1052 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9758c09d656702679b064609e2f35bae.pdf ca50da4cbbcab2a29f1d33bfb3d21642 PDF Text Text What is Worth Dying For? Memorial Day Weekend Micah 4:1-5, Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 24:50-53 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan May 25, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon Memorial Day is a wonderful way for a nation to take time to remember, to take time to remember that we stand on the shoulders of generations that have gone before us, to remember that the wonderful heritage into which we have entered is the consequence of the vision and values of those generations who have envisioned and lived and sacrificed in order that we might have the privilege of living in the kind of environment, the kind of ambience that we have come to take for granted. It is a good time for us to pause and to remember, in order that we might once again become truly grateful, mindful, and humble, and that we might offer ourselves, dedicating our lives, in turn, for the continued visioning and valuing that will allow the generations yet unborn to know the grace that we have known. So, it is good for us on Memorial Day to be led to the cemetery, to remember those who have birthed us, those who have died for us, those who have caught the vision and dedicated their all, living by that which is noblest and highest. It is a good day. It is a good day to remember, to be humble, and to give thanks, lest we congratulate ourselves that somehow or other our cleverness or our ingenuity or our wisdom or our hard work have gotten us all of this grace in which we stand, lest we become proud and feel somehow or other that we are special and that perhaps we have earned the grace in which we live. So, it is a good time to remember. And then, it is a good time to ask ourselves, “What will we do with all we have received? Will we exploit it for our own self-indulgence? Or will we, in turn, dedicate our lives, in the light of such grace, that not only our children and our children’s children, but all the children of earth might come to know the freedom that we have, the freedom to pursue our vision and live by our values in peace?” That is the question for the morning. I want to set before you two biblical images: The first is the elevation of Mt. Zion. That is a theme which you can find here and there in the Hebrew scriptures, that elevation of Mt. Zion. Jerusalem is built on a hill, of course, and in the prophetic © Grand Valley State University   �What is Worth Dying For? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   condemnation at the end of the third chapter of Micah, because of the corruption of the leadership, building Zion on blood, having no concern for justice and compassion, the prophet says this city will be plowed and Jerusalem will be a wooded hill. But then, because the prophets, although they were so blistering in their condemnation of that which was wrong, were also people of hope who left their people with a vision, the fourth chapter of Micah begins with that vision of the elevation of the holy hill of God, the elevation of Mt. Zion, and the prophet says that as the city is elevated on a hill, all of the nations and all of the people will flow to it, and they will flow to it because they will say, “Let us find there the word of God. Let us be instructed in the Torah.” The Torah is that wonderful word which defines the first part of the Hebrew scriptures. We sometimes translate it Law, but it is so much more than law; it is a way of life. Torah was a way of life. In Deuteronomy, Moses was cited as saying to Israel as he is about to depart, “I set before you life and death. Choose life.” Torah was the way of life, and so the vision of the prophet is that all of the peoples and all of the nations will flow to Jerusalem and there they will be instructed and God will arbitrate between their disputes and will help them to settle their problems and difficulties, and then they will go home, having been instructed in the way of life. What will be the consequences of that? They will be able to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they will sit everyone under his own vine and his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid. What a picture. And it is the elevation of that holy mountain. It is the concrete living out of that way of life that is so magnetic that it attracts the people to come and to learn the secret. There is no imposing of some kind of uniformity. There is no imposing of a vision, be it ever so noble, because the imposition of a vision demands coercion and finally the tyranny of the vision. There is no religious empire here. There is no longer a struggle for power, but rather, the nations come and learn and go their respective ways, and they live in peace. The prophet says all of the peoples will live according to the word of their God and we will live according to the word of Yahweh. No homogenized state of things. No boring uniformity. But rather, the kind of freedom that enables a people to live according to their vision and their values in peace. One was born out of the womb of Israel one day and he was immersed in that covenant, and he knew the prophets, and he felt the passion of the prophets. Micah had been born in a little village outside of Jerusalem, so he had an eye on what was going on in the capital city. Jesus from the north country knew that finally it was to Jerusalem that he must turn his face, for he had a word to speak, a word of truth to power. And his concern was very much the concern of Micah. If I had taken you to chapter six and verse eight, those familiar words of Micah what was this vision? What were these values? What was the Torah, this way of life, that was the best and the noblest of the tradition of Israel? God says, “I have told you what you must do. Do justice, love kindness, act justly, love © Grand Valley State University �What is Worth Dying For? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   compassionately, walk humbly with God,” recognizing, that is, that no matter who you are, how great you are, finally you stand under the aegis of that eternal mystery, the source of all being. Jesus imbued with that same vision, came to Jerusalem, and they crucified him. They tried to kill his truth, but he had embodied the divine intention, and those who were closest to him believed that this was God’s anointed. They believed that this was God’s Messiah, this was the promised one. They looked at him, they experienced him, they heard his teaching, they saw his action and they said, “That’s it. There is the embodiment of the divine intention that is the finest expression of that whole covenant that has brought us to this point.” He was crucified and they were devastated, but before long, strange as it was, they said, “You know, he’s not dead. He’s alive.” One soon had a vision and another one had a vision and they were encountered. Paul had an encounter last of all, that heavenly vision, and so Paul gave expression to what has become the expression of the faith of the Church, for he said, dealing with that Philippian congregation trying to get them to get along and have a good spirit with one another, he used the example of Jesus, Jesus who was humiliated and whom God exalted. God exalted him, he said, giving him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess. And that, of course, is the church’s affirmation of the ascension of Jesus, the affirmation that Jesus, who embodied the divine intention, who was crucified, could not finally be crucified, could not finally be killed. That for which he stood, that which he embodied could not die. This Jesus who was crucified must surely be in the presence of God. And so, they lived in the confident expectation, that hope, that God would do some mighty act, that this one would come. Now, don’t get all worried about Jesus’ space travels, the ascension, his floating up into the clouds. Don’t let that bother you. Carl Sagan, the astronomer now deceased, quipped that if Jesus, 2000 years ago had left on his way out of the universe, he’d still be on the way. Well, that’s not the point, of course. The point is that they knew that Jesus was the embodiment of God in the midst of the human scene, and that which he embodied was alive, and that embodiment in the presence of God was the elevation of all that was noble and good and true, the finest and highest expression of everything that that people of Israel had hoped or dreamed of. Two biblical images. I connect them because of the elevation theme. But, as a matter of fact, what the prophet was saying was, “Look, this way of life, this word of God, this matter of justice and compassion and humility, when that is lived out, that will be so magnetic and so attractive, it will draw, it will lure to itself. There is no need to impose it. It will, as it were, sell itself. If you can concretely embody it, the world will take note of it.” Those, likewise, who had lived with Jesus knew that that’s it. That’s the highest expression of the human possibility, and he is exalted, he is lifted up. And again, one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess, because that is the ultimate, that is the last word. © Grand Valley State University �What is Worth Dying For? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Two images, a vision and value, that when in freedom chosen, would enable the world to be at peace. This past week Nancy and I sat with our financial adviser. He comes twice a year, usually timing his visits just after the stock market had rallied. But, this time he came and, of course, the nation had just gone on orange alert, and when you deal with the stock market, the bond market, you know that wild card sends everything spinning out of control. Who can say, who can predict, who can guide, who can counsel? He threw up his hands. I felt sorry for him. And Nancy was getting really panicky, and I said, “Honey, don’t worry. There are a lot of churches in the area that are going to want me to preach for them on occasion.” But then, after Michael had talked about the volatility of everything and the uncertainty of everything and the unpredictability of everything, and Nancy was deep down in her chair, he said, “You know what really makes me afraid? I’m afraid for my twoyear-old granddaughter. I wonder what kind of a world she is going to live in,” and I thought to myself, isn’t it ironic? Here we are the world’s lone superpower and we’re afraid. We celebrate a Memorial Day weekend under high alert and there is an anxiety and an uncertainty, and I wondered, must we not be doing something wrong, or is there not an alternative way to be? Someone gave me a copy of a commencement address. This is the time of commencement addresses. This one just happened to be an address of forty years ago. Do you remember forty years ago? Some of you do. The world had come out of the Second World War; we were in the midst of the Cold War; we were afraid to death of the Communists; we were in lock with the Soviet Union in that impasse of terror, with our mutual nuclear arms aimed at each other with the possibility of total annihilation. Forty years ago. At that time there was fear all around, as well. And so, this commencement address suggested what was really important. These are just some excerpts, but it will give you the flavor. The speaker says, I have therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived - yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace. What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace - the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living - the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time. I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task. © Grand Valley State University �What is Worth Dying For? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements - in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage. So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal. The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough - more than enough - of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on - not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace. John F. Kennedy - Commencement Address, American University, 1963 That was forty years ago; the world lived under a terrible threat, but there was one voice that said at such a time of fear, let us seek peace, the freedom of all peoples to live out their vision and their values in peace. That is a vision and a value I would die for, because anything less is to fail really to live. References: John F. Kennedy. Commencement Address, American University, 1963. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Memorial Day Weekend, Eastertide VI Scripture Text Micah 4:1-5, Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 24:50-53 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References John F. Kennedy. Commencement Address, American University, 1963. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030525 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-05-25 Title A name given to the resource What Is Worth Dying For? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 25, 2003 entitled "What Is Worth Dying For?", on the occasion of Memorial Day Weekend, Eastertide VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 4:1-5, Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 24:50-53. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Memorial Day The Way of Peace https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f37ad496ed60f41eb0e02cfb0bce650d.pdf a1aecd0a321d35c8c503afa44a1504a0 PDF Text Text What It Takes to Make a Heretic From a sermon series on the Book of Job Text: Job 6:25-26 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost VII, July 10, 1994 Transcription of the spoken sermon "Teach  me,  and  I  will  be  silent;  show  me  where  I  am  wrong.   Does  honest  speech  offend  you?  Are  you  shocked  by  what  I  have  said?  "   Job  6:25-­‐26;  Translation  by  Stephen  Mitchell     I begin this morning a series of messages on the Book of Job. This is the first time I've ever tried to preach on Job in a serious fashion in order to handle the content of the writing itself because, to be honest, I haven't understood it. Oh, a text here and there—a text torn out of context to make a whale of a sermon on occasion. But an insight into the composition of the book sometime ago enabled me to crack open the enigma of the Book of Job. The Book of Job is a part of the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Scriptures—Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, some of the Psalms. The Wisdom literature is a particular genre of the Hebrew Scriptures which has its own characteristic themes. We don't do a lot with it in the Church, and I haven't done a lot with it in preaching. As I said, the Book of Job has been for me an enigma, and what I've found is that, in a new understanding of something of the composition of the book, it becomes a marvelous and powerful message which deals with the very concrete stuff which makes up our human experience. So I want to begin this morning in a kind of introductory fashion to deal with this book. I want to deal with the Book of Job because I think that it deals with the things that we wrestle with every day in our lives—the unvarnished stuff of human life. We'll see how far the series goes—four or five, six. Who can tell once a preacher gets started? The enigma that has kept me from ever treating the Book of Job as a whole has a couple of aspects. In the first place Job has become in popular understanding the "patient Job." We come by that honestly because in James 5:11 we are told, "You know the patience of Job." So in conventional wisdom, Job became a model of patience. To be sure, in what I read, in the prologue to the book, he certainly is patient. But when you read the whole central section of the book, Job is not patient. He is one of the most impatient people in the Bible. He rails against heaven. He calls God to account. He damns the day he was born. Job is not © Grand Valley State University   �What It Takes to Make a Heretic Richard A. Rhem Page 2   submissive, patient and enduring, but a "rebel with a cause." I could never put those two things together. If you read not only the prologue that I read a moment ago, but the epilogue, the last few verses of the last chapter you will find that, after his terrible suffering and total loss and the experience of God's voice in the whirlwind, Job gets everything back two-fold. So, it would appear that the messsage of Job is to suffer, be patient, so that finally you will be vindicated, rewarded. But that theme contradicts the whole powerful center of this poem. Well, the insight that helped me to make some sense of this book is that probably the prologue and epilogue is an ancient legend—probably centuries and generations old, and that the author of the central poem, if you glance at the Book of Job you'll see the shift from prose to poetic form sandwiched between a prologue and epilogue which are reflective of another age and a totally other philosophy and understanding, a protest. Now you say, "Well, what's the sense of that?" Why would the poet want to sandwich that between the telling of an ancient legend? Well maybe, as some have said, because he wanted to set his own point of view in sharp contrast to the other. The ancient legend says that God blesses those who are good and God punishes those who are evil. The ancient legend says if you suffer and endure patiently you will be rewarded. The poet says, "I don't believe it! It is contrary to everything that I experience and observe in human life, and I don't believe it." Maybe by setting that ancient legend at either side of his protest, he sets it off even more starkly. Or maybe he softened the edges of his protest by encasing it in this ancient legend just to get in touch. You know, it’s dangerous to swim against the tide. It’s dangerous to speak a word against conventional wisdom. It can cost you your life to hold an opinion contrary to that which everybody knows. Do you know how much we live by what everybody knows? The poet says, "I don't know that. I don't believe that." But, you had better be careful when you say "no," and everybody else is saying "yes." It would be an interesting doctoral dissertation to trace through history the significant written works that were published after an author's death, purposely, for fear that if they had been published in his or her life, the author would have lost his or her life, would have died sooner than he or she did. The poet gives Job the voice of a heretic—Job spoke a word against what everybody knows, and what nobody thinks about, but everybody believes. Job was not orthodox. He was heretical. The word orthodox means straight opinion. The prefix ortho is from the Greek language. When I was a kid I used to be able to spit through my teeth. And then my mother sent me to an orthodontist. The orthodontist made my teeth straight because my father had me set apart for the ministry. Otherwise I don't think they would have straightened my teeth. (Laughter) If you break your leg and it is at right angles, you go to an orthopedic surgeon who makes bones straight. If you are orthodox in theology, you hold the right opinion. You hold the straight, accepted, perceived view of things. This poet was not orthodox. This poet was a heretic. Heretic also comes from the Greek language. It means "to choose." © Grand Valley State University �What It Takes to Make a Heretic Richard A. Rhem Page 3   William Safire, the New York Times columnist, has a relatively recent book on Job. He calls it The First Dissident. Job was the first dissident, which comes from the Latin, descent, to sit apart. A dissident is one who sits apart, stands apart, and acts apart. I don't use the word dissident because I'm not thinking as Safire is, largely of the political and economic realm, but I am thinking more theologically. So I will use the theological term heretic. The author of Job ran contrary to the commonly accepted view of things in his day. He stood up and dared to say "no." He stood up and dared to be alone and have the passion and conviction that enabled him with courage to say, "I don't believe it." He was a heretic. What makes a heretic? Concrete human experience that can't be crammed into conventional wisdom as an explanation. Burning, passionate, concrete experience that you just can't shove into a ready-made pigeonhole. A heretic is one whose experience brings him to a point where he dares to stand up and to say, "No, I don't believe it. This is what I believe." Job is a heretic, because everyone knew that suffering was a sign of sin, that the one who was suffering was carrying some guilt whether known or unknown. In his day the poet ran into the conventional wisdom, the things that everybody knew, and that is that God blesses those who are righteous, and God punishes those who are wicked. Everybody knew that when you run into trouble, when calamity comes, when tragedy strikes there is either some open or secret sin in your life. So when you come into trouble, the question you ask is "What have I done wrong? Why me? What have I done? Am I wrong? Where have I gone wrong?" It was a cruel philosophy or theology, but it was deeply inbred into the human heart then, and it continues to be to a large extent even today. I think that's why it is so important to deal with it. The poet of these poems said, "I don't believe that." He said, "I look about me and I see a mystery of human suffering that cannot be explained. I see the innocent suffer. I see the good coming into calamity, and I see sometimes the careless getting off scot-free." Human experience—what I observe and what I myself experience – simply cannot be put into a neat formula: God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. Job said, "I see innocent children die. I see cancer strike willy-nilly. I see fires rage and floods rise, and I see natural calamities which the insurance companies call 'acts of God', and I see human calamities when there are broken relationships and betrayals and denials. I see parents who find their daughters raped and mutilated or throats slit. I find young people blown away in war. I see good people, decent people struck down by any number of things that bring them into intense suffering and pain and loss." The poet said it is simply too simplistic—"I don't believe it. The innocent suffer. That is a mystery. I can't explain it. Sometimes there is darkness, and there is no word to say." Job's friends had words. And today, we have pious platitudes, which work for many people: "God makes no mistakes." "God has a purpose in it." Of course, when you are back in the age of legends, then God did it, or God's agent whom God controls did it. You can't have it both ways. You can't say God has a purpose and apply it only to minor inconveniences. How can you tell someone whose life has just been ripped apart with tragedy, that God did it. I don't really think we © Grand Valley State University �What It Takes to Make a Heretic Richard A. Rhem Page 4   mean it when we say, "God has a purpose in it," or "God makes no mistakes." Job stood up and said, "No! I don't believe it for a moment." He said, "I can't explain the mystery of human suffering. I don't know the whys of human tragedy, but I am innocent and I am suffering, and I see no good purpose in it." We have something else we resort to, as I mentioned a moment ago. We take upon ourselves feelings of guilt for our failures and for the things that go wrong. Last year I ripped this woodcut of William Blake out of the New York Times. It was woodcut of Job and underneath it says, "Many Americans in the flooded Midwest will sit like Job amid the ruins of their lives and ask why God has turned against them." Nearly one in five Americans told the Gallup Poll that the floods are God's judgment on the people of the United States for their sinful ways. The poet-Job says "I won't hear a word of it." Job was a heretic. He stood up against the received opinion, the common person on the street idea of things that everybody knows. He stood up alone because it was contrary to everything he felt in his gut. He knew it was wrong and he dared to say so, and thereby set himself apart. He paid the price, of course. His three friends who came to comfort him came and with delicate sensitivity, when they saw his disaster, they sat with him seven days and seven nights without opening their mouths. That's a good comforter. Don't say a word. But when Job's voice was raised against heaven, calling God to account, railing against this injustice, this mystery, this suffering—then they ran to the defense of God or rather to the defense of their belief system about God and they denounced Job. He was rejected by his friends and he felt abandoned by heaven, but he stood up anyway, and he didn't yield. Thank God for that. Thank God that this poem made it into the canon of the scripture, because Job gives me the permission to think, to experience, and then to seek to connect my experience with my faith. When faith explanation doesn't fit with the facts of my life, I keep probing and struggling until I bring them again into some kind of meaningful relationship. Thank God for this heretic-poet. Because, as it is, we are told that one out of five Americans say the floods are the result of God's punishing the sins of the people. But think what it would have been if we had never had this protest that said, "No! I don't believe it." Thank God for Job who called God into account and said to his friends, "I'm innocent and I'm suffering, and I don't know why." Thank God for Job, for in his darkness ,which was not penetrated by any ray of light, he wrestled with God. He wrestled with God and became the forerunner of another who in his darkness cried out, "My God, my God, why?," which is not a question seeking an intellectual answer, but a primal scream from a devastated human being, longing to know that there is someone there. Thank God for our confidence that, while there is suffering that has no meaning and tragedy that has no explanation when finally we must be silent, nonetheless we cling to the God of all mercy, who we believe will never let us go. If God plays with us like puppets on a string, you have every right to fear such a God, but you can never love such a God. But if we can trust in the darkness, © Grand Valley State University �What It Takes to Make a Heretic Richard A. Rhem Page 5   believing somehow or other in an infrastructure of mercy, that's a God you can love. That's a God you can love when everything goes wrong and nothing makes sense. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5560a1a7ae42bbecd6a16dc54fba8036.mp3 09be711552ea93fbbd31e719d9e51ef4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VII Series The Job Series Scripture Text Job 6: 25-26 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19940710 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-07-10 Title A name given to the resource What It Takes To Make a Heretic Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 10, 1994 entitled "What It Takes To Make a Heretic", as part of the series "The Job Series", on the occasion of Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Job 6: 25-26. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives God of Compassion Hebrew Scriptures Nature of God Wisdom Literature https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0d518af25b919590d26babfaeaa06f29.pdf cbd1f85381ae05377cc8a54241bc8a69 PDF Text Text What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? From the series: Tough Questions: No Easy Answers Scripture: Romans 8:19; Luke 20:38 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 20, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon What lies beyond death’s veil? That is a tough question and there is no easy answer because the experience beyond death is beyond the limit of human experience. Ah, you say, but there is one who returned to demonstrate that there is life beyond life - Jesus, the resurrected Christ. And I must respond that that is the witness of the Christian faith, the conviction, the experience that was the catalyst to launch what has become the Christian religion. But, it is an affirmation of faith beyond the kind of verification that settles the matter. And in this series of messages I am simply setting forth what Christian faith proclaims. I am attempting to engage the core questions of human existence in light of a contemporary knowledge of the universe, the human being and society and the historical development of which we are aware. Religion is a universal phenomenon. In the last century when anthropologists gained access to all peoples of the earth, from the most highly developed societies to the most remote and primitive tribes, this was the discovery. The human being is a religious animal. And why should religion be a universal human phenomenon? Is it not because when that stage of the unfolding development of the universe was reached in which consciousness, self-consciousness, awareness first manifested itself, the human creature who could now get out of his skin and reflect back on himself came to recognize the fact that he was mortal? Members of his clan died. He would die. The human creature, that is, came to the consciousness of his own death. When I married Nancy I inherited a Siamese cat that I never really accepted, three kids whom I love and a standard poodle named Topaz. I loved Topaz, too, but he developed kidney problems and euthanasia was called for. Then there was Midnight, a black standard poodle whom we loved even though he was emotionally retarded. He, too, died and was given proper burial in a sand dune. © Grand Valley State University   �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Now there is Hershey, a chocolate brown poodle who is growing older but still acts like an incorrigible puppy. Topaz, Midnight and Hershey were (are) lovable, affectionate, manifest intelligence - all of that – but do not possess consciousness, self awareness. Consequently, they possess the life instinct, survival instinct, but not awareness of the transitory nature of their canine existence. Hershey never focuses his big brown eyes on me and says, "Pastor, someday I will die and I wonder why." I go into this at length to help you see that it is our consciousness, our selfawareness that raises the questions at the core of our being: Where did I come from? Why am I here? What is the meaning/purpose of my life? Is this all there is? What happens at my death? Nothingness? Existence in another dimension? It is the attempt to address and answer such core questions that gives rise to religion. It is the common focus and purpose of all religions, not just Christianity. We tend to forget this. Religion becomes an end in itself: its doctrine something to believe, its cultic forms providing ritual/worship, its moral teaching the way to live in light of its understanding of reality, God, human existence. Religion, then, continues to provide answers to the core questions, but at a step removed from where we live and wrestle with the questions. Religious doctrine tends to move from an existential answer full of passion to an intellectual discussion filled with arguments and rational discourse. And then I hear the physician’s diagnosis: "You are terminally ill; you have at most six months." Or the love of my life dies, or some other instance that creates shock, trauma, and blackness. Now, I am not satisfied with rational discourse or ancient dogma. Now I really need to know and I plunge into anxious struggle with the reality facing me. It is out of such angst, struggle, and fear that religion arises. It gets regularized, formalized, sterile. But then I face the darkness and the religious quest becomes intense. Now I seek some light, some meaning and understanding. Now religion comes alive in my experience; now it becomes very real. It is at the level of existential intensity that I raise the question, "What lies beyond death’s veil?" My purpose is not to give you an easy answer; there aren’t © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   any. Nor is it simply to affirm Easter faith in the resurrection. I’ve done that here for thirty Easters. Rather, I want you to come to understand the question in order to find your way into a place of faith that is your own. If we don’t really understand the questions that drive the religious quest, we may have all the classic orthodox answers but we may be devoid of a deeply personal faith that really brings us inner peace and confidence. So, to the question: "What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil?" As I stated above, there are two basic options: Nothing, or Something More. The option, "Something More", was the nearly universal conviction of all peoples and religion until the 19th century. Even Buddhism and Hinduism, that speak of Nirvana as "Nothingness," view that not as negation of Being. But it is not my intention to attempt to describe such subtleties. Rather, I want to point out that the crisis of belief in some kind of ongoing existence after death is a relatively modern phenomenon and our own 20th century has been shaped by what can be called modern atheism, which can be traced back to the German philosopher/theologian Ludwig Feuerbach. Feuerbach viewed religion as the result of human projection. God does not exist. God is a human invention created to meet human needs, fears and suffering, and then projected into another realm called heaven. For Feuerbach, religion is projection. Building uncritically on that assumption, we have the development of modern atheism. Karl Marx, following Feuerbach, claimed religion was the opium of the people, drugging the human race so it endured injustice and suffering in the hope of a better existence beyond in heaven. Marx thus turned from heaven and afterlife to the transformation of earth and this life, calling for the end of human exploitation by the powerful who oppressed the masses. Sigmund Freud took Feuerbach’s projection idea and claimed religion was illusion. No objective reality corresponded to human religions constructions - no God, no heaven, nothing beyond the veil. The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, brought this train of thinking to its ultimate logical conclusion, to Nihilism: nothingness - no God, no meaning, no right or wrong. Nietzsche was not happy about such a state of affairs. This is the philosopher who cried out in Thus Spake Zarathustra, “God is dead; we have killed him,” and who, on the threshold of the 20th century, declared, "Nothing is true, all is permitted." His insight drove him mad. He spent the last twelve years of his life in an institution for the insane. In his work, The Hidden Face of God, Richard Elliott Friedman in a chapter dealing with Nietzsche entitled, "The ‘Death’ of God," writes, © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Nietzsche’s breakdown, and the elements that it reflected, really does fit as symbolically expressing a culture’s breakdown, or at least its arrival at a critical turning point. And at the summit of that culture was its God. This state of things had been in the making for centuries in that culture. The invention of the printing press made it possible for everyone - not just the priests and the wealthy - to have a Bible, and thus an opportunity to have informed doubts. Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, new knowledge of the age of the earth, the triumph of science in general, all provided potent grounds for doubts. The development of the state as a challenge to the Church for worldly authority also impinged on the authority of the Church and ultimately God.... Open challenges to the claims of religion by respectable intellectuals of all backgrounds became possible (Hobbes, Spinoza, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Tolstoy, etc., etc.) Hegel could write of the death of God. Marx could call religion opium of the masses. Even with the Church, modern biblical criticism became acceptable and, in the formulations of Julius Wellhausen, the father of modern biblical scholarship, it became famous; it was the culmination of a process leading to a new feeling about the Bible, religion, and God. Philosophical, political, scientific, technological, and social forces all were challenging traditional religion and religious establishments in essential ways. (p. 195F) The spiritual crisis of culture in the West that Nietzsche brought to expression as the 19th century ended came to full bloom in the shaking of the foundations in our century. And if religion’s origins lie in the struggle to answer life’s core questions and the core questions about death and what if anything lies beyond its veil, then, given the crisis of Christian faith in this century, it is no wonder the traditional hope provided by the Christian tradition should be clouded with doubt and loss. As is so often true, the Church in its various forms and institutional structures, fought a rear guard action, affirming faith in life after life but failing to do so while taking the modern critiques seriously. Dogmatic declaration of faith’s content without wrestling with the enlightenment created by new knowledge and a revolutionary understanding of reality is a futile endeavor. Rather, the faith that can still connect with human experience must be shaped in light of a new conception of the universe, of the human being, and the inter-action of God with the world. Such an approach is taken by Hans Küng in his lectures entitled Eternal Life? He writes, The turning point to the modern age, the deepest inversion in the time after the birth of Christ, the dual Copernican turning point - from earth to the sun and at the same time from God to the human being - has to be taken seriously. That is to say, we are raising the question of eternal life at a time when a completely new scientific world vision has come to prevail and the blue outer wall of the heavenly halls as the scene of eternal life has begun © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   literally to dissolve into the air; when the postulate of the Enlightenment has penetrated everywhere and there is no longer any eternal truth that can evade the critical judgment of reason by an appeal merely to the authority of Bible, tradition or Church, while belief in eternity can no longer be imposed by authority or taken for granted as part of an ideology; when ideological criticism has laid bare the sociological misuse of belief in eternity, so that the latter can never again be made to serve as an empty promise of a hereafter or as a means of stabilizing unjust, inhuman conditions; when the political-cultural predominance of Christianity has ceased, with the result that the denial of an eternal life no longer involves mortal danger and the all-embracing secularization process has produced a shift of consciousness from the hereafter to the here and now, from life after death to life before death, from yearning for heaven to fidelity to earth. (p. 6) This is the context of our age; it is in this context that we must raise the tough question: What lies beyond death’s veil? Is there nothing? Is there something more? Can the "something more" be affirmed with intellectual integrity as well as the passion of faith? Let us acknowledge that such a conviction was, as indicated above, universally held until the 19th century and the spiritual crisis brought on by the modern scientific understanding of the world. But, let us acknowledge as well that much Christian teaching and preaching did point to the afterlife as consolation and compensation for the suffering and injustice of this life. We must recognize further that such a view did too often lead to passivity toward the wrongs of this world and to the failure fully to live and celebrate this world and our present human experience. We recognize also that confidence that there was "something more" beyond death’s veil is clearly a central proclamation of Christian faith. It was held by the Pharisaic party of the Jewish people during Jesus’ time and he shared that belief. We see this in his discussion with the Sadducees in Luke 20. They denied the idea of resurrection and put to Jesus the question about the woman with multiple husbands. In the resurrection life, whose wife would she be? Jesus claimed the question was nonsensical since what lies beyond is not simply the projection of our present human experience. He then went on to affirm his belief in resurrection reality with an interesting reference to the Hebrew Scriptures - At the burning bush, Moses spoke of God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Jesus’ point is that Moses spoke of God as the © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   God of those ancient Patriarchs in the present tense - as he spoke. Thus, Jesus argues, Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to God all of them are alive. I find that an interesting insight, an interesting use of scripture. Paul was a Pharisee and so he believed in resurrection but, even more vividly, he had been encountered by the risen Lord in a vision. Thus, in his letter to the Romans he speaks not only of the resurrection of Jesus by God’s spirit or breath, but of a future transformation of the whole creation. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. He speaks of Creation as groaning in labor pains until now - waiting, as it were, to burst forth into the fulfillment of God’s intention. Now, let me be clear; I do not think either Jesus or Paul had some divinely revealed understanding of our present scientific understanding of the universe. However, it is possible to make some sense of the hope, the claim they made in light of what we understand about the nature of humankind and the cosmos. Paul saw continuity between the universe and human destiny. To be sure, his was the old model of Fall and Redemption. In Paul’s view of things, it was human disobedience that cast the cosmos into bondage. Moral fault led to the disruption and decay of the physical universe. I have suggested that biblical model no longer gives an adequate reflection of the reality of the universe or of ourselves. Instead, I suggested last week a Creation model with the idea of Emergence taking the place of Fall/Redemption. But, it is interesting that Paul did see the intimate connection of cosmic destiny and human destiny. Paul expected the full consummation of the physical universe at the point of the redemption of humanity and he expected it all quite soon. But, of course, in that Paul and Jesus and the whole apocalyptic movement, Jewish and Christian were mistaken. However, in the model I scratched out in your liturgy last week I set forth in an ascending movement the cosmic reality that has been unfolding all these billions of years -The inorganic level; The organic level; The level of human consciousness; The level of Spirit: Energy coalescing in matter through duration of time, expansion of space moves from the inorganic toward the Spirit. © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 7   There are not really four "realities - inorganic/organic/consciousness/spirit, but one continuous reality that moves from one level to the next, not leaving the earlier level but enfolding it in the next. Where is it going? Jesus claimed the ancients were present to God. “... for to God all are alive.” If God as Mystery is the creative Source of all that is, might God as Mystery as well be the End point or Goal of all that is? Is this amazing cosmic drama, that has come to the point of producing human creatures of Spirit who have a sense of the good, the true, and the beautiful, simply arriving at a "dead end" in the death of the creature so wonderfully endowed? Hans Küng believes otherwise. After his analysis of the critique of modern atheism and his wrestling with the biblical tradition, it is his conviction that we die, not into Nothingness, but into God. I appreciate his modest claim as he faces the question, "What lies beyond death’s veil?" Putting it in terms of present human existence, he claims, "Not less, but more." That I believe is a reasonable claim in full light of present knowledge, but it is a faith claim. Thus, my answer to the question is not “Nothing” but “Something more” and I affirm Küng’s confidence, "not less, but more." Let me conclude with two comments. First, the Church has erred in stressing the afterlife at the expense of this life, heaven at the expense of earth, the future at the expense of the present. The time to live fully and celebrate this amazing human experience is now. And it is now that we are invited to live in the Spirit. Jesus said, "This is eternal life, that they might know you, the only true God ..." Eternal life is not a future condition, but a present reality. If one is living now with the consciousness of God present in one’s experience, then death is but a transition point, not a radical rupture. Secondly, understand that while we need always to be thinking our faith and setting our faith in an honest intellectual light, the "answer" to these tough questions lies not in our ability to reason ourselves to intellectual certainty. Faith lays hold of a reality beyond reason’s grasp. Finally, one must trust one’s heart. I see that so clearly when I walk through the experience of grief with people. There is a comfort of the Spirit, a blessed assurance that is more than any reasonable argument can provide. There are intimations of eternity that only the heart knows as it lives in the spirit in loving awareness, not in contrast to what is reasonable, but beyond reason’s limits. References: © Grand Valley State University �What Lies Beyond Death’s Veil? Richard A. Rhem Page 8   Richard Elliott Friedman. The Hidden Face of God. HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. Hans Küng. Eternal Life?: Life After Death as a Medical, Philosophical, and Theological Problem. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/672743906949f760b7d75541cc343281.mp3 7f4af35069e174df10fcb582591114d9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series Tough Questions: No Easy Answers Scripture Text Romans 8:19, Luke 20:38 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Richard Elliott Friedman, The Hidden Face of God, 1995 Hans K Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19970720 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-07-20 Title A name given to the resource What Lies Beyond Death's Veil? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 20, 1997 entitled "What Lies Beyond Death's Veil?", as part of the series "Tough Questions: No Easy Answers", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Romans 8:19, Luke 20:38. Consciousness Emergence Nature of Religion https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5823a67b41637d5b0ccb385653ea5d0e.pdf 7bb3a45b044bb25b44d8c4c13e269872 PDF Text Text WHAT MOMMIES DO BEST Join us for a series of programs for parents at GVSU. Faculty, staff and student parents welcome. Moms-to-be are welcome too! 12-1 p.m. (Feel free to bring a lunch!) Meet in the Women's Center, 1201 KirkhofCenter, GVSU Allendale Campus Thursday, October 13 - The Importance of Postpartum Support 1 out of7 new moms suffers from postpartum depression. Join us for a discussion about this serious but manageable issue. This program is facilitated by MomsBloom-an organization dedicated to providing physical and emotional support to parents. Tuesday, December 6 - Pamper Me This event has become a tradition on campus, being hosted each December. As we reflect on the events of the past year, this event allows us to enjoy an "in home" spa experience. In addition, guests are encouraged to connect with other parents while they enjoy sitting in front of the fireplace. RSVP required! anderka1@gvsu.edu Thursday,January 26 - Green Parenting Learn tips on raising an environmentally conscious family. Join us for a discussion on eco-friendly practices, limiting your family's impact on the environment and how to create a green home. Tuesday, March 20 - Birth Stories from a Midwife The number of women giving birth with a midwife has doubled since 1990. Certified Midwife Shannon Pawson will explain the benefits of choosing a midwife for your pregnancy care. Co-Sponsors: Children's Enrichment Center Work Life Connections @ GRANDVAuEv SfATElJNivERsITY WOMEN'S CENTER WHAT MOMMIES #OBEST � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09_SGF_2011_What-Mommies-Do-Best.pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Women's Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-10-13/2012-03-20 Title A name given to the resource What Mommies Do Best Description An account of the resource Flyer inviting new parents to learn different topics about parenthood. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women's Center, Children's Enrichment Center, Work Life Connections Subject The topic of the resource Community centers Parenthood Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women's Center Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c9a8d9d3319cdc114b1abc9fed48fef1.pdf f5d2807e4e560d3975747695825c1fb8 PDF Text Text WHAT NOW? Gender Justice and the lGBTQ Movement Alter Marrial!e Presented by Dr. cael Keet1an Tuesday, November 17th at 4 p.m. 2263 Kirkhol center For more inlormanon or uyou need any accommodallons to anend thl event, please contact the MIiton E. Ford LGBT Resource center at (616) 331-2530. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09_SGF_LGBTQ_2015_Gender-Justice-and-the-LGBTQ-Movement-After-Marriage.pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-11-17 Title A name given to the resource What Now? Gender Justice and the LGBTQ Movement After Marriage Description An account of the resource Poster with the information of the event, including the date, time and place. Event for Transgender Day of Remembrance. Subject The topic of the resource Sexual minorities Community centers Transgender Day of Remembrance Equality Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Rainbow Resource Center Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cf00998039e260faf54bdfc5ed8e8bdf.pdf f79c02e907e7a221df93a58d4bac9f28 PDF Text Text LGBT � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09_SGF_LGBTQ_2017_Transgender-Day-of-Remembrance_Susan-Stryker.pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-11-13 Title A name given to the resource What Transpires Now: Transgender History and the Future We Need Description An account of the resource Poster of the event, including a synopsis of the speaker, as well as the location, time and date of the keynote. Subject The topic of the resource Sexual minorities Community centers Transgender Day of Remembrance Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Rainbow Resource Center Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a55bb2b4ff79e43ef07df3b24d09c8d4.pdf 5610fab9f6d67ec2cadda9a4af925d2f PDF Text Text What was Word War II all about? Washilliton Post Writers Group , LONDON - In White~all, a·steady trickle of tourists shuffles through thf> subterranean rooms where Winston Churchill and his war cabinet conducted business while the bombs fell. Taped voices of Neville Chamberlain and Churchill and Hitler echo through the concrete corridors. Across the river in the Imperial War Museum, visitors must make reservations for "The Blitz Experience," a simulation complete with smoke, sounds of air-raid sirens and make-believe bomb concussions. It is very popular. It lasts eight minutes. A recurring theme in modern thought, in writings as diverse as those of Freud and Proust, is the insistent, disturbing prompting of uncontrolled memory. And a recurring political task is the recapture of the past through cultivated memories, those mystic chords that bind people into communities. However, commemorations, such as those of the events of 50 years ago, can give false clarity to the past. What really began in September 1939? The late A.J.P. Taylor was a contrarian, but he had a point when he said the Second World War began in April 1932 when Mao Tse-tung and Chou Teh declared war on the Japanese in the name of the Kaingsi Soviet. Taylor said the war in the European theater began in March 1938 when the army of a great power, Germany, crossed a frontier - Austria's - to force political change. John Lukacs says that what began 50 years ago was "the last European war." As a European war it lasted until December 1941 at which point it became a world conflagration and the fate of Europe fell into the hands of the United States and the Soviet Union. What certainly began on Sept. 1, 1939, was the quick conquest of Poland. By December 1939 only two European states were really involved in combat - the Soviet Union and Finland. British and German troops did not meet until April 20, 1940, in Norway. And as Taylor wrote, until 1942 a wife in London was more apt to be a war casualty than was her husband in the army. The outcome of the war was settled in the first week of December 1941 on Dec. 5, when the Red Army launched a general offensive on the Moscow front, and on Dec. 7, when America was dragged into the war. No one knew what the world was slipping into 50 years ago. A Washington Post headline of Sept. 3, 1939, said: BOTH SIDES AGREE NOT TO BOMB CIVIUANS. The war that in its first month featured charges by Polish horse cavalry ended with two atomic blasts. In 1941, the U.S.Army had20,000 horses, the most since the Civil War. Paul Fussell, in his quirky, dyspeptic, fascinating new book, ''Wartime," is an archeologist of the American and British psyches, unearthing evidence of their conditions during the war. He confirms the judgment that it was a war in which disillusionment set in before the first shot was fired. In 1914, Rupert Brooke spoke for many when he thanked God for the outbreak of war, rejoicing in it as an awakening from "a world grown old and cold and weary," relishing war as a cleansing, invigorating experience, "as swimmers into cleanness leaping." However, the nations that turned wearily to the Second World War had read "All Quiet on the Western Front," and seen the movie of it, as well as "Grand musion." They had read Dos Passos' "Three Soldiers," Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms," Robert 6raves' "Good;tye to All That," and other literatur conveying the taste of ashes from the last war. The Second World War was, Fussell says, a war of impersonal forces, shaped by developments in mass production and propaganda. It was Krupp against General Motors, a war in which anonymity, the annihilation of individuality, was underscored by the name given to the men who conquered the ground: G.I. (government issue) Joes. Eugene Sledge, a Marine whose memoirs Fussell has rescued from obscurity, recalls Okinawa, where replacements were killed before their units learned their names. "They were forlorn figures coming up to the meat grinder and going right back out of it like homeless waifs, unknown and faceless to us, like unread books upon a shelf." Yes, of course the war was a ghastly experience, a maelstrom of modern forces that a poet has called "the conspiracy of the plural against the singular." But it was waged on behalf of singularity. Suppose our side had not won. As Lukacs writes, it is inconceivable that in the First World War, a nationalist war, a bar of German music (the first bar of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - three shorts notes and one long note: Morse code "V'' for victory), could have been adopted as a call of defiance by the nations fighting Gei:many. But the Second War War was waged in defense of a civilization of which Beethoven is an exemplar. It was a war worth winning. 1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_NWS_1988-Why-WWII-327 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Will, George Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988 Title A name given to the resource What was World War II all about? Description An account of the resource Newspaper clipping of Washington Post Writers Group article about World War II fiction and reality. Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945--Fiction Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/91f4a72af373f8b371a1637d7676f5cb.pdf ddbb283fae5add64e7ff89afbe6789dc PDF Text Text What Will You Do With the Story? From the series: Christian Faith: Interpretations of Experiences Text: Luke 24:31; Romans 8:38-39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide, May 17, 1998 Transcription of the spoken sermon In this Eastertide season we have been hearing the stories of those who had an experience of the crucified Jesus as present with them, to them, as a living reality in their midst. Peter thought he was going to return to fishing in Galilee; Paul was going to stamp out the followers of the Way in Damascus; Mary, heart broken, was weeping at the tomb; then they experienced the living Lord, present to them. Flowing from those post-Easter experiences there grew a community of people Jewish people, who believed that Jesus was God’s anointed one to bring about the Kingdom of God as the end of the Age approached. Thus, there was a community of Jesus people. They told their story, shared their experience and the movement grew. We are part of that movement nearly 2000 years later. And you are part of that movement we call Christianity, I suspect in all cases, because you were born into a family that was part of the Christian faith family. Today we celebrate your belonging in this community, this family we call Christ Community, which is part of the global Christian family. You belong. We have given you a candle of faith for you to nurture and keep aflame. In this faith family, we have a story; it is the story of Jesus. In the season of Lent we reflected each week on the theme of Jesus as the Human Face of God. In Jesus we see embodied in a human person what God is like. That is our faith conviction. That is our story. In this faith family, when a child is born we light a candle from the Pascal Candle as a sign that the light of Jesus lives in the child and parents promise to tell their child the story of the faith - Jesus whose way is God’s way, whose truth is God’s truth, whose life is the life of God. We tell the story of Jesus. He is our model of faith and of life. © Grand Valley State University   �What Will You Do With the Story? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   In the church, we tell the story, too - in the liturgy of Sunday morning, in the sermon, in Worship Center, and, now we can say after the last two years, in "The Stepping Stones" study. In your home, in your faith community, you have heard the story told and you have seen the story lived out in your family and in this community. Now we come to the time to hand you a second candle. The first candle was received on your behalf; this one is handed to you. The first candle, it was suggested to your parents, should be lighted on the anniversary of your baptism, telling you the story of that day when you were marked by the waters of Baptism. Now we are suggesting that you re-light this candle on the anniversary of this moment. May 17, 1999 May 17, 2000 May 17, 2001. I don’t know if you will; it is your responsibility now. Some of you, I am sure, will place the candle in some prominent place - on a dresser or a bookshelf. You don’t need to wait until May 17 comes around again; maybe four months from now, feeling anxious about a new school year, you will light it as a reminder that you are not alone, that you belong, that you are loved eternally by God. Some of you may not even get home with the candle today. I know that and I know that God will not love you less. There comes a time when you have to determine how it will be with you and the journey of faith. We have told you the story, assured you that you belong to the family of God, that God is for you and nothing can ever separate you from that love of God which came to expression in Jesus Christ. Now you hold the candle in your own hands. What will you do with the story? To be sure, you cannot honestly tell me that today. Let’s recognize that. Demanding some lifetime commitment from you at this point in your life is unrealistic. That is why we are putting a whole new light on this passage into young adulthood. There is much for you to discern, discover and decide in these days. Much is happening to you, biologically in your body, socially in your relationships, educationally in your life choices. This is hardly the time to confront you with a spiritual life choice. For now, rest in the security of God’s love, your spiritual family’s affirmation and trust, and our promise to be here for you. © Grand Valley State University �What Will You Do With the Story? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   And then the moment will come when you face the question of your own spiritual journey. You will come to an awareness of the Mystery of God and the wonder of life. And you will know where you stand, in what or whom you believe and that to which you will commit yourself. That is the way it happens authentically. I read the story from Luke of the two disciples walking home to Emmaus from Jerusalem, sad at heart because Jesus had been crucified. They are joined by a third person whom they do not recognize. He inquires about their conversation and they relate what had just happened. They even tell the stranger that women had gone to the tomb and found it empty and had a vision of angels who said he was alive. Others, to verify the women’s story, went and also found the tomb empty, but still there was no Easter faith, no faith in a living, risen Lord. They came to the village and Jesus made as though he would go on, but they invited him to come home with them as evening was approaching. He entered their home and, strangely, at the evening meal acted as host. He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road ..." Well, it may have been evening, but they returned immediately to Jerusalem; they found their companions gathered and what did they do? They told their story. Their companions knew it, too, because they reported, "The Lord is risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon!" (or Peter, as we more familiarly know him.) There you have it. Not the empty tomb, not, that is, some objective proof, some irrefutable argument from evidence, but the experience of the living Lord - that created Easter faith. It is an experience of the Presence, awareness, wonder. And such moments of awareness still are the only way to one’s own faith. That is what Luke is saying. John Dominic Crossan, a scholar studying the historical Jesus, says of the story from Luke, "Emmaus never happened; Emmaus always happens." That is what I want you to understand at this significant moment in your lives We have told you the story. Your parents have told you the story. We have spoken of God, of Jesus as the word of God in human flesh, of his way, his death, his resurrection. And growing up, you have learned the stories, essentially believed it all to be true. But now you are entering a new stage of your growth toward adulthood and maturity. Now you can no longer take it all in secondhand, believing because you are told it is so. Now you begin to question, to wonder, to probe for yourself Now you hear the story in terms of your own unfolding experience. Now you © Grand Valley State University �What Will You Do With the Story? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   must ask, "Is it true?" But, not simply true in that these things happened and the Christian tradition has held these things to be true and life-transforming for 2000 years. Now the question is, "Is it true for me?" "What will I do with the story?" Some of you will follow quite naturally. Some of you will struggle a bit. Some of you may need to create some distance between you and the family faith. We are all different. And it is important that we all be given the freedom to find our own way authentically. Don’t force the spiritual vision. Don’t panic as though you may be abandoned. But, do keep your mind and heart open to God’s Spirit. One day walking the road to Emmaus, or receiving bread at this table, or in conversation with a parent, friend, or lover, or when a child is born or a loved one dies - you will inexplicably find your heart burning, your eyes will be open, you will see in the face of Jesus the God Who gave you life, Who has never abandoned you, and Who will never let you go. And maybe you will rummage around in some old trunk holding personal items, photo albums, and a candle - you will light it - and you will know that you are held in the grip of grace. Your eyes will mist over, you will hear angels sing and you will know the wonder of the love of God from which you will never be separated. Such an experience stamps us indelibly. We are transformed. Such an experience, however, is not once for all - thank God, there are further places along the journey when again and again we experience, we know, we believe and we commit ourselves anew. It is the human journey in its deepest dimension. It is such awareness that makes us human, embodied Spirit, children of the Spirit in the Family of God. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/67c10c099f923394fddad55effbd2796.mp3 e11cc6e3b91c012b553969b6ecdce430 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide VI Series Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience Scripture Text Luke 24:31, Romans 8:38-39 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19980517 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-05-17 Title A name given to the resource What Will You Do With the Story? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 17, 1998 entitled "What Will You Do With the Story?", as part of the series "Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience", on the occasion of Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 24:31, Romans 8:38-39. Community of Faith Journey of Faith https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/09183ab01d818b8393b9fe8c28f4c7b2.pdf d06de1eb0e7363e07eb397e95f040df5 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09_SGF_WGS_2015_What-to-do-with-WGS.pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-10-28 Title A name given to the resource What will YOU do with WGS? Description An account of the resource Poster of the session, including the location, time and date. Subject The topic of the resource Women's studies Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3f42565c26cebfd3a77a2ed5b66310db.jpg 94caee517453a01efcaf30b431322776 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Red-Misc-39 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 Title A name given to the resource What's Happening Description An account of the resource A page from the Red Barn Playhouse's What's Happening?, which includes an article that describes the playhouse's performance of Godspell. It also includes an article about the set designers, Robert and Ryan Koharchik, as well as information about an expansion of seating, which was done to increase patron comfort. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Community theater Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History from the Saugatuck Douglas History Center for the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/385cb28e46d27358f61bcce7985c22ac.mp3 c2885325e59b4c63e3c1e1dc2b299727 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fa38780b05fbe989a47b250b92dbfa02.pdf bdd945a7ca77fff6d5413ea73c7c6606 PDF Text Text What’s the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O’Donnell? Recognition of Colette Volkema DeNooyer Scripture: I Corinthians 13; Matthew 18:10-14, 19:13-16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan May 12, 2002, Eastertide VII Transcription of the spoken sermon Thirteen years ago when Colette joined the team, she used to chastise me a bit for the prosaic nature of the titles of my sermons, lacking all creativity and invitation, so I thought that, on this the day on which we honor her ministry as she lays it down, I should extend myself in finding an interesting title. After the long service last week, someone came up to me in the courtyard and said, "Dick, I'm going to cancel," and I thought, "Oh, no, I've lost another one." But, he said, "I'm going to cancel my trip up north because of the sermon title next week." Actually, the sermon title doesn't have anything to do with Colette. As a matter of fact, it flashed into my mind in a moment's time before this day was ever set as the day to honor her. It flashed into my mind in a moment, and I knew I had my Mother's Day sermon, and I even contemplated, when we determined this to be the day we should honor Colette, if I should change the sermon. But, on more reflection, I thought, "No, I think it fits." "What’s the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell?" Rosie O'Donnell, the talk show host on television, comedienne. I have never seen one of her programs; I know very little about her. My research assistant, Char Zoet, at the library, dug up all kinds of interesting information which saved me, having already proclaimed my determination to speak about Rosie O'Donnell. But, on one of those times that I moved from my loft through the bedroom and into the bathroom, which I do on occasion while Nancy is watching television (I say to her, "Are the Red Wings ahead," or "Are the Pistons winning?" or whatever, and then I retreat again to Jesus and the loft), but, on this particular evening, Diane Sawyer was interviewing Rosie O'Donnell, and I paused long enough to realize that I must sit down and listen, and I was deeply moved. I was touched, because I saw embodied the kind of love and grace that I wish were always the hallmark of the Christian community, for Rosie O'Donnell, in her interview with Diane Sawyer, was coming out of the closet and declaring herself to be gay, not in order that she might tell the whole world of her sexual orientation because she says, "It was never really a very big deal for me," but, she came out of the closet and on national television wanted to be known as a gay parent, and the reason she © Grand Valley State University �What’s a Holy Father To Do with a Mother Like… Richard A. Rhem Page 2 wanted to be known as a gay parent was that she has entered a crusade, a crusade that would help people to understand that to be a parent, to be a good parent, has nothing to do with one's sexual orientation. It happened that Rosie O'Donnell, who has adopted three children of her own, became aware of a situation in Florida where a family was being threatened by the Florida agencies that were going to take away a young man who had been with this couple for ten years. The couple has gathered together a family, five children, black and white, all five of them HIV positive. Diane Sawyer interviewed the children. They were well groomed and well spoken and obviously a tight family unit who gave every evidence of being very, very normal, and very much in love with their family, and with their two gay men parents. When Rosie learned that Bert, who had been with them for ten years, might be taken away because, in Florida, if you're gay, you cannot adopt, she went into the trenches, and she determined herself to say, "Look, I'm gay. I'm a gay parent, and I'm a good parent, and I care about children, and to discriminate against gay people as parents is to deny the hundreds of thousands of children who have no parents or home to call their own." Rosie one day saw the story of Amanda on television, a little five-year-old who had been raped and beaten. Through a long story to which I cannot go, she finally found this little girl in a home with twenty others from five to seventeen. She related to all of them, took a picture of each one, but finally was able to get aside with Amanda, giving her a Beanie Bunny, and then Amanda looked at her affectionately and asked, "What's your name?' Rosie said, "Roseann." Amanda said, "Amanda." As she went to leave, Rosie couldn't quite let her go, and so she said, "I have a gift for you," and Amanda lifted up her Beanie Bunny and said, "You have already given me a gift," and Rosie reached into her pocket and brought out a polished stone on which was inscribed, "Love." She said to Amanda, "Every time you see this stone, know that I love you and there are a lot of people that love you and care for you." What's the Holy Father to do with a mother like Rosie O'Donnell? I use the Holy Father, of course, only as a symbol of the Church. The poor man has enough on his plate at this time without having to deal with Rosie O'Donnell. But I use him as a symbol for the Church at large which finds it so hard to learn the lesson of the Apostle Paul who said that love is finally all that matters, and all that lasts eternally. As I thought of the love embodied in Rosie and her care and her compassion for children, it is a love unlike the saccharin, sweet, sentimentality of a Hallmark card, but it is the love that gets involved and engaged. It is the love whose passion is committed to justice and to the well-being of others, and in Rosie's case, to the well-being of children. I thought what better model on Mother's Day than to say, really, all that matters is love. That kind of love. And the reason I thought it would apply to Colette, as well, is because she was an "abused child." She had to go to Sunday School and © Grand Valley State University �What’s a Holy Father To Do with a Mother Like… Richard A. Rhem Page 3 Catechism, and like most of us, she suffered through that and she pledged to herself that she would do something better for her children. And so she created the Worship Center. She created all of the stories, the curriculum, and she perfected the method, and she blessed her children and the children of us all, and the children of hundreds of congregations scattered about whose leaders she has trained. It was because of her passion for children, her love for children that she gave of herself, her energy, her mind and her heart to the creation of this marvelous program which, although she lays down the mantle, will go on to continue to bless our children and our children's children, I trust. And then there was another reason … It is because beyond her skills as a Christian educator, Colette went on to further her education, to gain her ordination, and in our midst she has become a preacher extraordinaire, and she has preached intelligently and passionately and she has not backed away from being a prophetic voice in our midst. In the midst of the team, as well, she has spearheaded a programmatic dimension of this ministry, for example, with Peter Theune, inaugurating our ministry to people with homosexual orientation, leading to the ongoing program of the Circle of Friends and the creation here of a community that has lost its fear and, in love, has been able to embrace all people, so that we have the marvelous experience of seeing love literally melt barriers and build marvelous relationships in a community that has been able to move beyond bias and prejudice and fear and alienation and become, perhaps, just a little bit, the embodiment of what a Rosie O'Donnell is on the broader screen of the world today. And so, Colette has been creator of Worship Center, prophetic voice, but I suppose, finally, the storyteller with the children gathered 'round her, and the image with which we will always hold her is that marvelous image in the Gospel of Jesus who, when the disciples tried to push away the mothers with their children, Jesus said, "Let them come, for to such belongs the kingdom," and he took them on his lap and he blessed them. What's the Holy Father to do with a mother like Rosie O'Donnell? I don't really know, but this somewhat less than holy father would say, "Bless you, Rosie. Bless you, Colette. Thank God for you both." © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Mothers' Day, Eastertide VI Series Affirmation of ministry of Colette Volkema de Nooyer Scripture Text Matthew 19:14, I Corinthians 13:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020512 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-05-12 Title A name given to the resource What's the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 12, 2002 entitled "What's the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell?", as part of the series "Affirmation of ministry of Colette Volkema de Nooyer", on the occasion of Mothers' Day, Eastertide VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 19:14, I Corinthians 13:13. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Empathy https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/539df658e260fe5e145a388682d9eef5.jpg c8328ba381735347b67abae02e9a7451 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_M297-0001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-10-28 Title A name given to the resource Wheaton College Football Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a close-up view of Wheaton College football players standing in a huddle during a game in Wheaton, Illinois. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Wheaton College (Ill.) College athletes--Illinois Football players--Illinois Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e90cba9a93d863ec8aca3684a46a438a.jpg f69a8d31bba4adfd24760fb8f4c89cb0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_M297-0017a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-10-28 Title A name given to the resource Wheaton College Football Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a close-up view of Wheaton College football players during a game in Wheaton, Illinois. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Wheaton College (Ill.) College athletes--Illinois Football players--Illinois Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2eafe332347db1c06a0dec2cceae12a5.jpg 332ce97edb5c1d63596b41b620ca296b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_M298-0023a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-10-28 Title A name given to the resource Wheaton College Football Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a Wheaton College football game in Wheaton, Illinois. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Wheaton College (Ill.) College athletes--Illinois Football players--Illinois Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/91d3899e5c16a30bdec369745d066825.jpg 2bb86221ed21403e80a61fc4a60f60c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_M298-0038a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-10-28 Title A name given to the resource Wheaton College Football Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a Wheaton College football game in Wheaton, Illinois. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Wheaton College (Ill.) College athletes--Illinois Football players--Illinois Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1a27fe321f984997dbdaa7f3710af1ac.jpg 18a675cebf3adda15becf9a073134b4a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_LS00114 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1918-1921 Title A name given to the resource Wheelbarrow train cross country path Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of a line of laborers pushing heavily laden wheelbarrows along a dirt road atop a dike in China. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides China Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f66ec9ebdf587dc5f509699dd53deae7.jpg 08c5e862a3f4191d9ad3cf16c4e3aa8d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_LS00113 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1918-1921 Title A name given to the resource Wheelbarrow train on dike top road Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of a line of laborers pushing heavily laden wheelbarrows along a dirt road atop a dike in China. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides China Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8cb008fe05560e1bda18c7bcd2981265.mp3 5ac85b51f7141086f4f8539040cef9f5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Midweek Lent Series Songs in the Night Scripture Text Psalm 22 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19980401 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-04-01 Title A name given to the resource When Forsakenness Overwhelms Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 1, 1998 entitled "When Forsakenness Overwhelms", as part of the series "Songs in the Night", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 22. https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/799516baa3c3c1dc0c031b1146ef77ab.mp3 ed099916fc9e7ac75f3c1176e5c881e9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3030a4290dea7563fc2bea6b7ec506d.pdf ab5f0bd6d14211eab6f5f99381277485 PDF Text Text When god Dies… From the series: Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Text: Psalm 42:2; Romans 1:20 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 13, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon We have been considering the significant criticism of religion that came to expression in the nineteenth century in order to understand it and to find fresh expression for the reality of the experience of God. It seems to me it is really not possible to find a fresh expression that will be adequate for the twenty-first century unless we have some understanding of the philosophical and theological discussions of the modern period, particularly those of the nineteenth century. What came to expression at that time was the realization that religion is a human construct. Of course, the faith communities fought that idea. They claimed that religion was a divine revelation, a largely ready-made religion that came from heaven. But the insight of the nineteenth century certainly is true—religion is a human construct. From all we know today about the origin, function, and nature of religion, all we know about historical development, it is quite foolish to deny that religion is a human construct. On the basis of this insight, the nineteenth-century German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach said that God was nothing but an illusion, a projection of human fears and hopes and aspirations. God, so to speak, was created in our own image. That assumption or declaration became the foundation for nineteenth-century thought. Religion—a human construct, yes. And based on that, God became a human projection. Now there was no one home in the universe; nobody out there, so to speak, no counterpart to that human projection and aspiration. While it would be very foolish for us to try to deny that religion is a human construct, once one has assented to that, it does not follow that no one is home. For understanding that religions are human constructs is understanding that religions are human responses to the Mystery that encounters us, that upholds us, that permeates reality and encounters us in our human existence. So although we won’t deny that our religion is a human construct, if we will continue to be religious, we will do it on the basis of our conviction that for better or worse, religion is an agency, a medium by which we come into communion with that © Grand Valley State University   �When God Dies… Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Ultimate Mystery of things, that infinite and inexhaustible ground of all being, that source, guide and goal of all that is. This, of course, is the issue as we look for fresh expression: to hear the significant criticism and then to find a way to say “God,” nonetheless. The nineteenth century came to its climax in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose name conjures up nihilism—nothing means anything. Nihilism, or nothingness. There is no foundation, no meaning, no purpose. Just capricious, purposeless reality as it exists. Nietzsche died one hundred years ago this month, August 15, 1900. He is famously known for his claim, “God is dead,” to which he added, “We have killed him.” The last decade of Nietzsche’s life was one of misery and terror. He moved into insanity and died a pathetic and broken person. But Nietzsche had come out of the rich soil of Protestant Christian faith and experience. He was buried next to his Lutheran pastor father, and his mother’s father and grandfather likewise were Lutheran pastors. Yet in his work and study Nietzsche had come to the conclusion that the God of his tradition—the God of Western civilization—was dead, and this sensitive and brilliant thinker had the courage to draw the implications of the death of God. At this point it would be typical of pulpit rhetoric to say, “You see what happens when you deny God?” But that would be to miss the point altogether. For Nietzsche to conclude that God was dead was an anguishing understanding. Nietzsche wrote, “How much collapse [will follow], now that this faith has been undermined, because it was built upon this faith, propped up by it, grown into it, for example, the whole of European morality.” Nietzsche looked at it all, opened his mind to every bit of knowledge and understanding available. Then he drew the conclusion that God, as God had been conceived, was dead, and he was horrified by the thought. Thomas Altizer, one of the leading death of God theologians in the 1960s, wrote about the contemporary situation, calling it “a new chaos, a new meaninglessness brought on by the disappearance of an absolute or transcendent ground, the very nihilism foreseen by Nietzsche as the next stage of history.” Altizer also wrote, “No honest contemporary seeker can ever lose sight of the very real possibility that the willing of the death of God is the way to madness and dehumanization.” A Jewish thinker, Richard Rubenstein, in his book After Auschwitz, said no one could believe in the traditional God of Judaism and Christianity after Auschwitz. He wrote of “the ambiguity, the irony, the hopelessness, and the inevitable meaninglessness of the time of the death of God. ... If I am a death of God theologian, it is with a cry of agony.” (p. 263) So what we have in these particular thinkers and in this particular development is a conclusion reached in the light of the critical rationality of the modern period, the kind of knowledge that all of us take for granted in the world in which we live, © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Dies… Richard A. Rhem Page 3   a world of scientific breakthrough, of technological advance, of historical understanding of human development, of the behavioral sciences, of sociology and anthropology—all of the knowledge available to us. These particular thinkers said God is dead. That is, the traditional God as conceived of in Western civilization and in Western Christendom does not exist. If you think about it for a moment, we have noted how, in the early dawn of humankind, religion was a part of that dawning human emergence. In paganism or in primitive forms, whatever you want to call it, humans became conscious of their vulnerability before the forces of the universe and created religious systems. In these systems they personified and deified the forces of nature, and then worshiped them, offering sacrifices and prayers in order to find security in this very insecure universe. So in large measure the origin of early religious expression had a great deal to do with securing human beings as they came to consciousness and realized the vulnerability of being human. With the development of the great monotheisms, one God as creator of all, governor of all, provident ruler of all—the omnipotent omniscient God—that particular God became the ground of morality. That God was Moses’ vision of God issuing the Ten Commandments. But all religion began in a founding experience with a certain understanding or teaching or dogma, developing ways of ritual and worship and a way of life or culture. If the God of any one of these religions dies, then on what authority does one base one’s morality? Nietzsche said, “God is dead, and now everything is permissible.” Not that he was advocating that, but he was saying the whole foundation is gone. Without that absolute transcendent ground, the whole European morality is gone. The human is free-floating, and that was a terrifying thought for Neitzsche. Indeed, it drove him mad. But he was one of those who, understanding what he saw, had the courage to draw the implication. There are not many in the human family who, seeing deeply and profoundly, have the courage to draw the implication when it leads to the abyss. Better that the people go blindfolded or in their naiveté than to tell the truth which could lead to chaos. The nineteenth century was a watershed, and those who would think deeply and clearly and ruthlessly must come to terms with the claims of modern knowledge. Perhaps one will not find God at the end of the scientific quest. But the religious experience must at least be conceived of in terms of our broadest understanding of reality. Otherwise, our head is in the sand, or we go through life blindfolded, or we go through life fearfully denying what is there on the horizon. Nietzsche said God is dead, and in the 1960s scholars said, “That’s where we are.” But nothing really came of it because there was such strong reaction; because it is such scary business. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Dies… Richard A. Rhem Page 4   There have been responses on the part of the Christian community. For example, if you have experience with the Roman Catholic tradition, you know that it still tries to operate in an authoritarian manner, by fiat, by the teaching the Office of the Congregation for the Faith to convince the faithful of what is true and what is not true. But authoritarianism has been thrown off in the modern period and I cannot conceive of it finally ever gaining its foothold again. Then there is the global phenomenon of Pentecostalism that Harvey Cox has documented in his book Fire from Heaven. Everywhere on the globe there are people who are having the experience of God in an ecstatic experience. They are experiencing God apart from their rational faculties. They are experiencing God at the gut level, if you will, highly emotional and very satisfying temporarily. The thing about emotional fixes is that you have to have a fix again and again and again. This is not a criticism of those who find their mode of operation through that means. But certainly for us who want to engage our reasoning faculty as well, it is not enough. Pentecostalism is working, working its way in a world that became arid through the intellectualism and the skepticism of the nineteenth century. I suppose it arose in reaction to the claim that God is dead. But Pentecostalism will not work for some of us. Bless those for whom it works. There is also the reaction of Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism would like to claim to be the old, old faith, but actually it is a relatively new faith. It is a reaction to modernity. It is a reaction to Feuerbach and Marx and Freud and Nietzsche. It is a reaction to the liberal Christian Church that tried to accommodate the insights of the nineteenth century into an understanding of the Christian faith. But Fundamentalism cannot long persist because it lives by assertion of that faith; it lives by saying it over and over and more loudly. But simply to affirm does not make it true. The Evangelism 2000 Conference recently ended in Amsterdam with some 10,000 evangelists from around the world gathered by Billy Graham as his last great effort. What came out of that conference again establishes Fundamentalism: Jesus Christ alone is the only savior of the world and all that goes with that exclusive claim. I do not believe it is where Billy Graham is personally, but there were ten percent of those ten thousand people who signed a document even more rigid than the conference statement itself. Well, if you were an evangelist, wouldn’t you like to have the only key to the truth, the only key to the salvation of the world? If there were other “keys,” suddenly yours could lose its power. I suppose such a conference, such a rally, would be the last place in the world where the implications of the interfaith dialogue would be expressed. Then we have the whole area of “Christian Science.” Isn’t it amazing that in the twenty-first century there is still controversy about evolution and Creationism? Isn’t it amazing that there are very intelligent people in our country who are © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Dies… Richard A. Rhem Page 5   giving all of their energy and all of their minds to the establishment and the buttressing of a literalistic view of an ancient book that was a marvelous mythological presentation of the creation of the world? It is very difficult for me to understand Creationism, and I do not believe that it can possibly prevail. But in our society today it is a living issue. I cannot comprehend that this whole effort can succeed in the long run, in the light of day before those who would be open to pursue the truth through the use of critical judgment. In the title I used a small “g” for God because it is not God who has died, but god who has died. The respective images of God that come to expression in the various religious understandings of the world no longer connect with our knowledge. Western Christian, Protestant faith in the God who is still the governor, creator, omnipotent, omniscient ruler of all—that God is the God about whom the death of God theologians speak. That is the God Nietzsche said was dead. But to say that a particular image or conception of God is dead is not to say that God is dead. It is to say nothing about that ultimate ground of being that emerges or surrounds or embraces us and comes to expression in the creativity of the Spirit in the midst of the cosmic flow of things. The God of traditional Protestant expression—that god is dead. I experienced the death of that god yesterday at the funeral of my sister. In my old home environment, the place from which I emerged, I was very much a stranger, very alien. The expression of piety in that funeral was far, far more emotional and sentimental than anything I had grown up with. Mine was a much sterner expression of Dutch mystical pietism. But there I was in my old home territory where my family still worships and I heard emotion in the musical expression, emotion in the “open mike” testimony and in the statements of the pastor, and I noted the frequent use of “we know, we know, we know.” I wanted to say, “You tell me so often how much we know because I suspect you are trying to convince yourself that it is true.” I had to admit that the god of my childhood is dead. That god will not serve for me. I do not begrudge anyone an expression of faith that is satisfying and comforting, but I know that the god they addressed is dead for me and that god will not bring fresh expression to the twenty-first century, to a world that is breaking open in the wonder and the mystery of it all. That god of my childhood died, but God has not died. I read Psalm 42 and I identify with that, don’t you? My soul longs for God, for the living God. When will I come and appear before God? O God, my soul is cast down. Why have You forgotten me? © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Dies… Richard A. Rhem Page 6   I long, I yearn for the experience of God. Hope Thou in God. I shall yet praise him, my God and my Lord. That expression touches me as deeply as it did the Psalmist. But it is a God conceived quite other than the Psalmist’s image I’m sure, which is as one would expect. It should be because of the tremendous explosion of knowledge, of reality, of the world of the human being, of social reality. Of course, the image is different. And when I use the old phrases or sing the old hymns, I can do it understanding it as poetry, as the imagery of a generation of faith that preceded me, that handed faith to me. But if I want to give fresh expression, I have to find new language and that is not easy to do. If I am not honest about that, if I cannot say that god is dead in the emotionalism, in the grieving and all of that which came to expression in a service that was a marvelous testimony to my sister, my own spiritual life will wither. It was a language I can no longer use and I must say, then, that god is dead. But only a small “g” god is dead. God continues to be the mystery toward which my soul longs, longing still for living waters. When god dies, if it is the god of the small “g,” there is no need to panic. Trust. Wait. Nietzsche said, “I live between two ages, one that is dead and one powerless to be born.” We haven’t moved very far. We’re still between. Most of us are not ready to give up the old. For some of us who have had to do that, the new is not at all clear. Yet if I trust God, I can wait in hope, in the darkness, with the longing of my life reaching toward the mystery that is beyond us and beneath us and permeating the one reality into which our lives are woven. That is our quest. References: Rubenstein, Richard L. After Auschwitz. Indianapolis: Bobbs- Merrill, 1966. See a discussion of Nietzsche in Richard Elliott Friedman’s The Hidden Face of God. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1995. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Series Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Scripture Text Psalm 42:2, Romans 1:20 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Richard Elliott Friedman. The Hidden Face of God, 1995. (For a discussion of Nietzche). Richard L. Rubenstein. After Auschwitz, 1966. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000813 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-08-13 Title A name given to the resource When god dies... Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 13, 2000 entitled "When god dies...", as part of the series "Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 42:2, Romans 1:20. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Mystery Religion as a Human Construct https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/200cee898d3f9ceacd7fc34f0976025f.pdf 060b4d5af548a0f092ba358f54b9d434 PDF Text Text When God Fails Our Expectations From the Series: Good News Then and Now Text: Isaiah 2:4; Matthew 24:34; II Peter 3:4 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 8, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon I inaugurate a new series of messages today that will take us to the end of October and Reformation Sunday, the day we remember the major event in Christian history when the Protestant tradition emerged out of the Roman Catholic tradition in the 16th century. That Protestant tradition in its Reformed expression is my background and the tradition in which this congregation was founded in 1870. It is the tradition of a majority of this congregation still, I believe, although I suspect over the last decade or more we have received in membership more folks from the Roman Catholic tradition than from any other. It seems to me that the idea of reformation is an important idea to keep before us on the threshold of the 21st century and the Third Millennium, and I am hoping that this Reformation celebration will be our most significant ever because we will have traced the Christian faith development through 2000 years. On the heels of Reformation, we will have the Jewish scholar on Christian origins, AmyJill Levine, here for the weekend, speaking here on Sunday, November 7, and then Bishop John Shelby Spong on November 12-14, speaking on "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." That should prepare us for an informed and intelligent movement into the new millennium. In order to prepare the congregation for this experience, I will in this series go back not to the 16th century, but to the first and second centuries of the Common Era and trace the development of the Christian faith story over 2000 years. My first choice for series title was, "Christian Faith and the Climate of Opinion: A Two Millennia Retrospective." The Team cried, "No way! No one will come!" Then I came up with what I thought was really fascinating and even a bit poetic: "When Symbols Break and Myths Dissolve." The verdict - "Scary." So, finally, bowing to pressure of those who hope to keep this place alive, I entitled the series, "Good News Then and Now," meaning thereby what I’ve meant all along – © Grand Valley State University   �When God Fails Expectations Richard A. Rhem Page 2   that the Gospel - the good news - has continued to be proclaimed in every succeeding age in changing expression reflecting the historical context into which it is spoken. My purpose must be obvious; I believe we must find a fresh translation of the good news for the day in which we are living. We all know this happened in the 16th century when the Western Roman Catholic Church was rent and Protestantism emerged, but I hope to enable you to see that, although that was perhaps the most dramatic and certainly the shift that has most impacted us in Western Christendom, it was but one instance of what has been happening for 2000 years, although not always with such major institutional repercussions. This is important for this congregation to realize because we are endeavoring to find the medium and the message that will bring good news to our community and our world at the turn of the millennium. The Gospel means good news - good - that is, encouraging, hopeful, life enhancing. News - that means updated, fresh, for now. Thus, Good News then in the first and fourth and 12th and 16th centuries and all points in between, Good News now: How do we bring a helpful, hopeful, encouraging word to our moment on the timeline of history? It is my sense that if we are going to feel the freedom to re-imagine the faith and do it with passion and seriousness, we must realize that we stand in a line of those who have wrestled with the faith, have come into times that called for fresh insight on the emerging human experience, on the unfolding drama we call history. As the human situation changes, faith formulations must address new circumstances and new human experiences. I have hammered away at this until you perhaps tire of hearing it. But, I am now embarking on a rather ambitious undertaking: to lay the foundation for the perspectives we share here. I suppose one might say this is an apology for my ministry and for the posture of this congregation, providing historical justification for daring boldly to revision and re-imagine the faith. One more word - my purpose is not to provide an academic lecture series; this is worship and the sermon should have practical, spiritual import for the life of the congregation. In the significant shifts through 2000 years, behind the shifts have always been existential concern - faith matters that matter for living. Thus, today my sermon is "When God Fails Our Expectations." I think that expresses the experience of the early Church as the Apostolic generation was dying off. The whole Jesus movement was posited on the expectation of the imminent return of Jesus Christ from heaven. They held to the conviction that Jesus who was crucified was risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and was soon to return to judge the living and the dead. © Grand Valley State University �When God Fails Expectations Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Imminence was the operative word - Jesus would come a second time soon. The New Testament references are too numerous to cite. Let me simply remind you of the final words of the Revelation of Jesus to John just prior to the final benediction: "Surely I am coming soon." Paul in I Corinthians 15:51, "We will not all die, but we will all be changed." In I Thessalonians 4:13f, "... then we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord ..." And, of course, from the Gospel reading,"Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place ..." Matthew 24:34. Let me say here that some of the Jesus scholars today attribute these apocalyptic passages to the early Jesus community - not to Jesus himself. That is currently a rigorous debate. But no matter; my point is that this was the expectation of the Jesus movement in the wake of his life and death. And Jesus did not return. That was the first major crisis of faith of the Jesus movement - or as it came to be known - the Christian Church. It takes little thought or reflection to realize how traumatic was the delay of the parousia, as this fact is spoken of. Parousia is a Greek term for coming, advent. The "delay" points to the early sense that surely he is coming, coming soon, but obviously not as soon as we expected. There has been a delay. Now, if this was at the heart and center of the early Church’s hope and expectation, waiting for the glorious appearance of the Lord from glory, then non-appearance, at first spoken of as delay, created some urgent questions about loved ones who died in the meantime, for example, would they miss out? But, for the most part, faith held on. But, when the whole Apostolic generation died, which was to be the terminal generation, the crisis deepened. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that those who died would be included with those who are alive at the Lord’s coming, but eventually they all died. Now, widescale defection began and the faith of many was put on the defensive. This is the situation we find in the Second Letter of Peter which was not written by the Apostle Peter, but is best dated after 90 CE and perhaps as late as about 150 CE, that is, 70 to 120 years after the death of Jesus. That a crisis exists we can read from II Peter 3:3ff, "... in the last days scoffers will come. They will ask mockingly, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’" In other words, the believers were taunted with the fact that it was "business as usual" in the world. Nothing happened. What, then, of the claims of the risen, ascended Lord coming in glory and power to judge the world? © Grand Valley State University �When God Fails Expectations Richard A. Rhem Page 4   It is obvious that the delay of the Lord’s appearing must have created an extremely difficult situation for the early Christian movement. That movement was composed of two distinct groups - the Jewish Christian community located largely in Palestine and the Gentile Christian community, the result of Paul’s mission. These two groups had sharp differences. New Testament study sees Luke’s writing in Acts as an attempt to show how these two were reconciled, but there was a sharp division. Yet, both groups held essentially to the apocalyptic hope that was rooted in Jewish apocalypticism that was anticipating the end of the age, and both saw the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as the beginning of the End, which would be consummated with his return from heaven to judge the living and the dead. The imminent return of Jesus did not happen and that significant fact necessitated a major transformation of Christian understanding. It was Albert Schweitzer who called biblical scholarship and theological inquiry to the recognition of the fact that there occurred in the immediate past Apostolic period a transformation of understanding of the Gospel. The transformation moved the early Christian movement to what is called early Catholicism. That, in fact, was a move not only to create a new understanding of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but also toward the creation of the Christian Church as an institution, a regularizing of the faith, mode of worship (liturgy, sacrament) and structure of the Church. This was the beginning of doctrinal formulation and the formulation of orthodoxy. It was not a simple process. There were strenuous battles fought over the right interpretation of the Gospel and it did not happen smoothly or at all places at the same time. There were now groups and views designated as heretical and after a long, tortuous process there emerged what was designated the regula Fidei, the Order of the Faith. In the process, Jewish Christianity was reduced to a sect and eventually faded from the scene and St. Paul’s theological understanding was transformed into the faith of the early Catholic Church. It is not possible for me in the sermon format to document this or set forth the conflicting path by which it was accomplished. Perhaps, however, you can sense what was happening if I describe the whole movement as the eschatology of the Apostolic faith. This must be plain to see, for the problem was the imminent return of Jesus which did not happen. Eschatology is the teaching about the last things, the end of history. It derives from Eschaton, a Greek word meaning “End.” In sum, the post-Apostolic movement had to create a new scenario - a scenario which took into account ongoing history and the living of life in the world which obviously did not pass away. © Grand Valley State University �When God Fails Expectations Richard A. Rhem Page 5   This was the first and major shift in understanding made imperative for the Christian movement by the delay of the parousia. In his Formation of Christian Dogma, Martin Werner, a Swiss historian of dogma, taking his cue from Schweitzer and others, claims this was the womb out of which all Christian dogmatics must be understood. So what? Remember, my purpose in this series, to demonstrate that the point in history at which we have arrived as the third millennium dawns calls us to revision and reimagine the faith, in continuity with the tradition but in fresh expression which takes account of the new world which is our historical context, and that need not cause fear or anxiety because this kind of development has been going on from the very beginning. The second letter of Peter was a plea not to yield to the inevitable. Those who realized that Jesus’ return was delayed were not all scoffers, although I am sure some were. There were also those who took up the challenge to try to make sense of the Gospel in new historical circumstances. The author of our text was an early fundamentalist, pleading yesterday’s answers to today’s questions. I find it fascinating that that writer still has voices crying the same thing. Two thousand years later there are those claiming the days are counting down. In Grand Rapids, as reported in the Press yesterday, the TV evangelist John Hagee signed his most recent book. He was pictured with a considerable article. The new title is From Daniel to Doomsday: The Countdown Has Begun, and Hagee claims he is speaking the Gospel and telling people what the Bible says about the "terminal generation." That is remarkable. That is precisely what St. Paul thought he was doing. It was precisely the fact that the Apostolic generation was not the terminal generation that created the crisis that necessitated the major revisioning of the faith that led to the development of early Catholic tradition. This week I viewed a catalogue from Christian Book Distributors. On the back cover is advertised the novel series Left Behind, by Tim La Haye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Six volumes out. Millions of copies sold. You can get all six at the bookstore for $134.92 or discounted from CBD for $88.50. The same catalogue has a centerfold advertising seven titles on Y2K, titles such as The Road to Armagedon and Jesus’ Final Warning. And, of course, there are t-shirts emblazoned with such slogans as "Don’t Be Left Behind," and "Trib Force." The lack of taste is one thing. The economic exploitation is another. But, the abysmal ignorance of such guilt-imputing, fear-inciting abuse of the Bible is simply incredible. My pastoral concern rises from the damage such misuse of the Bible and ignorance of the development of theological understanding creates. The biblical story tells of the God Who has created all, sustains all, and embraces all full of grace with the purpose of love. It is Good News. It was Good News then, © Grand Valley State University �When God Fails Expectations Richard A. Rhem Page 6   when Paul was overwhelmed by the grace of God and the hope that appeared in Jesus. It is Good News now, recognizing Paul’s misconstruing of history, but recognizing, as well, his marvelous sense of being in Christ, in grace. If we can see through the limitations of Paul’s knowledge of the created order, beyond his limited understanding of world history, human development and the ongoing evolutionary unfolding of reality, we can still hear his witness to the God Who in Jesus drew near, was embodied, and Who invites us to trust, to rest, and to continue the 2000-year process of updating the Good News. It was not easy to realize that Jesus was not imminently returning. It was a curse. Many lost their grip, gave up, sought another way. That is part of being human. It felt like God failed their expectations. That happens to us, too, when we use God as a magic genie to protect us or secure for us some favor, when we make God too small, a "fix it" person keeping us from harm’s way, free from the tragedy and suffering that is part of our human lot. But that is to use God, and such a God sometimes will fail our expectations - our prayers will be to no avail. The problem, of course, is not God, but our expectations. God calls us to maturity, to responsibility, to the way of Jesus, to the life of compassion and community and, in all of that, God is Emmanuel - God with us, today and always. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d9cabf84d73ee8d9fb2f9c75de3a210c.mp3 c804448cc56f91f5ee82871da8a8c83c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XII Series Good News Then and Now Scripture Text Isaiah 2:4, Matthew 24:34, II Peter 3:4 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990808 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-08-08 Title A name given to the resource When God Fails Our Expectations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 8, 1999 entitled "When God Fails Our Expectations", as part of the series "Good News Then and Now", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 2:4, Matthew 24:34, II Peter 3:4. History of Church Re-imagining the Faith https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7546d8b4384e4d0b1380d9891bcf41f0.mp3 e3b8251ddc7bf9ac47075269b57200c4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Midweek Lent Series On Being Human Scripture Text Psalm 88, Job 38:1-18 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19950405 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-04-05 Title A name given to the resource When God is Absent Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 5, 1995 entitled "When God is Absent", as part of the series "On Being Human", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 88, Job 38:1-18. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/93575009a18f94d79f56111925228184.mp3 35a02273a6d2c5661c2dea2fcf9c8d17 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/375f32ddf44d240223cf74da604de3e9.pdf 02212b56ed375f08062173c3f93af8fc PDF Text Text When God Will Be Satisfied From the series: The Fundamentals a Century Later Text: Psalm 51; Luke 23:32-38 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 10, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon We continue this morning to consider “The Fundamentals a Century Later.” It was the years 1910 to 1915 when a group of conservative scholars wrote essays in defense of the core doctrines of the Christian faith. They did this because there was a rising tide of liberal theology which, in the first quarter of the century, was spoken of as modernism, and that theological understanding was increasing its influence as the years went by. The conservative dimension of the church felt under siege and, therefore, in a careful and responsible way, conservative scholars wrote essays which explained and defended what they felt was the core of the Christian tradition. The liberal theological movement was making great headway in those years because it was able to accept the increasing knowledge of the world as it came to expression through the natural sciences, and liberal theology had as its hallmark its refusal of any external authority. The orthodox community had an external authority; it had a book, in the case of the Protestant communion from which we stem; it had the institution of the church in the case of the Roman Catholic tradition, along with the scriptures; and in the Eastern Orthodox tradition there was not only the scriptural witness but the grand tradition of the church in its liturgical expression. But in whatever form or confessional family, there was an external authority that created the parameters in which the Christian faith could be understood. Now the critical moment, and it wasn’t just a moment, but a movement over a period of time, was the breaking down of those parameters. The determination of the liberal theological movement was to accept the data from the sciences, just as it had come to accept the world as it was, and to judge every truth claim, theological or otherwise, on the basis of human reason and experience. If you take away the external authority, then you are faced with making critical judgments over against the data that is presented to you. The issue was a question of authority. Does the authority lie in a book or an institution? Or is the authority finally in the person who, through reason and experience, judges the religious truth claims as he or she judges every other claim? © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �When God Will Be Satisfied Richard A. Rhem Page 2   The issue of authority was absolutely fundamental and these conservative scholars understood that, and therefore, their first cardinal point was the inerrant and infallible word of God. It was an issue of authority, and if you have a prescribed authority, then you are in trouble when the whole world-view begins to change. That is what happened. That is why liberalism was gaining and why the orthodox party felt on the defensive. Unfortunately, in those essays called The Fundamentals, written between 1910 and 1915, what the orthodox party did was to affirm the faith once again, but in terms of the old world-view that was passing away. Their essays flew in the face of what the sciences were saying about the reality of which we are a part. And so, we have that unfortunate history of the conflict between science and religion. It was an issue of authority, and the orthodox party, being hemmed in by its authority, expressed that faith over again in terms of an old world-view that was falling apart. As we discussed last week, that view was a view of a supernatural realm, the realm of God the Creator, and a natural realm, the creation. Sometimes we speak colloquially of a three-decker universe: heaven above, hell below, earth in the middle. And in that old world-view, the earth, the human experience, was caught in a cosmic conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil, between God and Satan. That cosmic conflict was the consequence of human sin. Last week when we looked at the creation story and the disobedience of Adam and Eve, what has come to be called the Fall, we saw that whole natural realm was spoken of as fallen. There was disobedience and therefore estrangement and alienation, and as a result God in the heavenly realm had to decide what to do about the situation. Would God leave creation in that state which it had earned through its disobedience, having fallen to a state of judgment and condemnation? Or would God find some way, in spite of human disobedience, to rescue, to redeem, to save humankind from its fall? The solution to God’s dilemma was the virgin birth. Why a virgin birth? Well, there was no hope from our side, for we had forfeited life. We had no life to offer to God. So God would have to come and join us in our humanity. That’s the whole Christmas story; that’s the incarnation. But if God was going to join us in our humanity, how could God avoid being tainted by that original sin which went in an unbroken chain down through the generations? Just a normal human birth comes out wrong. The solution? The virgin birth, which was the second of the five cardinal points of The Fundamentals. Through the conception of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, God the eternal son could join humanity untainted by human sin and estrangement. He could be born without sin and he could live sinlessly. God the Son in human nature could offer himself on behalf of the world. That’s what you learned in Sunday School, isn’t it? That is the old story. In that offering of himself, Jesus took upon himself our sin and guilt, removing it from © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Will Be Satisfied Richard A. Rhem Page 3   us so that we could be forgiven by God. As one theologian stated it, “Jesus took the rap for us.” Or, as the old communion liturgy of the Reformed Church has it, “He was forsaken of God that we never need be forsaken.” That’s right at the heart of the traditional Christian understanding of salvation. What’s going on here? Well, the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, living without sin, living righteously and faithfully, can offer up his life. As he takes on himself the sin of the world, he dies, even though he did not deserve to die. His dying, then, removes from us the sentence of death. He dies in our place; he substitutes for us. As St. Paul expressed it, “God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made in the righteousness of God in him.” And so, we have come to speak about the substitutionary atonement. That’s the third point of The Fundamentals, the substitutionary atonement. Christ is our substitute. And when we speak of atonement, we think of the death of Christ; Christ paying the price for our sin and guilt, and so forth. We don’t often stop to look at the word itself, but if we would break it apart, atonement is at-one-ment. That is literally how it is spelled, at-one-ment. And so it speaks about the reconciliation of two alienated parties. It brings together those who were separated through human sin and guilt. There is communion again between God and the human family. That is the traditional understanding of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. You can understand what was being addressed there, for the great concern was the justice of God. How could God forgive freely and still remain just? That is a philosophical problem. I can make it very simple if I say, for example, “John, you owe me $100.” You acknowledge that you owe me $100. But you refuse to pay me, and so we go before the judge. I make my claim, and you admit your debt. The judge looks at us and says, “Well, Dick, you’re right, he owes you the money. John, you are wrong in not repaying the debt, but, ah shucks, let’s forget it.” Well, John would like that kind of a judge, wouldn’t he? But, I wouldn’t. You see in that simple little story, this is the profound philosophical, metaphysical problem that the substitutionary atonement is dealing with. The great concern of that traditional Christian doctrinal system was preserving the justice and honor of God. How could God be just, and yet justify the sinner? This was right at the heart and core of Christian understanding. It was the traditional understanding of the death of Christ, that he died on behalf of sinners, in the sinner’s place, in order to open up the possibility of forgiveness by a God who would remain just because he got, as it were, his pound of flesh from Jesus. That is so deeply written into the fabric of our being that I hear it over and over and over again from adults and from children: Jesus came to die for our sins. That is really at the heart and core of the whole Christian revelation. Interestingly, in the tenth century a great theologian of the church by the name of Anselm felt that the whole cosmic struggle idea with spirits and angels and © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Will Be Satisfied Richard A. Rhem Page 4   demons and the conflict between God and Satan was quite unworthy of a tenthcentury “modern” understanding. Anselm was a part of a culture that we know of as the Age of Feudalism when the castle was on the hill and the lord of the castle had serfs. The serf served as a slave to the castle and the castle gave protection to the serf. Anselm said, let’s understand this whole drama this way: The lord of the castle is God, who has infinite honor, and the lowly serf has offended that honor. The lord of the manor, in all of his dignity, cannot allow that kind of affront, and so he must punish the serf. In the same way, the Lord of the universe, the infinite God, has been affronted by our human transgression and rebellion, and therefore, we forfeit our life. But although we deserve it, God is not willing to damn us. An infinite God can only be satisfied by an infinite sacrifice, and so only a God-Man could make that infinite sacrifice that would get the record clear and enable God to open God’s arms to us in at-one-ment, in reconciliation. It is in the New Testament and in the tradition of the church, and it probably is the most fundamental understanding of what we have just participated in here at the Lord’s Supper. How about looking at that a century later? Is that the way you understand it still? Is that meaningful for you still? If it is, beautiful. I think all of us come to this table bringing our own understanding, bringing our own experiences, bringing our own personal needs. So, as we come to this table, we all, I am sure, are receiving the blessing and the peace of God through means of our understanding and our own personal experience in the present. Let me say, however, that the difficulty with this traditional doctrine is that it can be a kind of objective transaction out there beyond us which we tune into by our faith, but not always the personal, transformative experience that one would hope for. Anselm was concerned about the honor of God. How can the honor and the justice of God be satisfied? I used this in the title of the sermon today, “When God Will Be Satisfied.” The traditional answer is when the perfect offering of Jesus is received on behalf of the penitent one. Then God forgives, but doesn’t compromise his justice; then God is satisfied. The demands of justice are satisfied. The demands of the honor and dignity of God are satisfied, fulfilled, as it were. But when is God satisfied? When do you come to an awareness that God is satisfied? Let me suggest there are other strains in the scripture. How about that beautiful Psalm 51? I don’t know whether David wrote it or not, but it is purported to be a psalm of David written as a great prayer of confession and plea for forgiveness when he was confronted by the prophet in the face of his sins of murder and adultery. David pleads for the mercy of God on the basis of God’s steadfast love. And then he says, “Ah, you desire truth in the inward parts. Create in me a clean © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �When God Will Be Satisfied Richard A. Rhem Page 5   heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me. O God, if it was a matter of sacrifices, I can bring you all kinds of burnt offerings and sacrifices, but the sacrifice that you desire, or the offering that satisfies you is the offering of a broken and a contrite heart. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise or turn away.” There is no talk there about the problem God has. There is no talk there about God’s justice being compromised. What satisfies God here is an open and honest and authentic human spirit in full awareness before the presence of God, naked in the presence of that Eternal One, honest in the presence of that which is holy and sacred and good and true and beautiful, and the recognition of how far short we fall in even our own noblest visions and values. And then I see Jesus portrayed in the Gospel of Luke, on the cross, crucified because of the sin of the world, saying, “Father, forgive them. Silly people, they don’t know what they’re doing.” Not “Father, take my life in place of their lives.” Rather, “They are taking my life, and in my last breath I say, ‘Forgive them,’” because their merciful and loving God will never allow the alienation and the estrangement of his children to prevail. About a year ago, a few of us were in St. Petersburg, Russia, and went to the Hermitage, perhaps one of the greatest art galleries of the world. I was eager to go there because there is this huge canvas, Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal. The Prodigal is kneeling. You see his back, but you see the father with his hands at his back, the old gray-bearded man who has welcomed the Prodigal home. The Prodigal had a well-rehearsed story. He had the words to bring to the father, and the father wouldn’t hear of them, and weeping, embraced the son. That was a story Jesus told and the story Jesus embodied. That Jesus who so lived breaks my heart. The way he lived is emulated so little in my life and in the lives of us all. What is the real problem in this cosmic journey of ours? Is it somehow or other a God who is muscle-bound by some theory of justice? Or is it the need for a transformed consciousness that is effected through a life that we believe was the embodiment of God, a truly human existence? We have come to this table, and as I have given you permission to come as you will and to experience that which you are able to experience, I must say to you, I come and take bread and cup, not because Jesus died for me, but because he lived for me. And if I could live as he lived, then God would be satisfied. References: The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, eds. A.C. Dixon, R.A. Torrey, Vols. 1-12. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 1910-1915. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series The Fundamentals a Century Later Scripture Text Psalm 51: Luke 23:32-38 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References A. C. Dixon, R. Torrey, editors, The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth,Vols. 1-12. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles,1910-1915. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030810 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-08-10 Title A name given to the resource When God Will Be Satisfied Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 10, 2003 entitled "When God Will Be Satisfied", as part of the series "The Fundamentals a Century Later", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 51: Luke 23:32-38. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Religious Authority Transformed Consciousness https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b9d85a006952ab95d1bb02f480a3dda1.mp3 a06480de4e214ed90eb79f025c8cb6bc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Thanksgiving Day Series Only a Poem Will Do Scripture Text Psalm 65:1 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19911128 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-11-28 Title A name given to the resource When Gratitude Fills the Heart Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 28, 1991 entitled "When Gratitude Fills the Heart", as part of the series "Only a Poem Will Do", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 65:1. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/952fee991d048fc5986f6deefdd34eb7.pdf 4cc183ab883e432ebcde2bd52a3c4f43 PDF Text Text When Hope Is Almost Gone From the Advent series: Songs Of Liberation Text: Malachi 3:1; 4:2; Luke 1:78-79 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent II, December 14, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon Well, did you do your assignment? The one I gave you last week? The assignment was to reflect on my question: How it is that we who are top dogs can sing the songs of liberation of the underdogs? We established last week that the songs of liberation with which Luke introduces his Gospel are, indeed, the songs of liberation of those who are living in darkness, who are longing to be delivered by the mighty hand of God, and that the famous songs that have played such a critical part in Christian liturgy, the Benedictus today, Zachariah’s song, the Nunc Dimitis, old Simeon’s song, and next week, the song of Mary, the Magnificat, that those are, indeed, songs of liberation in which a people are crying out to God to make good God’s promises to establish justice on the earth and to bring peace to all humankind. The songs of liberation are described very well by a recent author, Richard Horsley, in his book entitled, The Liberation of Christmas, in which he points out, I believe, beyond reputation, that the Christmas story is, indeed, a story of liberation which is a story told by those who are underdogs as they hope in the coming of this one to have justice established and peace brought to earth, the transformation of human society, indeed, the transformation of the world. The songs of liberation are the songs of underdogs. We who claim them today are top dogs. And, if we really understood what we were singing, we would realize that we are calling for the total transformation of the world and that what is being imagined in those songs of liberation is another way for the world to be, which would involve a radical transformation in our own experience in human society. And so, in order that we might keep Advent with integrity and celebrate Christmas honestly, I’ve asked you in this season to reflect on that fact - that we who are top dogs sing the songs of underdogs, and I think we seldom realize it. The people of Israel were always a minor pawn in the power brokerage of imperial affairs. They knew a moment of glory with David and grandeur with © Grand Valley State University   �When Hope Is Almost Gone Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Solomon but, outside of that, Israel never amounted to much in terms of an earthly power. They were caught between the great world empires, and yet they had a sense that they were chosen by God to be God’s instrument for the effecting of God’s will on earth. And as we saw last week, they had ancient dreamers who dreamed of a marvelous world, the Messianic Age. There would be a sprout out of the stump of Jesse, and he would change things. He would affect justice in the land, he would have compassion for the poor, he would bring about a world that was reconciled in all of nature so that the lion and the lamb would lie down together and they wouldn’t hurt or destroy in all God’s holy mountain, because the earth would be covered with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. A beautiful picture, and Israel’s dreamers dreamed of such a picture, and it was a dream that lodged in the hearts of the people. They believed that, somehow or other, history was moving in a way which eventually would bring about that kind of a reality. But, it didn’t come. There are those beautiful words of Second Isaiah in the 40th chapter of the book by that name, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people," and the prophet calls out to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God." There was all of this marvelous expectation as the exiles were going home from Babylon. They believed that this was the time. But it didn’t come, and, as it didn’t come and didn’t come, prophecy moved into the genre of apocalyptic which was a rather despairing understanding of history, believing that history no longer had the potential of realizing their dream. They prayed for the dramatic intervention of God that would damn the wicked and establish the righteous and would bring in the new age of God’s righteousness and peace. Malachi was such a voice. He is around 450, 475 years before the birth of Jesus. The exiles have returned from Babylon. Rather than Mount Zion being established as the top mountain of all the earth with all the nations flowing to it for instruction, they were a poverty-stricken, destitute people. They were still under the dominion of the Persian empire, and their city was lying in ruins, their walls were not built. This was a time that Ezra came to teach them the law again and Nehemiah came to build the walls, and they built a temple. Herod built the second temple. But the community was poor. It was a far cry from the glorious picture of Second Isaiah, and Malachi, speaking to that destitution, that human hopelessness, says, "But, my messenger is going to come." In fact, Malachi probably isn’t the name of a prophet. Malachi means literally, in Hebrew, my messenger. So this anonymous prophet is saying into a situation of despair and darkness, "In the name of God, my messenger will come. And it will be a time of judging and refining and purgation, and this will be preparation of the people of God for that great and terrible day of the Lord, a day of darkness and judgment when the wickedness of the earth will be thrown down and righteousness will be established." © Grand Valley State University �When Hope Is Almost Gone Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Well, we know from our Gospels that the early Jesus movement understood John the Baptist as fulfilling that role of the messenger who is portrayed by Malachi in terms of an Elijah returned. Jesus said John was fulfilling the role of Elijah. And so, this story of the nativity of John and Jesus is woven by Luke into a beautiful tapestry laced with these songs of liberation to give expression to that which was the deep conviction of that early Jewish Jesus movement that now God was present in human form, was moving things toward that culminating act when judgment would fall and light would shine for the people of God, and the purposes of God would be realized. The early Jewish Jesus movement was convinced that, in this one God was present, God was embodied, God was moving, and the kingdom of God would be effected, and the song that Zachariah sang, the Benedictus, celebrates this movement of God in the establishing of the horn of salvation, the one that will bring about salvation, and then he addresses his little child, John, and says that, "You, child, will go before this one to prepare the people who, in the tender mercy of God, will see the sun of righteousness dawn upon them. They who live in darkness in the shadow of death will finally, finally receive this gift of God." Well, that was the eschatology. That is, that was the understanding of the times, the last times of that community, of that world into which Jesus was born, and when the angel announced the birth of Jesus, "To you this day in the city of David is born a Savior," that Savior we automatically with our Christian ears think of as one who saves us from our sins in order to make us acceptable to God and bring us to heaven. But, in the understanding of that Jewish Jesus community that believed that God was present in Jesus, moving things toward the culmination, that community that believed that it was living on the edge of the end, for them the Savior was one who would salvage them, save them from their enemies, their occupying power, those who taxed them, took their land, abused and exploited them. Salvation in that community’s idea had social, political and economic implications. Israel always knew that God forgave their sins. The Psalmist said, "Lord, if you should mark iniquity, who could stand? But, with You there is forgiveness." Read David’s marvelous Psalm of confession, Psalm 51, where he acknowledges his sin and says to God, "But a broken and a contrite heart Thou wilt not despise, O God." It is not Jesus that brought grace. It is not Jesus that brought forgiveness. Israel lived in the reality of a gracious God Who forgave them. But, Israel was also a people that believed that God was to be experienced here and now, in this life, and that God was concerned about their society, about their economics, about their politics. That God was a God Who loved justice and righteousness, Who spoke out through the prophets against all exploitation of people in all systems of domination. This was the thrust of those songs of liberation that came to expression through the Gospel writers as they tried to say what they understood was happening in the appearance of Jesus and, before that, of John. Those songs of liberation were the expressions of a people who longed to have the yoke and © Grand Valley State University �When Hope Is Almost Gone Richard A. Rhem Page 4   the burden and the oppression of the human situation lifted off their shoulders, who were still dreaming the dream of the ancient dreamer, who said "That day is coming when there will be justice, mercy, peace, equity in all of God’s creation." Well, that’s what Jesus was about. Jesus addressed the concrete social situation of his day. He announced that God Who in grace is near to people. He especially embraced those who had been excluded. He made it clear through his table fellowship to those with whom he broke bread, that the embrace of God was as broad as the world and all humankind. No one, the voiceless ones, the marginalized, the excluded - none of them would be left out of the grace of the kingdom of God. And for that he was crucified, because the kind of social vision that Jesus had, with its political and economic implications, is the kind of vision that those who have vested interest in the status quo will not long tolerate, because it will transform human society and, rather than exploitation and domination, there will be community, justice and peace. Jesus was crucified for his vision, for that which he incarnated and embodied, and they experienced his presence and fully thought that he would return at any moment. That’s obvious from a study of the New Testament. They believed that this one who had come, who was crucified, whose living presence they experienced would return and all things would come to their consummation. But, they didn’t, did they? It’s been now 2000 years, and we don’t really look into the sky every morning to see whether or not this may be the day of his appearing. Although, if you travel I-96, there is a billboard where Jesus is in the rump seat of a plane predicting to come out of the blue soon. I can’t believe that kind of ignorance, frankly. It is such a terrible distortion of the Gospel. It is the perpetuation of an eschatology, an idea of the last things, which history itself has clearly indicated was the wrong conception, and what it has enabled us to do is to turn the Gospel of Jesus into a salvation cult by which we receive the forgiveness of sins and peace of God and preparation for heaven. We have taken the Gospel of Jesus Christ that was a world-transforming movement, domesticated it into a religious cult by which we find our personal peace while we go on with our lives politically, economically, socially, as though we never heard the songs of liberation. We have been able to take the Gospel with its Christmas story and subvert it into a marvelously beautiful, moving pageant that lacks totally what it really is about, which is about changing the world to reflect the intention of God. So, we still say, "When is the day of his appearing? When that comes out there some way, then it’ll all be fixed." As a matter of fact, it would seem to me we ought to go back and listen again to see whether or not it may be erroneous to be waiting for some future act of God to make it right. Possibly, possibly what God intends is for top dogs not just to sing absentmindedly the songs of underdogs, but to begin to use their power and resource to implement, to make real, the longing of the heart of the underdog that comes to © Grand Valley State University �When Hope Is Almost Gone Richard A. Rhem Page 5   expression in those songs that plead for the dawning of light, for the rising of the sun of righteousness, for the establishment of justice and the bringing of peace. Maybe, maybe we who are top dogs are called upon to be the agents to effect the cry of God’s heart that comes to expression through the underdogs. I wonder if God has anybody doing anything today. You know, Messiah means anointed, anointed with the Spirit, and Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. I wonder if God has any Christs in the world today, any people anointed with the Spirit who are seeking to effect the intention of God in a world that still lies, so much of it, in darkness, with so many people still living in the shadow of death. Let me make a suggestion; it will probably blow your mind and you will laugh me off the stool. Let me suggest another Jew - Steven Spielberg. You see, I wonder. It seems to me that, to the extent that the church has become a ghetto of salvation when we come together for our own personal spiritual renewal and our own eternal security, where we get our emotional fix through our religious devotion, maybe having become a ghetto and made the Gospel a salvation cult, God says, "Well, if you want to be off in that backwater, okay. Okay. ‘Cause it’s not bad to pray and sing hymns and worship. In fact, you really ought to be doing that, because that’s where you get the vision and the strength to go out and change the world. But, if you’re not going to do anything about the world, if you’re just going to enjoy this little pipeline you have to me, then I’m going to have to find some people in the strangest places. I’m going to have to find some people, for example, in show biz." Perhaps a Steven Spielberg, who a couple of seasons ago, two or three, gave us "Schindler’s List," who showed us a flamboyant playboy who got gripped in the midst of the Holocaust with the mass murder of the Jewish people and who used his industry and his fortune in order to rescue a couple of thousand of them. If you don’t like Holocaust stuff, then don’t watch "Schindler’s List." But, I wonder if Schindler was not a Christ, doing what top dogs ought to do. Another film by Spielberg is coming out: "Amistad." Amistad was the name of a slave ship that was bringing slaves from Africa around 1839, and they mutinied, these slaves. They killed the captain and several of the crew, and they impressed the navigators and told them to turn them around and take them back to Africa, but the navigators fooled them and they found themselves sailing into Long Island Sound where they were captured by a U.S. Navy ship and the mutineers, the blacks from Africa, were thrown in the brig and brought to trial. But, in one of the shining moments of the Christian Church, in this case, the Congregational Church, which is one of the merging bodies that forms the United Church of Christ, the church people began to lobby on behalf of these blacks. The faculty and the students of Yale University went to bat for them. Former President John Quincy Adams became their defense attorney. And in one of the better moments of American history, in American church history, these blacks were vindicated, their mutiny declared justified, and they were sent back to Africa, and I just © Grand Valley State University �When Hope Is Almost Gone Richard A. Rhem Page 6   wonder if someone like Steven Spielberg who can bring us those kinds of stories might not be someone upon whom the Spirit of God is dwelling in order to shake us loose, break us out, help us to understand that we have no business singing songs of liberation if they are simply the caressing of our own satisfied souls, that we who are the rich and the powerful, if not famous, are the ones upon whom it is incumbent to effect in human society the longing of the songs of liberation. It is that task to which I believe we are called. It is in contemplating that task that we will keep Advent. It is in welcoming that kind of a Savior that we will be honest with Christmas, and it is to that end that I believe Christ Community must be committed, for who knows but what some of you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Not only to sing songs of liberation, but to bring liberty to those who are oppressed, that the sun of righteousness may dawn upon us with healing in its wings. Ah, wouldn’t that be something? References: Richard Horsley. The Liberation of Christmas: The Infancy Narratives in Social Context. Wipf & Stock Publishers, reprint edition, 2006. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/da6968a5ff20b4135698991f62a37e91.mp3 8b53d4a06dfd99c2e15523006b2814d1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Advent III Series Songs of Liberation Scripture Text Malachi 3:1, 4:2, Luke 1:78-79 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Richard Horsley, The Liberation of Christmas: The Infancy Narratives in Social Context, 2006 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19971214 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-12-14 Title A name given to the resource When Hope is Almost Gone Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 14, 1997 entitled "When Hope is Almost Gone", as part of the series "Songs of Liberation", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Malachi 3:1, 4:2, Luke 1:78-79. Divine Intention Inclusive Grace Justice Prophetic Voice