yet seen the risen Lord.
So the disciples were in varying states of belief and disbelief. They wanted to believe, yet were afraid to believe; afraid to get their hopes up; afraid of being disappointed yet again; afraid that those who killed Jesus might now come for them, since they were Jesus’ closest followers.
But then: Jesus himself appeared among them. It was true! He was alive!
After this, Jesus appeared to the disciples several more times, mostly to reassure them that he would always be with them, even to the end of time.
And then, the disciples—filled with the Holy Spirit—began a movement in Jesus’s name that would eventually become the largest religion in the world.
I don’t have much time today, so let’s quickly fast-forward to the turn of the 19th century. I was asked to talk today a little about the history of our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
At that time (a little over 200 years ago) in the Ohio River Valley region, life was still mostly rural. Each small town could support only one or maybe two Christian congregations, and, in those days, the dividing walls between denominations were sharp.
So if you were, say, a Presbyterian, in a town that only had a Methodist church, what could you do? They might let you attend, but they wouldn’t allow you to participate in the full life of the congregation, and they certainly wouldn’t allow you to receive communion.
This didn’t sit well with a number of people. Among them: Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander.
I’ve spoken before about Alexander’s frustration with having to present a token in worship in order to receive communion. He believed that participation in the Lord’s Supper shouldn’t be limited to only those of a certain denomination or congregation; it should be open to all Christians.
Here’s a quote by Alexander Campbell, which actually appears on page 338 of our hymnal: “But who is a Christian? I answer, everyone that believes in one’s heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the son of God; repents of one’s sins, and obeys him in all things according to one’s measure of knowledge of his will.”
Everyone who believes in Jesus and commits their life to him is a Christian; therefore everyone who believes in Jesus and commits their life to him should be welcome in the church, and welcome to participate in the Lord’s Supper—regardless of denominational background.
Alexander believed in this so strongly, that he helped start a group that aimed to be non-denominational: they called themselves “Disciples,” the most generic, non-denominational-sounding name they could think of.
Meanwhile, not too far away, a man named Barton Stone was entertaining similar thoughts. Stone gained prominence at a revival that took place in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, and later started his own movement.
Like Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone wanted his movement to be one that welcomed all Christians. Along with a few other ministers, he formed a new presbytery in response to disagreements with the larger denomination they were a part of, but later they dissolved that new presbytery, because they feared that it would become its own denomination… They didn’t want that.
They wrote a document called “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery,”
which said "we will that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large." That’s what they wanted: no denominations; just the body of Christ.
And they started calling themselves, simply, “Christians”--- the most generic, non-denominational-sounding name they could think of.
In 1832, these “Christians,” and Campbell’s “Disciples” came together. Their goal was not to start yet another denomination, for there were already too many of those.
Instead, they wanted a non-denominational church that simply followed the way modeled by Jesus’s disciples in the New Testament, in those years after the resurrection.
It was only five years after that historic, 1832 gathering of Stone’s followers and Campbell’s followers that William T. Major founded First Christian Church of Bloomington, something we’ll hear more about next week.
Needless to say, our movement did slowly and eventually evolve into a denomination, despite the intentions of our early founders. But we remain a denomination focused on Christian unity… and a denomination that welcomes everyone to the Lord’s Supper. “Christian Unity is our polar star,” as our early founders liked to say, and since they believed that creeds more often than not were used to exclude people, we have never recited creeds in worship nor used creeds as a test of fellowship.
A lot has changed over the past 200 years. We still look for inspiration to the New Testament and the acts of the apostles. But we also recognize that God’s spirit continues to work in us and among us, today, making us into a church for the modern age. We have grown and evolved theologically over the years, and we continue to grow and evolve and learn.
But one thing that hasn't changed is our desire to be a church that welcomes all who seek to follow Christ. And we continue to carry out our ministry, so that—as today’s scripture says—people may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, may have life in his name.
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