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When I was first asked to give a Sermon on the theme of “comedy,” I did just what any good Episcopalian is supposed to do when presented something to
mull over. I mulled. Yes, I mulled, and I stopped, and I pondered over the situation, I analyzed it from several different perspectives, I asked my
peers for their advice, and only after I had done all these things, did I come to a conclusion. “I will not give a sermon on comedy, not at St. Marks.”
It’s not that I thought you all wouldn’t appreciate humor, St. Marks isn’t exactly a fire and brimstone kind of place. And it’s not that I thought
you wouldn’t appreciate the change of pace; people here love offbeat stuff. How many other churches ask Buddhist monks, Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams
to give sermons?
No, I chose not to give a sermon on comedy because it wouldn’t work at St. Marks for the exact same reasons that the idea didn’t sit well with me. We
think too much.
Episcopalians just can’t accept anything at face value. Why does it take three Episcopalians to screw in one light bulb? Because one light bulb is too
simple for three Episcopalians to comprehend. Episcopalians refuse to even admit that something as simple as a light bulb can exist, because nothing in
our world can be that simple. How can something be the same thing, every time, to every person, no matter what? The idea flies right in the face of
everything this church stands for! And so, in teams of three, we ponder the light bulb. We view it from new angles. We consider it’s significance, and
we worry over its consequences. And only then, when our intellectual pursuit of the light bulb is as sated as it can be, do we, as a community, come
together to change that light bulb.
At times, this Episcopalian approach to thinking and working can get tiresome. But here’s the kicker, it’s much better to over think everything than
to give no thought to anything. Nowhere is this rule more important to follow than in religion.
Why? Because religion tends to simplify, and religious people often have a reputation for being simple-minded. Which is exactly why it’s so important
that St. Marks and churches just like it all over the world keep on over thinking, and overanalyzing, and viewing the great questions of religion and
life from different angles. Because without that broad view of religion offered by a place like St. Marks, the only alternative is to accept the
literal word of the Bible. And for many of us, that’s not a viable alternative. But because St. Marks offers a more holistic view of religion, it
makes faith an option for those people left unsatisfied by Ten Commandments carved in stone. And so, as someone who would not be religious without
a place like St. Marks, I want to thank everyone here who works to keep alive that grey area of faith, so that those of us who can’t accept black and
white truth have a place to come on Sundays.
