Actor Robin Williams who is an Episcopalian, authored a set of “Top Ten Reasons to be an Episcopalian.” The final item or number one on the top ten list stated that “No matter what you believe there is bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who believes the same thing.”
His top ten list is truly hilarious and it is hilariously true. We don’t have dogma doctrine and theology filling acres of library shelves. We don’t have a “confessional” like some denominations. We don’t emphasize or preach one particular interpretation of scripture. As a result other Christians look at Episcopalians as either heretics who don’t read scripture or Biblical illiterates who have no church doctrine to underpin us. To many, Episcopalians are “Christian lite” and we don’t stand for anything in particular. But that is where they completely miss the point.
While Episcopalians may not be citing chapter and verse from the Bible, we go through a much more rigorous and long-lasting form of Bible study throughout our lives. The Book of Common Prayer and indeed the services you are hearing this summer including the modern one at the end this series are filled with scripture. ¾ of the words you hear in the service come straight from the Bible. We hear this every week and think it is just our prayer book, but it is scripture woven into our common life of prayer. This kind of scripture works its way past rote memorization and becomes part of our very soul itself. I have encountered people on death’s door in the hospital where the medical staff told me they were “unresponsive.” When I pull out the prayer book and read prayers from it or part of the Eucharist, often you can see the patient’s lips moving with me. The prayers from our Sunday services are beautifully written in English and come straight from the Bible. They may be the last thing on your lips too.
Back to Robin Williams’ point about Episcopalians not really standing for anything: If you study the early churches described in the Bible, you will find they are as diverse in their beliefs and Sunday liturgies as any group of Episcopalians or Christian denominations. It is an absolute myth that the early Church was somehow “unified” and over time the devil has driven us apart. We were diverse from the very beginning.
Jesus taught us in ways that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. It is unlikely there will ever be any agreement by Christian believers on what it all means or what we are supposed to do. But one thing is abundantly clear from the actions of Jesus. He gathered to himself a diverse group of believers from all walks of life. The people who followed Jesus were not 100% in agreement on what he meant, what they should do, or even why they followed him. They were not a community of like-minded people. They were a community of love. They were a group of people who said, “Jesus loves me and I choose to love you regardless of what position you take on any religious or political topic. … I choose to love you.”
The Christian community today that best follows Jesus is not about belief or practice, it is about choosing to love each other in spite of our differences. Yes Robin Williams’ number 1 is funny AND it is true. That is a good thing.
The faith of our founding fathers was as diverse as any group you could find. Although half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalian, Thomas Jefferson served as senior warden of his Bruton Parish in Virginia and still considered the religion “superstitious” calling the clergy the “one anti-Christ.” (ouch) George Washington also served as senior warden of his Virginia parish yet he never took communion considering it to be a “superstitious act.” He believed that religion was necessary to build up the virtues and morals of the public. At that time about 7% of the population attended a church of any kind, not much different than today.
Today you can find all kinds of material about the faith of the founding fathers. Be careful. One source will say they were deist, another theist and yet another atheist. One thing they did represent was a diversity of beliefs. They were unified in their common vision to build a new country. What will unify our community today?
The founding fathers believed that the concept of rights passed from God to kings to the people formed a useful way to forge a republic where the people enjoyed certain liberties and rights. These concepts of rights originated with the Magna Carta in 1215 and became prominent again during the Enlightenment period. The founding of the United States occurred during the peak of the Enlightenment era. Talk of human rights bounced from France to the colonies and back to England. In the end, our Constitution would be amended with the Bill of Rights. It is a necessary and powerful addition to our great nation.
But it has nothing to do with being Christian. The concept of human rights belongs to the Enlightment historical period and must be implemented by governments. As Christians however, God created ALL that we are and ALL that we have. How can we talk about possessing any “rights”? God owns ALL of our rights. God grants us limited means to live but not one of us who has been baptized possesses anything.
So what can we do? We can stand together as a diverse community of believers who choose to come together loving God and loving each other. We give thanks to God for the life we have been given. And we give thanks for this great nation that gives us tremendous blessings of freedom, rights and responsibilities. Amen