Knit Together
Going through some old boxes, I found a piece of paper, written by my grandmother in 1977, with instructions for knitting mittens for my cousin Mike on the front and a copy of my cousin Melanie’s hand, age 5, on the back. It made me smile. My grandmother made lots of mittens. I still have a pair. She also valiantly tried to teach me how to knit and crochet - but after I managed a single chain – I got distracted. It takes attention and patience when you are learning anything new. Somehow, I got lost in the midst of her knit one, pearl two instructions. Somehow, it still seems a little bit like magic to me. And this is why I’ve always been a bit in awe of people who can knit or crochet without even looking at what they are doing they join two or more things together to create something beautiful.
In our lesson Paul is trying to knit a whole congregation together. Apparently, one of the problems of the church at Corinth is that they were divided in their allegiances. He has received word from “Chloe’s people” that some are claiming to belong to Paul, who was their founding pastor, others claim Apollo, their next pastor who was known as a skilled preacher and teacher and others say they belong to “Cephas” – which is the Greek name for the disciple Peter. And still others, say that “we” follow Jesus. That sounds like the winning argument, right? Unless what they are saying is: if you disagree with us, “you” clearly don’t. These loyalty claims were tearing the congregation apart.
As Paul writes, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.”
Having the same mind and purpose doesn’t mean that all Christians have to be cookie cutter copies of one another. Later in the letter, Paul writes about the beautiful and varied gifts that each of the members of the body of Christ contributes. We can’t all be the organist or the preacher or the prayer shawl knitters, but together, we each bring our gifts to strengthen and uplift the whole body of Christ. These different gifts and talents and ideas and insights are brought humbly forward and then the Holy Spirit knits us together to create a congregation that is “of the same mind and same purpose.”
And so what is our mind and purpose? It is not money or status or power – all things that the culture then and now value. For, as Paul reminds the Corinthians and us, the message of the cross sounds foolish to those whose purpose is “winning” as in: “the one who gets the most stuff wins”. If we believe that, then why would we follow someone who was vulnerable instead of powerful, who died a shameful death on a cross instead of ruling from a glittery palace, who defied boundaries and fed the hungry and ate with both the rich and the poor. But this is not what we believe. As Paul writes, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
For like Peter and Andrew, James and John, Paul and the Corinthians, and all of the saints who have gone before us, we are all called to follow Jesus. And if we all belong to Christ, then, we must belong to one another, for Jesus knits us together.
Although it was hard for the Corinthians to have this conflict, I am kind of glad that they did, because it caused Paul to write this Holy Spirit inspired letter. This letter has not only guided the Christians at Corinth, but has reminded Christians throughout the years of what is central to our call as we ask: Why are we here? What is our mission? What is our purpose?
Yesterday we celebrated the life of Betty Schmidt. I enjoyed hearing her daughters reminisce about huge choir singing the Hallelujah chorus every Easter and nearly blowing the roof off the sanctuary; the large confirmation classes and the fun that they had had. It is good to celebrate our history and give thanks for the memoires.
“Positivity” is one of my strengths; I love looking at the glass as “at least” half full rather than ½ empty. However, there are times over the past few years when I would come into the sanctuary and find it less full than I had hoped. And, after leading the funeral of a dearly beloved congregational leader – which is my honor to do – I would also grieve. I would grieve, first because I loved and will miss the one who died. But I also grieve the loss to the congregation of a once vibrant member.
There is some sadness that comes remembering the huge VBS and the crowds and choirs of the past because that is not what we have today. And we are not alone. Mainline churches like ours have been declining in attendance over the last 20-30 years.
This is true for other Wildfire churches too. The Wildfire Pastors met – I think it was back in 2024 -- and talked and shared honestly about our congregations. At that meeting, I was surprised to find out that we are the smallest congregation. But our expenses fit our size better than others. As we shared, we discovered, not surprisingly, that each congregation had challenges and blessings. We prayed together but nothing else happened…
Except that I began praying about our future – the future of Faith-Lilac Way and asked God what would become of us. And, it turned out, that I wasn’t the only one praying.
Last year, after a Synod event, Pastor Ali asked if our congregation would be open to exploring coming together with Cross of Glory and First Lutheran to create a new church.
My mouth fell open and my heart skipped a beat. The idea had never occurred to me. I had been praying about the future of this church and I’ll admit, the future in 5, 10,20 years did not look great. But after Pastor Ali raised this as a possibility, suddenly, my heart felt lighter. Instead of waiting for something to happen TO us, we could be a part creating a new ministry together.
Our mission to proclaim and share the Good News of Jesus has not changed – and neither has the mission of First Lutheran and Cross of Glory. For like Peter and Andrew, James and John, Paul and the Corinthians, and all of the saints who have gone before us, we are all called to follow Jesus.
And so now, the question is not just what might God have in store for Faith-Lilac Way, but how might Jesus knit together the people of Faith-Lilac Way and Cross of Glory and First Lutheran to give us more capacity to proclaim Christ Crucified and share the Good News of Jesus with others? This is what we are exploring together. And this is why I am excited about the possibility.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ here on the corner of 42nd and Welcome. I know that change is hard. But change is happening every day. And so, I invite you to join me in praying for this congregation and for First Lutheran and Cross of Glory, that we may listen to God’s call and follow Jesus – wherever He may lead us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.