A Very Short Sermon on Disciples History (John 20:19-31)

 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.

A Movement for Wholeness (Matthew 5:13-20)

This is the third time I’ve had the opportunity to preach on Scout Sunday here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and it is indeed one of life’s highlights for me. I think of both the church and scouting as two different families to which I belong, two different families that helped make me who I am, and it is so neat for me to have those two families join together each year on the first Sunday in February.


The past two years, I know I mentioned, if only briefly, about how certain experiences in scouting helped shape my faith. I’m sure all of you who were here last year and the year before on Scout Sunday remember those sermons very well. Word-for-word. You’ve got the notes at home, and you read them every day. Right?

Today, I’m going to do something a little different. Since a number of you are guests with us today, I thought I’d spend some time talking about who we are as a church, what kind of church we are, and so on.

We are, as you know, Bixby Knolls Christian Church. We are in covenant with almost 4,000 congregations in the United States and Canada which, collectively, are known as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It’s a long, awkward name, especially with the parentheses, so we often refer to ourselves as just “Disciples,” for short.

The Disciples began two hundred years ago in the Ohio Valley. Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander – Scottish immigrants to America – were frustrated with the fierce denominationalism of the time. In those days, the Methodists hated the Presbyterians, the Presbyterians hated the Anglicans, the Anglicans hated the Catholics, and so on. A member of one denomination would not be welcomed all that warmly in another denomination’s church – unless, of course, that member was willing to convert.

This made things difficult, because the Ohio River Valley was, at that time, a rural frontier. Established congregations were few and far between. What would you do, for example, if you were Methodist, but the only church near you was Presbyterian? Both Thomas and Alexander Campbell were ministers in their own denomination, but they were increasingly becoming dissatisfied by all this.

One day Alexander went to worship at a local congregation. As was the custom, he met with the pastor of that congregation in the week prior, so that the pastor might examine him and make sure he was “worthy” to receive communion in worship Sunday morning. Those who subscribed to the right confession, who were a part of the right church, received a token at the examination, which they were to present on Sunday morning before receiving the bread and the wine.

On Sunday morning, people came forward, presenting their tokens and receiving communion. However, Alexander’s conscience was troubling him. Even though he had a token, it didn’t seem right to him that some were allowed to partake and others were not.

He waited until the very end, trying to decide what to do. He was, I believe, the last one to come forward, and when he did, he threw his token down, turned, and immediately stormed out of the church. He believed that Christ invites all people to the Lord’s Table, and that no one should be turned away.

And so, one characteristic of the Disciples of Christ is that everyone is always welcome to gather and partake at the Lord’s Table.

Meanwhile, some distance away, another pastor named Barton Stone was entertaining similar thoughts. He and some fellow pastors got together and decided to form their own presbytery, the Springfield presbytery, which would be more open and welcoming.

Not long after that, they decided that the very idea or concept of a presbytery still stood in contrast to a united, welcoming church. So they got together, and Barton Stone wrote for them a document called “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery,” in which they said: “We will that the Springfield Presbytery be dissolved and sink into union with the universal church of Christ.” No longer a part of a denomination, but simply a “Christian Church.”

Barton Stone also wrote another document, which is called the “Declaration and Address.” In it, he wrote that “the church of Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally One.”

Separate movements formed around Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone; Campbell’s followers called themselves “Disciples,” while Stone’s followers called themselves “Christians.” In 1832, these followers got together, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was born.

Over the years, we became more organized, developed a somewhat distinctive way of doing things, … and even though style of worship varied (and still varies) from one Disciple congregation to another , all congregations celebrate the Lord’s Supper weekly, and baptize believers by immersion. Yes, we’ll dunk you all the way under!

But we won’t force you to be re-baptized. If you’ve been baptized somewhere else, you would not be required to be re-baptized before joining a Disciple congregation. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We are all a part of one church.

Despite our distinctive way of doing things, however, we refused to call ourselves a denomination. No; we were a non-denominational “fellowship” of Christian churches. It wasn’t until we restructured in 1968 that we finally admitted that we had become a denomination, but a denomination committed to the unity of all Christians.

Over the years, the Disciples have founded a number of educational institutions. Today there are 17 colleges and universities affiliated with the Disciples. Among these are the Rose Bowl Champions of Texas Christian University, and my alma mater, Chapman University. Another, Eureka College in Illinois, was attended by Ronald Reagan, who grew up a Disciple, and whose 100th birthday is today. (I only mention that because one of the scout leaders dared me to include Reagan in my sermon today, so there you go.)

Speaking of notable Disciples, John Wooden was one; I think he even taught Sunday School. And our current General Minister, Sharon Watkins, preached at President Obama’s inaugural prayer service. She was the first woman to ever preach at an inaugural prayer service.

Several years ago, under Sharon Watkins’ leadership, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) unveiled a new identity statement. It goes like this: “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”

I love this identity statement! I love that it refers to us as a movement for wholeness. In the Bible, the Greek word for wholeness is sozo. Sozo is often translated as healing or salvation. The wholeness, healing, and salvation of God is not something that is reserved exclusively for some future life. It is something that is accessible now. And it is we who are entrusted with bringing that wholeness, healing, and salvation to a broken, fragmented, hurting world.

There are many ways we do this. One of the ways is that we are committed to being an anti-racist, pro-reconciling church. We recognize that the sin of racism still exists in our society and in our church, and addressing that is one of our church’s priorities.

Another way we work to bring wholeness to a fragmented world is through our preference for dialog and conversation regarding controversial issues in the church, rather than polarizing “yes-no” votes. And a third way is our commitment to issues of social justice.

If we as Disciples – as a denomination – are focused on bringing wholeness to our world, then I figure that we at Bixby Knolls Christian Church should see ourselves as a movement for wholeness here in our community. We recently started a ministry called the Treasure Box which allows anyone to purchase groceries at a reduced cost. We support a number of local agencies that serve the poor and homeless. We provide opportunities for fellowship and spiritual growth.

But one of the most significant ways we bring wholeness tour community is by being the chartered organization for troop 29, ship 529, and a brand new venturing crew. These scouting units are providing leadership training and character development. Their many service projects are bringing wholeness to many in our community, serving the poor, and making our community a better, more beautiful place to live. One behalf of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I thank the scouts, parents, and especially the leaders, for helping us be a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

In the middle of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that his followers are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. A movement for wholeness does not close itself off from the world. It has a responsibility, as the Scout Oath says, to help other people at all times. It lets its light shine. It spreads God’s love through word and deed to those around it.

Together, all of us are doing just that. Thank you, members of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, friends, scouts, and scout leaders, for being a part of our ministry.