YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/jDkqPjgLIO4?t=1145

Beloved siblings of God, it is an honor to be among you today as our two congregations worship together.

As the pastor of St. Matthias Church, it is my joy to preach from this pulpit, in this church from which so much ministry has issued over the years.

The history of First Presbyterian goes back to 1846, which is roughly contemporaneous with St. Matthias, and our congregations have worked together on multiple shared ministries over many years as our city has grown up around us.

I have a lot of Presbyterians in my family — my Dad has served as a Ruling Elder and a Stephens Minister at a church in my home town in Kentucky for years — and my sister tells me that when she watches me preach online I am channelling The Rev. Mr. Rogers hard.

And I personally benefit from the incredible ministry of Presbyterian institutions in Waukesha, as my Son attends Carroll University and I have had many church members living at Avalon Square receive excellent care.

I want to start today by complementing the congregation of First Presbyterian on your vision and courage.

In a time where almost all organized Christianity as we’ve known it is in numerical decline and many churches struggle to accept that reality by choosing instead to hold on to the past until it is too late, you have boldy discerned that your building is not your entire identity, and you have taken steps to look to a different future.

In my 20 years of serving on governance above the congregational level, I seldom see this kind of bravery and foresight — this kind of focus on the mission of Jesus to the world rather than on the institution.

At the same time, I am very cognizant of the amount of pain and discomfort this can cause.

While it is absolutely true that a church is its people and not its building, our buildings can mean a lot to us. It’s like a member of the family — and when we say goodbye to a member of the family, even if we KNOW it’s the time, it can be an incredibly difficult thing to do.

I hope you will trust me when I say that myself and the rest of St. Matthias leadership understand this, and are keeping it at the foremost of our minds as we look to and discuss future possibilites for our congregations to serve and live faithfully together.

In the passage from the Gospel of John we just heard, we are at the point right before the passion — Jesus’ last prayers with his Disciples before the betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion.

In this passage, often called the “Farewell Discourse,” Jesus relates his deepest wishes for his followers. We heard:

“I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.”

I’d like to call attention to three things in this text.

1. First of all, Jesus says that we as his followers are to be one. That we have been given the Glory. This is all we need to be one — perfectly one — and we ALREADY HAVE what we need, among ourselves, to live into this vision of the kingdom of God.
2. Second, consider for a moment the nature of this one-ness. Christ is one person of the Holy Trinity. Three distinct persons of the same nature that are in relationship with one another and move with one will. Perfect one-ness in Christ does not mean the elimination of diversity or erasure of difference. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us we are diverse parts of the Body that nevertheless must work together. A perfect one-ness in Christ is one that retains and celebrates it’s differences within itself as it is stronger for being made of many parts working together.
3. And third, note that Jesus basically says the world will know we are his disciples by *how well *we are one. The reverse of this, of course, is that if we are divided, if we spend our time in bickering and competition, the world will have a much harder time recognizing us as people that actually follow Jesus.

What we hear in the Gospel of John is that as Christianity becomes more divided, it reflects Jesus less.

And American Christianity has become extraordinarily divided. There are approximately 250 or so Christian denominations in the United States, many of which do not recognize each other as valid churches.

And even among those who DO recognize each other such as ours, the amount of competition and failure to cooperate is sometimes astounding.

From the time the GI’s came home from World War II until the late 80s, America enjoyed a “Church Bubble” of church attendance and building, the likes of which our country had never seen before.

During the 20th century, most of the mainline denominations built separate skyscraper denominational headquarters in major cities with duplicate staffs, relief organizations, and publishing houses.

In the 1950’s Sunday church attendance reached almost 75%, whereas it had been closer to 25% in the 1930’s.

What we face now in my opinion is not a failure in proclamation of the Gospel, or in Christian Education, or in any of the other ministries of our churches.

The problem for us has been our negligence as Christians in the United States to live into Jesus’ command in John to be one.

When times were good, and membership and money were in great supply, our denominations used that money and talent to build up our separate institutions.

And now, as society changes, as people in general are less interested in voluntary institutions, as membership falls not only in churches but in bowling leagues and masonic lodges and women’s clubs and the barbershop harmony society, how do we show the world that we are not just an institution like all the others, but the community gathered around the resurrected Jesus?

We do it by being one in wondrous diversity. That is how Jesus tells us the world will know we are his disciples.

In an agreement between the PCUSA and the Episcopal Church in 2008, our denominations agreed that we were both part of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”

“We acknowledge(d) that in our churches the Word of God is authentically preached and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist are duly administered.”

“We acknowledge(d) one another’s ordained ministries as given by God and instruments of grace” and

“We agree(d) that The Episcopal Church will invite members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to receive Holy Communion in their churches and (vice versa). We encourage(d) the members of our churches to accept this Eucharistic hospitality and thus express their unity with each other in the one Body of Christ;”

And since then, the national Presbyterian-Episcopal dialogue has worked to reconcile the issues remaining, resulting in some very interesting proposals that are coming up for consideration in the next few years.

But still, at the local level, there are very few places in which Episcopalians and Presbyterians share directly in worship and ministry.

Yet TODAY, we live into this call to oneness in Christ’s name. This, today, and in the days to come, is where an opportunity arises for both First Presbyterian and St. Matthias as we seek to live into this call.

What if we could sweep aside the historical barriers our denominations built in the past and find a way forward together?

One in which we work diligently to reflect our one-ness in Jesus, while acknowledging the differing gifts and histories Presbyterians and Episcopalians bring to the Body of Christ.

What if instead of thinking in business terms like merger, we think in Pauls terms of being differing parts of the one body, neither of which can say to the other, “I have no need of you.”

We have an opportunity to model something completely different and new, something with shared worship, ministry and governance that remains both Episcopalian and Presbyterian at the same time, keeping our identities even as we work together.

At this particular time, we have leadership at the Milwaukee Presbytery and Episcopal Diocese who are in favor of this visionary and faithful exploration.

We have social and ministry ties between our congregations that have existed for over 175 years.

And we have the courage and openness to change that First Pres has exhibited over the last several years through your bridge process.

Everything is aligned to allow us to do something that would be an example and template for our respective denominations as we lived into the oneness Jesus desired for us.

It could become visionary* and *inspirational for shared ministries throughout our churches.

But even more importantly, I believe such a move would be a witness to Christ here in Waukesha.

Jesus says that if we are one, Then the world will know that God sent him and that God loves them just as God loves Jesus.

As Christians, we have spent centuries splitting ourselves apart over social and theological minutae, and our witness has suffered.

Unchurched people are not interested in becoming members of a denomination, they are interested in becoming part of a diverse community centered around Christ, making a difference in a divided world.

As we start to knit ourselves back together piece by piece, it is my belief that our witness strengthens, and our ability to bring people to the Gospel and into the church increases.

Presbyterian siblings, as you continue your discernment, we are holding you in prayer and giving thanks for your courage as your continue with the process of reimagining and envisioning your future.

We honor your bravery and all the tough decisions you have had to make over these past several years.

Regardless of where this process leads us, know that we travel this road together, held within the love of Christ, in the body of One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

As Jesus said, “Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.”

Amen.