Last Sunday Fr. Al was sharing a few comments he's gotten about what people like and don't like about preaching. So it was interesting to stumble across remarks from TV commentator Tucker Carlson on the same topic. Tucker is an Episcopalian, too, and he's heard a few homilies apparently:

Drama makes Episcopalians uncomfortable. The typical sermon leaves the impression that all would be well in this world if only people could manage to be reasonable with each other. Gentlemanly. Thoughtful.

There's nothing necessarily bad about any of this. (I remain an Episcopalian, with no plans to change.) But every once in a while, as I shift in my pew listening to one of our unusually well-educated preachers expand on the Aramaic understanding of discipleship, I do wish Jesus would come back, preferably in a massive ball of fire through the ceiling of the church.

Read the rest of what he had to say and share your thoughts.

I saw in Carlson's bio that he lives outside of NYC. That would explain much of the "lack of fire" and no talk of Jesus preached in his church. My personal experience with the northeast and/or large metropolitan Episcopal churches has been the lack of focus on the gospel. (I know I am painting with broad strokes, but this is what I have seen.) This perfectly explains how ECUSA has gotten into the mess that it is in now.

Reasonable? There is absolutely nothing reasonable about the Gospel! It is a call to a sacrificial life from sin to holiness. Comfortable? Comfortable is NOT the Way of the Cross, which is the Christian lifestyle. If one likes to sleep, comfortable is good. Find a church where the Gospel is not being preached. Find a church where no one carries a Bible. Find a church where there are no Bibles in the pews WITH the Prayer Books. Find a church where the 'priest in the pulpit' never mentions the name of his Savior. Then, one can sleep, for that person will be in the Church of the Dead.