402 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/aca1b2879f0f4dedffb077f5b1999dd8.pdf af31cce9dd88ef0d4223e38d92cddfd2 PDF Text Text A? pUERr0 jJP EN Ml QPUERtEN Ml CORAZOJI^ O 0 4 � 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 Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 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 BTS00058-03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Young Lords (Organization) Title A name given to the resource I Am a Revolutionary with Young Lords and Black Panther logos banner Description An account of the resource Young Lords and Black Panther Party banner reading "I am a revolutionary!" and "Chairman Fred Hampton" and featuring the Black Panther and Young Lords logos. Subject The topic of the resource Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Civil Rights -- United States -- History Community activists Puerto Ricans -- United States Social justice Relation A related resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright 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 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65) 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/431921167df5befda484f26e5eb7d55c.jpg e9c643ecf0067524a4e01ca1311ad48f 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 Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 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. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS2919.S623 I2 1898 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-01_Bindings0400 Title A name given to the resource I Am the King Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sacker, Amy M. (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of I Am the King: Being the Account of Some Happenings in the Life of Godfrey De Bersac, Crusader-Knight, by Sheppard Stevens, published by Little, Brown, & Company, 1898. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 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/b1bf5f126c11e3592b6b92e2890d14f9.pdf a81d611d739cd5c2c7648a2ad9794c60 PDF Text Text Credo: I Believe Text: Acts 17:24; John 14:1,9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Eastertide II, April 10, 1994 Transcription of the spoken sermon Credo, that is a Latin word and in the Latin the verb takes its subject to itself. Credo means “I believe.” Not, I believe something. Or not even, I believe someone, but I believe in someone. That’s the sense of that word as it has come down to us in the Christian tradition. It is that personal affirmation of faith in God, which in our Christian tradition is the consequence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If you read the Gospels, the story of Jesus’ life, the experience of the disciples with Jesus, it must be very obvious that if it had not been for the resurrection we would not have heard anything of Jesus. They didn’t understand. They were dull of understanding, dull of mind and heart. Jesus, certainly for them, was a remarkable teacher, a rabbi. But they scattered at the point of his death. He was abandoned, not only by God, but by those who followed him to that point. It was only in the wake of Easter, it was only in the encounter with the Living Lord, that the Jesus movement took flight. And the flame of faith spread through that ancient world and has come down to us these nearly two thousand years later. People have been able to say, Credo, I believe in God, because they have been encountered by the risen Christ in the Spirit, the sign of the presence and the grace and the love of God that upholds all things, and embraces us in that love and grace. Credo, I believe. It is a statement of faith. It is a statement of faith as experience, faith more than intellectual assent. More than conceptual understanding, it is experience. It is the encounter with that One beyond ourselves who overwhelms, who encounters us in grace, who reaches us, leaving us stammering and stumbling to give expression to what happened. Faith is the consequence of an encounter with the reality of God, with the reality of Love, with the reality of Grace. Faith is the transformation of a person through an experience with that which is beyond the person and which the person is never able to get his or her arms around, or head around, never able to give adequate expression to. Faith in that sense is that deep life-changing, life-transforming experience that is the result of meeting God. Faith. Credo. I believe. Let me distinguish that from a set of beliefs. I want this Eastertide season to make some reference to the Apostle’s Creed. The Apostle’s © Grand Valley State University   �Credo: I Believe Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Creed in its final form, coming from maybe the fifth century is perhaps the most familiar and the best loved of the Christian creedal statements. I am not going to give a careful exposition of every exposition of that creed. It is a valuable tool. I want to distinguish the faith about which I just spoke from the knowledge of that creed, because the faith of which I would speak this morning and to which I would invite you is more than a set of beliefs. A set of beliefs is the consequence of the experience to which I point. The experience of faith—the experience of God—is that which causes us then to step back and to reflect on the experience and out of that reflection on experience comes a set of beliefs. Our creeds are the condensation of the articulation of what happened in the experience, even though the experience itself is beyond articulation. God’s inexpressible gift, Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord encountering us leaves us speechless, but not for long. We will soon be trying to give some kind of witness to that experience as we always do. But a set of beliefs, as important as they may be, are not the same as the experience of faith. Do you hear me? Do you recognize that we might, all of us might witness to the experience of God and come up with a variety of sets of beliefs? Do you see that the experience of God is such that it cannot be reduced to a set of statements? A set of beliefs, a creed, that is inevitable and is necessary. It will always happen, but it is always a step removed from the experience. It is always after the fact, and it is always an inadequate expression of the thing to which it points. In fact, when a movement begins to write creeds, the faith is dampened and the vision is dimmed. You don’t write creeds in the midst of the fire of experience. You don’t define your faith when it is simply so overwhelming that it permeates every pore of your being and flows out of you in every word you speak. It is only later when the fires of faith have dampened and the vision of faith is dimmed that we try to give some expression to this and we come up with our creeds and our sets of beliefs. It is important to do that because somehow or other we have to say something, and it is important to do that because we have to have something to tell our children. We pass on the faith. There is a certain content of faith out of the experience we need to pass on, and if we are going to pass it on we have to do it in some kind of reasonable fashion so we write creeds and confessions. But, it is always a sign of the deterioration of faith and the dimming of vision, and it is always a sign that a movement has become an institution. How unfortunate that a movement has to become an institution. A movement of the Spirit cannot stay a movement of Spirit because Spirit seeks form, and Spirit will come to institutional form and become articulated in structures and creedal statements. But, do you see that that is a degeneration? Do you see that that is a movement away from the fresh experience of faith? The experience that draws out of one Credo. I believe. Ah, it’s necessary. It is inevitable. But now hear this too. Our creedal statements are negotiable. They are all historically conditioned. You show me a creed out of the two thousand year © Grand Valley State University �Credo: I Believe Richard A. Rhem Page 3   history of the church and I’ll tell you when it was written, because it will have been shaped by a certain historical context and determined by a certain cultural understanding, because it will be a human expression of the inexpressible and it will take the stamp of the moment of its arising. It is relative, it is historically conditioned, it can never be absolutized. It must always be provisional and should always be open-ended. Do you see, the experience of faith is not something that I will argue about, or debate about sets of beliefs. My goodness, the history of the Church is replete with theological discussion and debate and division over sets of beliefs. Sets of beliefs arise when faith is dampened and vision is dimmed. They are a necessary and unfortunate consequence of the experience. The experience is one thing, and in reflection on experience we write creeds. We may start the creed, Credo. I believe in God the Father Almighty , but that statement in itself is a pale shadow of the reality of the experience of the Living God. Paul, for example, believed from his youth up. He was trained in the rabbinical school. He was a devout and zealous follower of Israel. Then he met Jesus and his life was transformed, and he became open to something entirely different. There was new insight, new understanding, new faith vision. Paul was a changed person. He didn’t find a new God; He was still the God of Israel, but now the God of Israel he had met in the intimacy of encounter through Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord. And he went everywhere babbling this Good News. He came to Athens and talked about the God of Israel who was the Creator God, the only God. And he acknowledged that even the idolatry of the Athenian and Greek religion was an idolatry that, nevertheless, pointed beyond itself to this one God. Even the religion of Athens, with all of the idols and statues that provoked and disgusted him, nonetheless spoke to him of that religious yearning within the human heart for the one God. And he acknowledged, as some of the Greek poets had said, that God is God alone in whom we live and move and have our being. We are God’s offspring, said Paul. So in building bridges through that Greek religion, he pointed to the one true God, the God of Israel, the God of his fathers and mothers, the God who had encountered him through Jesus Christ and changed his life. Well, I know that it’s a good trick of preachers to point to someone like Paul and then say, “Go thou and do likewise,” or make you feel a little inadequate because you don’t have a Pauline experience. But, how about something a little more modest? Listen to this statement by a contemporary saint. “I don’t know who or what put the question. I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at that moment I did answer, ‘Yes’ to someone or something. From that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life in self-surrender has had a goal.” That’s from Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations, now dead, but a beautiful statement. Modest. “…someone or something. © Grand Valley State University �Credo: I Believe Richard A. Rhem Page 4   . . .” just when or where or how I don’t know, except I know that from me was drawn a “Yes,” and from that moment my life has been life in self-surrender with meaning because in that moment I was convinced that existence is meaningful. Jesus was that kind of person. Marcus Borg, in his latest book Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time, talks about Jesus as a Spirit person, and says that, rather than being an article of belief, God becomes an experiential reality. You see, instead of God being an article of belief, God becomes an experiential reality. Creeds are necessary and they are important. They represent a dampening of faith and a dimming of vision. They are an unfortunate necessity, an inevitability. But, the downside of creeds is that they can become a substitute for the real thing. George Gallup will tell us that some 90+% of the population believe in God. Believe in God, as an article, as a belief. But, what about an experiential reality? Borg goes on to say that Jewish tradition in which Jesus stood speaks of persons who know God, “know” God. The Hebrew word for “know” is the same word used for sexual intercourse. God can be known in that direct and intimate way, not merely believed in. The experience of spirit persons in general, and of Jesus in particular, suggests that God is not to be thought of as a remote and transcendent Creator, far removed from his world, but imaged as all around us, as the one in whom we live and move and have our being as the Book of Acts puts it in words attributed to St. Paul. Within this framework, the pre-Easter Jesus becomes the powerful testimony to the reality and the knowability of God. That’s what they experienced when they were encountered by the Risen Christ. They came to know God in experience. They had never probably had a day in their life when they doubted the existence of God, but faith as experience is something other than a set of beliefs, as inevitable as those are. Ah, but don’t you see, don’t you see then, that faith means something other than a set of beliefs, makes those beliefs in themselves relative, negotiable, and that the thing that we need to strive for, open our lives to, is that experience of faith beyond all of the trappings of the institution. I get concerned about how much weight we place on our sets of beliefs. They are not absolute. They are not final. They are not to be held up as means by which people can determine whether they are in or out. Sets of beliefs, creeds, special statements— dear friends, they aren’t important. They can be instruments. They can prepare us for the experience. But it is, after all, the experience. It is the Living God, so that life is transformed. That’s the thing for which we must be yearning and striving. You say, “How do I get it?” I don’t know! I can’t do it for you. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” The mystics of all generations have spoken about awareness. Being still long enough to be aware of this moment, of myself, of my body, of my breathing in, of my breathing out, of the sunshine, of the budding tree, of the tulip pressing upward, of springtime, of sunset, of loving © Grand Valley State University �Credo: I Believe Richard A. Rhem Page 5   relationships, pausing long enough to become aware. Another word that is often used is attention. Good grief, we get in a treadmill existence, we grind on our way, we go lickety split. Do we ever stop long enough? Someone has said you have to actually shut down the brain —shut down the brain. Because, you know what? God isn’t available to the brain. God is not for intellectual pursuit. I should say that? (Laughter) I mean, it’s causing me great despair now. It’s the culmination of my great career. Everything I’ve tried to do all my life, to no avail. You can’t do it that way. I talk to you about the experience of God, doing it reasonably, doing it rationally. I can’t lead you into that experience because you can’t think your way into God. In fact, it helps if you stop thinking for a moment and let the mind be infiltrated, and let one’s being be encountered and embraced and submerged in the God who is closer than our breath, the God in whom we live and move and have our being. If we only had eyes to see that faith vision, that to which I point you this morning, not to make you feel guilty if you haven’t had it like Paul, or even if you haven’t had it like Hammarskjöld. God embraces you in grace whether you’ve had it or not. I give you the invitation to open your life to what could be transforming and wonderful. During the Lenten pilgrimage I twice brought to this stool Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison, and I got a call yesterday that there was going to be a special on Dietrich Bonhoeffer last night. It was wonderful! Union Seminary is establishing a chair in theology in his name and yesterday marked fifty years since he was hung by the Gestapo. There was this marvelous concert with instrumentalists from around the world, from leading orchestras from around the world, over one hundred sixty pieces in Riverside Church in New York City, with narration by Bill Moyers telling the story of Bonhoeffer’s life and reading from his writing. Some of the reading I have read here to you. Powerful! Starting out with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, moving into Schomberg’s Survival of the Warsaw Ghetto, telling the story then of Bonhoeffer’s martyrdom with the orchestra and chorus breaking out into Brahm’s German Requiem, “How lovely are Thy Dwelling Places, O Lord God of hosts,” Bonhoeffer living his faith, and the Brahm’s Requiem giving witness to the conviction that there was life after life so that the praise of God here issues in the praise of God there. The director of the orchestra, Christof VanDallier, the son of Hans VanDallier, the brother-in-law of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, killed for his faith. The son of a martyr, Bonhoeffer being his uncle, leading this great orchestra in “How Lovely Are They Dwelling Places, O Lord God of Hosts,” as a witness to the conviction that his life could be ended, but it could not be ended and the truth and the cause for which he lived and gave his life goes on. You see, faith as experience leads us back into life. Playing in the orchestra was a man named Bethke. Everard Bethke was the biographer of Bonhoeffer and his closest friend. Bethke’s son was godson to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. On the day of his © Grand Valley State University �Credo: I Believe Richard A. Rhem Page 6   baptism, Bonhoeffer wrote him a letter telling him of the dark days through which he was living and how he was praying that there would be brighter days when this child, this infant at the baptismal font, could once again plan his life. But Bonhoeffer saying to his godson, from prison in jeopardy of his life, “I would choose to live this time.” You see, faith as experience enables you to go through hell. Faith as experience. The Psalmist said, “The Lord is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Faith as experience. Don ‘t worry about dotting i’s and crossing t’s, creeds come and go, but the experience of God, the Living God, if you have that the rest doesn’t matter. And if you don’t have that, the rest won’t help you. I don’t know what more to say except, let us be open . . .God, God, come to us . . . . come to us. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fb615bf97ac6f65dcdb10414121981c.mp3 498db72e2bd5ed6da711192cf5e7d3ff 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 Eastertide II Series Credo: A Series for Eastertide Scripture Text Acts 17:24, John 14:1, 9 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-0-19940410 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-04-10 Title A name given to the resource I Believe 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 April 10, 1994 entitled "I Believe", as part of the series "Credo: A Series for Eastertide", on the occasion of Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 17:24, John 14:1, 9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Awareness Eastertide Experience of Faith Transforming Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b1c3d29a55c8954ec24461806c8fc09.mp3 1973c6e0a1470e4c64f88fca816dd6d0 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 XXV Scripture Text Ephesians 2:20-21 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-0-19881113 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-11-13 Title A name given to the resource I Believe the Holy Catholic Church 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 13, 1988 entitled "I Believe the Holy Catholic Church", on the occasion of Pentecost XXV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ephesians 2:20-21. 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/6eaabb5f6c3838d1b287c3064ee37d23.mp3 1502e0b2905a94807a8d94111a19d5b7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/296334c1430357a5c0559c36e2e9080b.pdf 56237fec0160a8ded5b49259cefdabb0 PDF Text Text I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found From the sermon series: God’s Prodigal Love Text: Luke 15: 20-24 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 17, 1986 Transcription of the spoken sermon …while he was still a long way off his father saw him, and his heart went out to him. He ran to meet him, flung his arms round him, and kissed him….The father said to his servants, “Quick! Fetch a robe, my best one, …a ring…and shoes….Bring the fatted calf. …let us have a feast to celebrate the day…and the festivities began. Luke 15: 20-24 The next time I select this parable as the basis of the message, I will entitle it, "When Heaven Throws a Party." That says it well, better perhaps than our title today. But the title of this message is consistent with the perspective from which we have walked through the story; we've been looking at it primarily through the eyes of the younger son. An Old Scottish preacher treated it that way, too, but in one message he divided the story into three movements, "Sick of home, homesick, and home." That says it well, too. We've stayed with the story for four weeks and I think we, too, have gotten the feel of the movement: I want to do it on my own! Is that all there is? I wish I could start over! Now, finally, I can't believe the love I've found! I like that statement. It expresses the amazed joy of discovery the younger son experienced at his reception by the father and it points, as well, to the heart of the story, what the story is really all about – the love of the father, which is a parable of the love of God. We have rehearsed the story often enough; it is the most familiar parable Jesus told. But the climactic scene never fails to move us. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him, and his heart went out to him. He ran to meet him, flung his arms around him, and kissed him. © Grand Valley State University   �I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found Richard A. Rhem Page 2   What a vivid picture of love, forgiveness, reconciliation. What deep emotion is thus expressed and what deep chords the scene touches in our own hearts. Let us stick with the text for a moment. The son managed to get the first part of his rehearsed speech out: Father, I have sinned, against God and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son. No more could be spoken; no more need be spoken. Love took over; love simply overwhelmed the penitent. There would be no more discussion, only rapid-fire instructions by which the son would be restored fully to the position of son and heir and the party would be prepared. The father's rationale was simple: The dead one was alive; the lost one was found. Let the party begin! There you have Jesus' understanding of the nature of God's love and the way love acts. He was defending his own action, his openness to all kinds of persons – winners and losers, rich and poor, prestigious and peasant. He claimed to be in his behavior, spirit and attitude a mirror of the heart of God. The portrait of the father running down the road, embracing and kissing the son and restoring him fully is simply a picture of God waiting, watching and finally welcoming His children home. Let us reflect on the nature of God's love as it comes to expression in Jesus' story. It is obviously the love of God and quite foreign to all human conception or expression. I am reminded of a statement from the Old Testament prophet Hosea. He is preeminently the prophet of divine love in the Old Testament. The passage is not strange to us; we have focused on it often; but the nature of the love is strange to us precisely because, as God says in the prophet's words, "I am God and not man." Hosea's prophecy opens with a personal narrative of his love for a woman who proves unfaithful, a woman whom God calls him to forgive and embrace again. That personal experience was Hosea's parable of God's love for Israel. In the 11th chapter, Hosea records how God created and cared for Israel tenderly, lovingly, only to be rejected by her. He then speaks of judgment to fall on them for their rebellion and revolt. But then the mood changes. God says, How can I give you up Ephraim, how surrender you…? My heart is changed within me…I will not let loose my fury, I will not turn round and destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man. Hosea 11: 8, 9 I am always struck by that statement. So often we explain our behavior, our responses, our relationships with a shrug of the shoulders – "Well, I'm only © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found Richard A. Rhem Page 3   human." And it is true, only human - and so, I lose patience, my love has limits. You can push me over the line; my love comes to an end. I think there are some rights I do not have to give up. I take offense at some point of provocation and feel justified in doing so. In the family I set limits, I demand respect. I will not tolerate some things. I think the children need it and they do, but it is also true that I refuse to be used, abused. It makes me wonder if one could raise a family on the kind of love God displays. I know it won't work in the world of practical affairs, in business and government. Certainly not in international affairs. That kind of love ends up crucified. It is not practical. What are we saying about God? What are we saying about ourselves? Let's not try to qualify God's love as Jesus portrayed it. Let's not try to make it something else by all sorts of conditional clauses. Just think about it as Jesus portrayed it. It is like Hosea expressed, My love is what it is because I'm God and not man. What will we say? Too good for this world? Too impractical? Too idealistic? Some love, though! Some love. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said, "Great men never run in public." Research into the ways of Palestinian community life confirms that no father would pull up his garment and run down the road. It was a disgrace. God's love, Jesus says, loses proper decorum, loses dignity, has no self-regard – just races to embrace a child coming home. Some love! What are we saying? Are we wiser than God? Do we know better how to run the world? Is love really soft, ineffective? Let me suggest that love is really the only truly transforming power. Love changes us from the inside. Only an inside change is transforming. Fear can hold us in line. Behavior patterns can be changed by threat. A heavy smoker has a coronary, and the doctor says, "No more," and the habit is broken. Law can hold us in line. I really resist the seat belt law. It is foolish of me, but I resist being told I have to buckle up. One day this week I reached over and buckled up as I was approaching Bobbins Road on U.S. 31. At the light I stopped © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found Richard A. Rhem Page 4   and next to me the Sheriff's car stopped. Nancy said, "I wondered why you buckled up." But behavioral response to fear or law or threat of any kind - while it may control my behavior and keep me in line - which may be for my good and for the good of society - does not have the power to transform me so that I become a new person - my new behavior being the outward sign of my new being. Love is powerful. Love is transforming. Maybe our trouble is that we just do not trust love to do its work. We grow anxious; we want to exercise control; we want to secure the proper outcome. We are often well-intentioned. We really do want the best for our children, our nation, our world. But we don't trust love to effect it; we feel constrained to force the best solution in any situation. So we make demands and we threaten penalty. God loves. Jesus came into the midst of human history and he loved, and people felt its power and all kinds of people came to him. He made no distinctions; he simply loved people. And they were changed. Transformed. And Jesus was simply God's love in flesh and in action. Unconditional love - that is the love of God. Love that can be spurned, love that can be abused, taken advantage of, love that will not coerce, but that alone can transform. The Father did not play it cool; he did not remain aloof; he did not keep the boy hanging, put him on probation, lecture him on responsibility or vent the anger of his wounded pride. He just hugged him and kissed him and said, "My boy is alive; he's home again!" The son had gained insight. He had faced himself, come to his senses, acknowledged his foolishness and attained a proper humility. He was prepared to make a reasonable request of his father. He had come a long way, but he was still a stranger to grace until he felt the arms of his father, the hot, salty tears of the father falling on his shoulder. It was the love of the father that turned him inside out. It was the love that transformed him. How could he take it in? As he thought about it, he must have said, "I can't believe the love I've found." Maybe we are not wiser than God; maybe God is wiser. Maybe He knows that threat and condemnation do not transform even though they may coerce one to © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found Richard A. Rhem Page 5   conform. Maybe He trusts the power of love and so He deals with us with the patience of love. I wonder why we have missed that point in the Church. Sometime, taste some radio sermons or TV evangelists. Reflect on your experience in church over the years. Read sermon titles or the church page in the newspaper – it sounds like a horror story rather than a love story. What is the overwhelming impression created? Why do we use the phrase, "Don't preach to me!"? What is preaching in common usage? Is it not full of oughtness - full of threat, full of warning, and laced with condemnation? Why do we adopt a method that turns away when we have the message of an unbelievable love to share? Is it because we are insecure about the truth we bring? Do we want to force everyone into our mold? Are we unsure of love's transforming power? Do we rush in to force while God patiently waits? God loves. God waits. And then God races to embrace the one who finally comes to his senses. That is why the story ends with a marvelous party. The fatted calf. Music and dancing. Celebration. That is what worship ought to be – a great party. Once again, how we have mutilated the whole matter. There is a discipline of worship. I heartily commend it. Unless you arise on Sunday morning knowing it is the Lord's Day and you will worship without even stopping to make a decision, you will probably not worship with a disciplined regularity. But, why? Do we do God a favor? Do we honor God? Well ... perhaps. But what is this coming together? Is it not a party, a celebration for a grace amazing and a love beyond compare? I know there are spiritual disciplines, which I really need to keep in tune, in touch. But I do not do them for God's sake, to win His approval or curry His favor. I do them to keep in view this amazing love, the inspiring, uplifting experience of a love that keeps on throwing arms around me, believing in me when I give up on myself; a love that will never let me go. So I keep coming here to hear it again. I come here to say, "Thanks be to Thee, O God!" I really need to keep coming back; I forget so soon. I get down on myself. I see the ambiguity of my life, the equivocation of my commitment. I would give up on me; wouldn't God, Who knows the twists and warps of my soul better than I do? © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t Believe the Love I’ve Found Richard A. Rhem Page 6   The answer is simply, "No," He will never give up on me. Remember again this story is about God's love, His attitude toward His children. We've missed the point and ruined the story by making a big deal about the far country and loose living, but that is to distort the story and turn it into a moralism. It is not about how one lives, but about how God loves. If there is one great underlying, foundational, fundamental truth woven through the one story of the Bible, it comes to beautiful expression in this parable Jesus told and it is simply this - God loves us with an everlasting love. Personalize that; put your own name in the sentence: God loves…. Now, to make that felt, we should really take a moment and put our arms around each other. When you need space, go ahead - run, run like mad for as long as you need to run. Get it out of your system - that feverish cry, "I want to do it on my own!" One day you may wake up with a real headache and a heartache, as well, and ask, "Is that all there is?" When you get hold of yourself and feel that yearning inside and find yourself saying, "I wish I could start over," then remember this story Jesus told and simply come home - You won't believe the love you'll find. In the meantime, God waits, God searches for the slightest sign of homesickness, God loves and longs to have you feel it, in His embrace. Open yourself to the love and to God. Come to the party! © 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 XIII Series God's Prodigal Love Scripture Text Luke 15:20-24 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-0-19860817 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-08-17 Title A name given to the resource I Can't Believe the Love I've Found 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 17, 1986 entitled "I Can't Believe the Love I've Found", as part of the series "God's Prodigal Love", on the occasion of Pentecost XIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 15:20-24. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Nature of God's Love Parable Prodigal Son Transforming Love Unconditional Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cd393b8d46efb0cc2a729a03ca44070b.mp3 2d77d3c99eeaae6eeb00609c281a89e1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3dcf76817ae44278a9c7355c05f2d3f7.pdf b2c39a80e83c105da267078ab1f37d81 PDF Text Text I Don’t Know How to Love Him From the Lenten series: Following Jesus Text: Luke 8:2; Matthew 27:61 Richard A. Rhem and Colette Volkema De Nooyer Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent IV, March 29, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Our worship theme this Lenten Season is “Following Jesus,” and to follow Jesus it is necessary to know something of the shape of Jesus’ life, the manner of his behavior, his spirit, his attitude. This was recognized early on and there were four Gospels written, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. For centuries the Church read those Gospels as though they were accounts of the life of Jesus that could be taken quite literally, just as they were presented. As those Gospels were compared one with another there was a recognition that the chronology was rather difficult to put together and there seemed to be different emphases, etc. Nonetheless, there was assurance that these were pictures of the life of Jesus and one could read them and know something of the historical Jesus. When I was at Hope College, I think I even had to purchase “ A Harmony of the Gospels.” Do they still sell that book? I hope not, really. I have in my hand a book published in 1969 called “The Life of Christ in Stereo.” There was a gentleman who had studied for the ministry and then was wise enough to cop out at the last moment, but he did have good tools of Greek and Hebrew. Then in the midst of his life he was stricken with a disease that put him to bed. There he was. So he spent his time snipping the Gospels. I can imagine a whole pile of old Bibles that he might have had, you know, and he clipped this paragraph from Matthew and then slipped one in from Luke, then add one from John, and go back and pick up Mark so you could read from the beginning to the end. Here it is! The whole of the four Gospels put into one consecutive tale or narrative. Isn’t that wonderful! Not really, because it not only does not give us one Gospel, it distorts all four, because the four Gospels were written by four different evangelists to four different congregations, four different concrete communities with four different sets of needs, for four different purposes. Now they were written twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years after the event, so they had all of the oral tradition of the early Christian community, and they had all of the experience of being Christian to work with, so they had material from which to select. That’s what they did in order to do a specific thing, in order to make a certain point. John tells us that very clearly in his Gospel, in the twentieth chapter and the thirtieth verse he says, © Grand Valley State University   �I Don’t Know How to Love Him Richard A. Rhem Page 2   “There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book.” In other words, “I have done a little selecting here, folks. I haven’t given you the whole picture. This isn’t a snapshot. This is a portrait I have painted.” Why? “These things I have written — my selection was in order that you might believe that Jesus, the one that lived, that very real human being – who when he ate garlic you smelled his breath, that very real Jesus who when he walked on the earth got his feet dusty like everybody else – that you might believe that that one is the Christ of God, and believing have life through his name.” Now this is very interesting – do you know what’s in the paragraph above? The story of Thomas, that disciple that Jesus found in Missouri—the one who said, “Dead people don’t rise, fellas. Unless I can touch the nail prints, I’ll not believe.” Jesus appears and Thomas says, “My God.” Jesus said, “That’s right.” Jesus said, “Happy are those who never saw me and yet believed,” because that was the problem for John in his day and his community. Those who never had the chance to rub elbows with that one, whom his contemporaries knew was as real and true, and flesh and blood as they were. So now, here we are and we’ve got Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Now we’ve got the historical records, right? Wrong! We’ve got faith documents. We’ve got history seen through Pentecost, through Easter, through Good Friday. And the day-by-day life of Jesus as it was experienced by his contemporaries is very difficult to recover. Their problem was not that Jesus was truly human. The Gospel writers in the experience of Easter and Pentecost, in the experience of the Christian community said, as Thomas said, “This Jesus, my God.” They had to say, “This one was that one.” But all we have are documents that say, “That one was this one.” So we’ve got a kind of supernatural divine Saviour who started there and dipped down here and did his thing and went back there. We’ve got this exalted Christ for whom it is very difficult to get next to in terms of a human Jesus who might have been flesh and blood like us, who might have cared about this world, who might have had something to say about those who would follow him. It’s a lot easier to just let him be the Son of God who comes down, dies for our sin and goes back. Whew! I’m off the hook. My sins are forgiven. But what we’ve done to Jesus is reduce his life to a comma, as in the Apostles’ Creed: “Born of the Virgin Mary, (comma) suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Let’s leap from the virgin birth to the atoning death and not get all nervous about that concrete life of the one who said, “I give you an example, follow in my steps.” Well, there is Good News because today there seems to be new interest in the life of Jesus. There are all kinds of historical methods whereby the layers can be peeled off. This research is going on all the time and there are some very interesting studies that would peel off that faith crust in the Son of God in order to lay bare the flesh of the man from Nazareth. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we © Grand Valley State University �I Don’t Know How to Love Him Richard A. Rhem Page 3   could get out of time for a bit, have someone who actually followed him and tell us what it meant? I think I see such a one coming . . . (Colette Volkema DeNooyer speaking:) My name is Mary Magdalene, which means simply, Mary of Magdala. Magdala was the village where I was born and raised. My memories of Magdala are not particularly good ones because I spent most of my life there filled with what we called ‘evil spirits.’ I had heard of Jesus even before I first encountered him. He was healing and teaching around Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee, which was not too far from Magdala. His first disciples were from that place. Peter and his brother Andrew, the Zebedee, James and John—they were fishermen. But you probably know that already, don’t you? Because you have a great gift, the written word and the ability to read it. Most of us had only the words we could hear with our own ears, and the sights that we could see with our own eyes. You see a whole picture, don’t you? But for those of us who were in the midst of it, it was not at all clear at times, and yet we knew the man, we walked with him and we talked with him. We touched him, and we held his hand. We experienced the power of his spirit, of God’s Spirit in him. So perhaps ours is the greater gift, or at least as great a gift, for I fear that perhaps in your written words he is beginning to become imprisoned behind them. Words . . . you know words are such inadequate vessels. And they can grow rigid and cold with time. That’s why I have come, you see, to breathe some fire and life into those words, to bring you to his human passion and love. I owe him at least that because he gave me life when he banished the demons and filled my soul with truth strong enough to keep the evil spirits at bay. But how to do that? I thought perhaps if I remembered things about him that have stayed with me. What were my strongest impressions of him? Three short years was all his ministry was, you know. And I knew him for less than that, really. But the intensity of the experience, it changed lives; it changed my life. I have seen your artist’s rendition of Jesus and I think you misunderstand—he is so often pictured meek and mild. If you think that it was easy to be around Jesus of Nazareth you are mistaken. He was a relentless seeker and prophet of truth. He was always asking, “Why? And, why not?” He was challenging rules and laws that had become burdens for us. It wasn’t enough for Jesus for someone to answer, “But it’s always been done that way.” Or even simply to say, “The law requires it.” Jesus believed that they had lost sight of the purpose of the law and the purpose of tradition. “Why don’t you wash before you eat? It is written in the law,” they said to him. “Because it’s what comes out of one’s mouth and one’s heart that determines whether or not we are clean,” he said. “Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?” the Pharisees asked him. “Does a physician come to one who is well?” he asked. © Grand Valley State University �I Don’t Know How to Love Him Richard A. Rhem Page 4   And they were appalled at the way he kept or didn’t keep the Sabbath. They say the Pharisees invited him to dinner on the Sabbath once. When Jesus arrived the seats of honor were taken—the ones closest to the host. So, obviously, they had not invited him because of their great love and respect for him. Jesus said that when he entered the room he could feel their eyes watching him, and almost immediately there was a knock at the door, and then it was clear the invitation was a setup, for in the doorway stood a lame man and it was the Sabbath and, of course, it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath. They say Jesus looked at the man and then turned and gazed at those seated around the table, pious and faithful keepers of the law each of them. And he asked, “If your cow fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you pull it out to save its life?” The question hung in the air. They didn’t need to answer. They knew they would. So, he turned — in strong truth he turned and healed the man on the Sabbath. For Jesus said, “The Sabbath is made for us, we are not made for the Sabbath.” It is God’s gift to us for wellbeing, so what better way to keep the Sabbath than to heal the broken and the lame? Have you ever known someone in your own life who, when they were near, it seemed somehow as if God were close? I mean, when you were with them, you believe in God and in yourself, in life and in the future. It was that way with him — the power of his presence. There are not words that can describe it, only its happening. In his presence people were healed; by his touch they were healed. They were made whole by his compassionate gaze. How? I don’t know, exactly. I only know that it happened. I saw a woman — she had had a flow of blood for twelve years and no one had been able to heal her. She managed to just reach out and touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment and she was healed. The crowd was large that day, and I’m sure she hoped no one would notice. I mean, it was a great risk she took, you know. It was unlawful for her to touch the Master’s garment in that condition. With her flow of blood she was unclean, and so untouchable. Can you imagine — untouchable for twelve years? She must have been desperate. She risked and she reached out, praying that something would happen, hoping that she would not be noticed. But she was. He noticed. Immediately he turned and said, “Someone has touched me. I felt the power going out from me.” She came forward, terrified, trembling. She fell at his feet weeping and told him why she had touched him, and told him that she had been healed. You should have seen him then. He lifted her so gently up until she was standing right next to him. Then he looked unflinchingly into her eyes and said, “Daughter, go in peace, your faith has made you whole.” Word would spread when someone had found healing. People would come bringing others who had needs. Then the crowds would swell even greater. But you need to know something. He never used his ability to heal or to discern when people were hurting to manipulate them. He never used their adulation to claim political power and authority. How often didn’t he heal and say to the one made whole, “Go and tell no one.” He didn’t heal to draw attention to himself. He © Grand Valley State University �I Don’t Know How to Love Him Richard A. Rhem Page 5   healed to draw attention to God through him, and to the way to God. You know, I don’t think Jesus even intended there should be a religion called Christianity. Oh, I think it was essential for the Gentiles and for the persecuted ones in the years that followed, but Jesus was a Jew. In that time of his ministry I think what he longed for most was that the Pharisees and others like them would see the error of their ways — to see that they were becoming an obstacle, a block to our way to God. What else? Perhaps this: His attentiveness to the overlooked, the disregarded, the shunned of humanity. It never ceased to amaze me or to delight me, his availability to lepers, to tax collectors, to sinners, to children, to women. I don’t know if you can understand, but there are times when men look at women, when they look at us it seems they are not seeing us, they are not touching us, but they are seeing objects to own or to use. It was not like that with Jesus. I wish you could have seen the way he looked at me when he banished the demons. I’ve thought about that moment often and I’ve come to believe he healed me with a look that accepted me just as I was — demons and all. He cast them out when he touched me, not with a touch of lust, but with a touch that showed he valued me. And for me that is still the greatest miracle. So, I tell you what I remember of him, the Jesus who for us was so real, so human, so down-to-earth. And who, for you, I fear is becoming so exalted, so majestic, maybe even so unbelievable. Let me say it again in another way. I know that Jesus was a man, because his humanness caused for me a particular dilemma, and I am not afraid or ashamed to tell you. I was in love with him. Why do you think I dragged myself to the foot of that cross? A thousand soldiers could not have pulled me away until I had seen him breathe his last. Why do you think I went Sunday morning in hopes that I might see him one last time? But, I didn’t know how to love him. He moved me so. And I longed to love him in the only ways I knew. I longed to cling to him in the way one would, to keep him with me. And yet I couldn’t. I had to let go because I sensed that he was called for something more, chosen for something more. Maybe he was even born for something more. I don’t know. But I think you have a dilemma too. The Gospel writers and the apostles that preached Jesus, they took for granted that he was a man. So they talked about that other something that we felt when we were with him, the way in which he was so filled full of God that there was a unique relationship there. And now centuries later you have read only of that. Are you able to cut through the doctrines and the creeds about him, cut through the black and white translations and the spoken pious clichés to feel the heart and the soul and the way and the truth of the man? Or do you cling too tightly to his Godliness? So, I have a dilemma and you have a dilemma. On the one hand his humanness that I knew, his fire and his passion. On the other, his Godliness and his glory. Perhaps that’s why the Church has so long confessed Jesus as truly God and truly man to honor us both. © Grand Valley State University �I Don’t Know How to Love Him Richard A. Rhem Page 6   But I wonder, if I may say so, I wonder if perhaps my perception of him is less confusing, does not distort things as much? You see, what I remember most is that he wanted to show us the Way, the Way to God and the Way to the Kingdom of God. In loving him, his human person, I saw the face of God and, to my deep delight and joy, I have discovered that, now, to love another person – even though I can’t reach out and touch him – when I love another person, it is as though Jesus is with me. Now I find that in them I see also the face of God. I experience that that one who dwells in love, dwells in God. Loving one another, it is the way to God. It is the only way I know to follow Jesus. © 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 Lent IV Series Following Jesus Scripture Text Luke 8:2, Matthew 27:61 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-0-19920329 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-03-29 Title A name given to the resource I Don't Know How To Love Him 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 March 29, 1992 entitled "I Don't Know How To Love Him", as part of the series "Following Jesus", on the occasion of Lent IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 8:2, Matthew 27:61. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Gospels Historical Jesus Nature of Scripture Transforming Love Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/66e24cf6e69ea60e531bbbc1beeac8d1.mp3 53f83e2d528be47c8c5fe5448503cd6e 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 Scripture Text Psalm 116:1, II Corinthians 9:15 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-0-19871126 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-11-26 Title A name given to the resource I Love the Lord Because... 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 26, 1987 entitled "I Love the Lord Because...", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 116:1, II Corinthians 9:15. 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/00af97f32021d66ca77aeb42e0168e3a.mp3 3e14de0b2ea9dbaa30c67daf175b6421 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 Scripture Text Luke 22:39-53 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-0-20030409 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-04-09 Title A name given to the resource I Need You 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 9, 2003 entitled "I Need You", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 22:39-53. 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/3f5a00df92002a507eb429a2babad46d.pdf dbf4c2556624e1df8af1fc5a7cee8420 PDF Text Text I Really Can’t (Choose Not To) Follow From the series: God in the Mirror of a Human Face Text: Mark 8:34; I Peter 2:21 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent, March 21, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon My contention: We must get Jesus right, the historical Jesus, because Jesus’ face is the human face that mirrors the nature and character of God. If we get Jesus right, we will get God right, and if we get God right, we will be right. The God we imagine and worship determines the kind of people we become. In the Gospels we have two very different images of God: That of John the Baptist who, with many of his contemporaries, was living in the expectation of the dramatic in-breaking of God to end the world as it was organized, a world of oppression under the heel of Imperial Rome. God would come in fiery judgment to throw down the social structures of oppression and human abuse; the wicked would be burned as chaff, the righteous established in God’s kingdom of righteousness. That final solution involved God in counterviolence to the violence that God’s people had suffered from imperial power. Though beginning with John, at some point Jesus distanced himself from John, moved north to Galilee and inaugurated a ministry of grace whose keynote was the nearness of God to all, the unbrokered presence of God accessible to all, symbolized in the open table, the shared meal. Jesus’ vision was not apocalyptic; it was, to use the designation of John Dominic Crossan, “ethical eschatology.” Jesus, like John, believed the normal way the world was organized and run was fundamentally wrong, for the organizing principle was power - political, military, economic, religious– power that, said Jesus, is not reflective of the nature and character of God, nor of God’s intention for Creation. Not Power, but Justice. But not simply justice: rather, non-violent justice; that was the key. John wanted justice, too, and he wanted God to level the playing field any way God could - let wrath roar, but square the accounts of the world. © Grand Valley State University   �I Can’t (Choose Not To) Follow Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Not so Jesus; he came to see that justice by coercion fails to create a new world. "One convinced against one’s will is of the same opinion still," claims the old adage. As we gather, an emergency meeting of the Defense and Security people in Washington are gathering with the President about the situation in Kosovo. What are you guessing will be the decision? How would you make the call? Here is one of those terribly difficult decisions that this government is called on to make - not alone, of course - but nonetheless as the lone superpower. I mention that because, should we take military action, we may avert a human slaughter, diminish human suffering, halt an aggressor. Force can do that. But will we change anything? There would be service to some semblance of justice, but a coerced semblance of justice holds in check a greater evil while failing utterly to effect the kind of transformation that is reflective of the world order that was envisioned by Jesus. Jesus went another way - the way of non-violent protest. He did that in a very concrete cultural situation - in rural Galilee under Roman rule Commercialization was driving peasant farmers off their land. He did not need to call those who followed him to leave all. They had lost all. And if on occasion a person of wealth inquired about what he should do to enter the kingdom of which Jesus spoke, he said, "Sell all, give it away and follow me if you want to be part of this movement. Get out of the system; let your known, familiar world cease to be and join us in a “companionship of empowerment." That’s Crossan’s descriptive term, not teacher-disciple. That would still be a structure of domination, not a fellowship of equality. The best example I can give you in our century is Gandhi, who recognized that somehow or other British rule in India was focused around salt and the fabric industry. Remember Gandhi’s march to the sea? Well, they began to make their own salt and they began to spin their own cotton, and when a mass of people opt out of the way a world is running, that world collapses, it breaks down. You remember in the film the moment when the masses were there in front of the British guns and the guns began to bark and then had to be called off, because any oppressor with a modicum of humanity cannot just mow down human beings. Unfortunately, our world has known instances of those who could do that, but anyone with a grain of humanity within cannot simply gun down a mass of people who offer their bodies because they will no longer play the game that way. That’s really, I think, what Jesus was about, and if our world had known more people who would have followed the radicality of Jesus such as a Gandhi, our world just might be farther along in this emerging evolutionary movement toward humanization. © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t (Choose Not To) Follow Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Oh, it’s not easy - I really can’t follow, nor can I choose not to follow. That’s the Lenten dilemma, when I’m faced starkly with Jesus’ call to take up my cross. To take up my cross is not to buy a bathrobe and sandals and give away everything I have and go out on the street. That’s imitating Jesus in a literalistic fashion and it makes no sense. Let me be clear - following Jesus is always a culturally specific action. It is an action in light of my concrete situation. It is not the imitation of Jesus; it is doing what Jesus would do, were Jesus in my shoes, for Jesus’ enemies are not my enemies, and Jesus’ concrete instances of injustice are not mine. I’ve got to determine what it means to follow Jesus in an economy where the stock market is nudging 10,000. I have to determine what following in Jesus’ steps means in a world that is driven into consumerism by PR, advertising firms that encourage me to acquisition. I have to learn what following Jesus means in a world that is under threat of pollution, a world that is marked still by terrible racism that obtrudes itself occasionally in the disastrous brutality of the police slayings of recent times. I have to decide what it means to follow Jesus in a world of gay bashing and neo-Nazi manifestation. I have to decide what it means to follow Jesus in a world where the most shrill voice and meanest spirit– I say in the presence of God – I find in the representatives of the religious right. That’s how I have to determine the shape of following in his steps, and it’s not easy. It’s very complex. The Church should have known long before it did that it belonged on the side of the civil rights struggle of the sixties, of the feminist issue in the recent decades, and the present era of homophobia. The Church should know long before it finally comes kicking and dragging into the kingdom where it ought to be on issues like that. But, it’s not always clear. I can never get through Lent without going to my dear Bonhoeffer who was convinced in his heart of hearts that Jesus called us to non-violence, who was essentially himself a pacifist, and yet who left the safety of this country in 1939 returning to Germany, finally to be joined up by a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, a conspiracy which failed and which resulted in his incarceration and his martyrdom. Eduard Bethke, his biographer, was asked when he came to this country on a speaking tour how Bonhoeffer, with his convictions about pacifism, could have gotten involved in that violent solution, and Bethke said, "What do you do when someone is going up and down the street killing people?" It’s not easy, you see. Because we live not in the kingdom of God. It has dawned, but it has not fully arrived and, consequently, there’s light and shadow and it’s all intertwined and we are all caught up in it, all heavily invested in the way things are. There are often situations that are not clear-cut, and we need to be patient with one another and in conversation with one another. But finally, finally I am called to follow in his steps because I do believe that the heart of God is mirrored in the face of Jesus. I believe that what Jesus was about is what God was about © Grand Valley State University �I Can’t (Choose Not To) Follow Richard A. Rhem Page 4   and that it has cosmic, historical, human implications all the way down the line. The possibility of the realization, the dream of God, that dream of a human community, of humane existence, of the humanization of society - that that is what Jesus was about because he believed that was what God was about and I do believe that is the grain of the universe moving that way. But God, with infinite patience, waits. Not full of wrath ready to bubble over, saying to us, "It’s your only possibility. Power won’t do it. Violence, even my violence, will defeat the very purpose with which I said ‘Let there be ...’ I only wait until finally here and there, now and again, someone catches the dream, the vision, the impossible dream for this world that I love, and I can imagine that when Jesus moved from Gethsemane to the judgment hall, he might well have written the words from The Man of La Mancha – To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star. This is my quest: to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far. to fight for the right without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause! And I know, if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I’m laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this: That one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars! (Joe Darton) – because God so loved the world. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e0c40486f6dbb367d29248d6492cd911.mp3 92c96e66e37e14d4fd112f5c1d35eecb 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 Lent V Series God In the Mirror of a Human Face Scripture Text Mark 8:34, I Peter 2:21 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-0-19990321 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-03-21 Title A name given to the resource I Really Can't (Choose Not To) Follow 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 March 21, 1999 entitled "I Really Can't (Choose Not To) Follow", as part of the series "God In the Mirror of a Human Face", on the occasion of Lent V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 8:34, I Peter 2:21. Divine Intention Grace Justice Non-violence https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1d327033b00fdaf9745d431ab19df687.pdf 72f678974b884815864dd65a4367ab41 PDF Text Text “I Thirst” From the series: The Seven Last Words From the Cross Text: John 19:28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent V, March 20, 1994 Transcription of the spoken sermon "After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), "I thirst." John 19:28 "I thirst," the fifth word from the cross, is as the fourth word is, a word of suffering. Certainly it is an expression of physical suffering, and we're told by some who have experienced it that there is perhaps no greater physical anguish than to suffer thirst. But the word from John, we have learned, is always layered. Certainly John would point to the terrible physical torment of Jesus. But we’ve come to know from John that the word is never there at its purely literal or simplistic level. John always has something more symbolic to say. Note for a moment, if you would, the contrast of John's lens with the lenses of Mark and Matthew and Luke. That's been the special angle of vision we've been trying to sort out in this Lenten series: to use the words of the cross as lenses through which the respective Evangelists understood the meaning of the depth of Jesus. These Evangelists, as we have said, were not journalists working for the Jerusalem Times. They weren't court reporters getting down every word. They were portrait painters. They were novelist, theologians. They were giving us an interpretation of what was happening. And I think we get an insight into their understanding of what was happening by the words they put into the mouth of Jesus as he's dying – in this case, the word "I thirst." Note for a moment, the contrasting pictures that we get from John as opposed to the other three. Don't hear me saying that one is right and the other is wrong. Hear me saying that they're different because they are being viewed through a different lens. These are interpretations. For example, last week, we spoke of the word from Mark and Matthew, "My God, My God, Why hath thou abandoned me?" In Mark (which we believe to be the earliest of the four gospels) and in Matthew, this is Jesus' only word. It is a picture of the utter spiritual dereliction and abandonment of Jesus at the time of his crucifixion. Not so in John. In John's gospel, the dying Jesus is in charge as he has been in charge throughout the whole portrait that John paints of Jesus. You remember in the tenth chapter © Grand Valley State University   �“I Thirst.” Richard A. Rhem Page 2   of John, the Good Shepherd passage, Jesus says no one takes my life from me; I lay it down. Jesus is active in the discharge of his ministry, of his mission. John's Jesus is a Jesus who is in control of the circumstances. And when he says, "I thirst," Jesus is triggering something more than simply expressing his physical anguish. Now the Jesus that John tells us about, again in contrast to the synoptics Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is a Jesus who when he comes to the crunch (spoken of by John as "the hour") says, "now is the hour and what shall I say, Father remove this from me? No for this hour came I forth. Father, glorify your name." And in the Garden of Gethsemane there is no prayer as in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me." Rather, in John there is simply the arrest in the garden. Peter draws his sword, hacks off an ear of one of those who have come to arrest Jesus, and Jesus reproves him. Jesus says, "The cup that the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" Do you feel the difference? To the other gospel writers the picture is of a Jesus who is still struggling against the inevitability. John's picture is of one who says, "Father glorify your name, the hour is here. Let's go through with it. Give me the cup. I must drink the cup." What cup? The cup of suffering, the cup representative of God's will for Jesus’ life following faithfully through all the way. That cup. But cup? That's interesting, isn't it, to speak of it as a cup. There's a cup there. Where does that cup come from? Well, it comes from the Old Testament feast of Passover, doesn't it? John's Jesus is the Passover lamb. Not for Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The timing of the crucifixion in John is different from the other three. The other three have Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples on the night before he was betrayed. John has a different chronology. For John, Jesus is crucified at the very hour when the Passover lambs are being slaughtered at the temple because for John Jesus does not eat the Passover. Jesus is the Passover. What was the Passover? The people of Israel are slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh is abusing and oppressing them, the sons and daughters of Jacob. God calls Moses and says, "Take my people out of there." So Moses goes to the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh says, "No Way, José." God says, "O.K. we'll start a little action." The plagues. Do you remember the ten plagues? Do you remember what the tenth one was? The first born of every household would be slain by the Angel of Death. What would the Angel of Death do? The Angel of Death would pass over the houses of the people of Israel. That's where we get the name Passover. The Angel of Death passing over. Well, how did the Angel of Death know if it was an Egyptian or an Israelite household? The Israelites were prepared by Moses, who got the word from God. What were they to do? They were to get ready to go, ready to move out, and they were to have a final feast. The central element of the feast was to be a lamb, a lamb roasted whole, no bones broken. And with a branch of hyssop they were to sprinkle the blood of this lamb on their doorposts, so that when the Angel passed over the Israelites, their first-born would be spared. Every year after that, Israel © Grand Valley State University �“I Thirst.” Richard A. Rhem Page 3   kept Passover, which was a feast, a celebration. What were they celebrating? Sins forgiven? No, liberation. Freedom. The exodus was perhaps the first great freedom flight in history, and Moses was that revolutionary leader that led God's people out of the house of bondage into freedom and toward the Promised Land. Every year when Israel celebrated the pass-over, there were several cups of wine. And after the final cup of wine, the feast was over. Now John has Jesus on the cross saying, "I'm thirsty." Is John telling us simply that Jesus was thirsty? That Jesus was suffering terrible physical anguish? Yes, but in this important document in which John is talking about eternal life, do you suppose in that account John would stop simply to have Jesus say, "I'm thirsty" to note a physical thirst? Might there be something more going on? Do you note in the text that we read how Jesus got his thirst quenched? Vinegar. The other gospels say wine. Whatever it was, how did he receive it? On a hyssop. Hyssop, the same sort of hyssop that the Israelites used to sprinkle the lamb’s blood on their doorposts. Do you think it possible that John was making all of those associations so that we might see that his intention was to present Jesus at this point as symbolic of the Lamb of Liberation? The Jesus who is always in control in John's gospel, who says, "No one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own free will. I do it for my love for the sheep" et cetera, et cetera. This Jesus now, becoming aware that it was all finished, says, "I thirst." I think John was showing us a Jesus in control, who knew now that the work was done. The hour had gone. The hour was there. He had been lifted up. God was being glorified. He said, "I am thirsty," which was another way of saying, "Give me the cup. I am ready to drink it now. I am ready to drain it. I am ready to drain it to the final dregs." Now I suspect that every time you have ever heard this word preached on over the years the concentration has been on the physical suffering of Jesus. I want to suggest to you that the physical suffering of Jesus is real. And Jesus as a human being really suffered and that's not unimportant. That's why the creed says, "suffered under Pontius Pilot, was dead and buried." Because one of the greatest challenges to the central understanding of the early church about Jesus and what Jesus did, one of the greatest challenges was the heresy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism believed that matter was evil, and that God could never become entangled with matter. And so the Gnostic denied incarnation, that God could be identified with human flesh, that the word was made flesh. Gnosticism said Jesus walked on the beach but left no footprints. The Gnostic said Jesus' spirit had already left him when he was put on the cross because God could not be identified with that kind of suffering, that kind of material human flesh. The early church said "no" to that. This was a man. This man really suffered so the physical suffering is not to be devalued. Some Latin American Catholics, this time of year, parade a crucifix through town, and the pilgrims actually flagellate © Grand Valley State University �“I Thirst.” Richard A. Rhem Page 4   themselves and draw blood in order to identify with the physical sufferings of Jesus. It works for some who have been raised in that, for whom that conveys real meaning. But I want to suggest that probably, at further review, it's spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically unhealthy. In Protestantism we have our own ways of flagellation. We don't carry the crucifix, but we sing awful hymns. They are full of our vileness, our unworthiness, and of Jesus' awful suffering. I suspect, however, that if you read through the Lenten hymns, the text of the Lenten hymns, which are so familiar that we don't even think about them, in all honesty you would have to say, "no." "No, It doesn't really bring tears to my eyes. I only say that in a song." The physical suffering is not to be devalued but the physical suffering is not to be exaggerated either because that misses the point of what was happening in the death of Jesus. I do not believe that the death of Jesus was a religious event. I do not believe the death of Jesus was something that happened between Jesus and God for the salvation of the world. More and more, I am believing that the death of Jesus was a political event. The death of Jesus was the consequence of the way he lived, because the way he lived was a threat to the institutionalized religious hierarchy and the structure of his society. Jesus sought the liberation of people. Jesus sought to break all forms of human bondage. That's what John is telling us when he makes Jesus the Passover lamb. Jesus was doing for the whole world what Moses did for Israel. Jesus was doing for the whole world what happened when the slaves were set free from the house of bondage in Pharaoh's Egypt. John understood the death of Jesus as a liberating act, as the culmination of a life that had called people to human dignity and to human rights and to freedom. Jesus' life was not, first of all, a religious life, the life of some aesthetic or some monk. Jesus, in the name of God and in communion with God, with a vision that he felt he received from God and a call and a claim upon his life by God, sought to liberate people, sought to bring dignity to people, sought to include the excluded ones. He sought to touch the lepers, to break down the barriers and all of the exclusivism that ruled people out. And because he did that, they killed him. Jesus was the Passover lamb. And now he said, "I'm thirsty" in order to trigger the final cup and to empty it, and to complete his work, his work of human liberation. He knew it was now over. He had done what he could do and now it was in God's hands. That's the real nature of Jesus' suffering. The physical suffering should not be devalued but the focus on the physical suffering, and to try to identify oneself with a poor broken Jesus, is to privatize it, to individualize it, to spiritualize it, and to fail to realize that Jesus lived radically in this world. Jesus lived in order to change the world. Jesus lived in order to set people free from political bondage and from religious structures that bind, and from every © Grand Valley State University �“I Thirst.” Richard A. Rhem Page 5   form that devalued and dehumanized the person. It was a political act, and it happened in the world. The best example I know in the twentieth century was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. About once a year I get this book out. This book cannot be replaced. It's sacred to me. As you know, it kept me alive in Europe: Letters and Papers from Prison. Bonhoeffer joined a group that conspired to assassinate Hitler and was imprisoned when the plot failed. And, as you know, on April 8, 1945 he was hung. Bonhoeffer tells in these Letters about how he talked with a French pastor whose goal was to be a saint. And Bonhoeffer said, "I respected him even though I disagreed with him." But he said, "I myself thought that I could acquire faith by trying to live a holy life," in other words, the whole religious thing. He says, "It was at that period in my ministry that I wrote The Cost of Discipleship". And he said, "I still stand by that book, but I would make some changes now.” Now he has sat in prison. Now he has seen the world explode. Now he has faced the awful hellish demon of Nazism, and he says, "I am discovering up to this very moment that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to believe. One must abandon every attempt to make something of oneself. Whether it be a saint, or a converted sinner, or a churchman, a righteous or unrighteous one. This is what I mean by worldliness. Taking life in one's stride and all its duties and problems, its successes and failures, its experiences and helplessness. It is such a life," he says, "in which we throw ourselves into the arms of God and participate in the sufferings of the world." Here he was in prison for a political act because of his religious conviction and he says, "I don't want to be religious. I want to be worldly in the sense of participating in the world, in the things that God is about, in the causes of human liberation." Then he says, "Then I join the sufferings in this world, and I watch with Christ in Gethsemane." To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way, to cultivate some particular form of asceticism, but to be a person, a human being. It is not some religious act, which makes the Christian what he or she is, but participation in the sufferings of God, in the life of this world. That was tough business. That was tough business for Bonhoeffer. For him to be a follower of Jesus was to join a political conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. See, it had nothing to do with the sanctuary or the altar. It had to do with the life of this world. It had to do with what goes on in Washington and Beijing and the power centers of the world. It's not easy. Bonhoeffer wrote lines that are the most moving that I know of because I suppose they speak to me, in the poem "Who Am I?" And he tells about how others say, "My goodness, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you are so full of joy, so full of power, of hope, you are such a strong man, and they clung to him in prison. But he says, "To myself, Oh, I am weak, full of fear, and trembling. Who am I, this or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once, a hypocrite before others and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? © Grand Valley State University �“I Thirst.” Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions. Whoever I am, Oh God, thou knowest I am thine." I think that is a modern story of what Jesus was about. He suffered but he might have said, “The physical anguish of thirst was nothing compared with the torment within my soul. I believed God called me. Did God call me? Did I get it right? Why me? Who am I? Who am I to turn over institutions and traditions? Who am I? Have I got it right?” It's not easy to stick with one's conviction and to live by one's vision. It's much easier to fold up one's tent and fade off into the sunset. Sometimes I wonder about some of you who stick with the church. Why do you do it? Sometimes I wonder about myself. There certainly would be more peaceful ways to live one's life. Why care? Why make an issue? Why stick to one's guns? Bonhoeffer refers to Luther, who was called to account because of the oppression of the church and he said, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Can do no other, yet you could have done other, Martin Luther. You could have said, "Forget it." You could have said, "Oh, have it your way." But somehow or other he couldn't. He had to say, "Here I stand. I can do no other." Jesus certainly knew what he was about. Jesus undercut all of the sacred, solid, secure ways by which the power leaders of society controlled the masses and maintained their position. Like the article in the New York Times said, referring to the lobbyists against Clinton's health care plan: The Gold Diggers Are Lining Up In Washington. They're also jockeying for positions so that when it finally comes down they will be in a position to cash in. That's what the world's about. It is about power. It is about greed. It is about oppression and abuse and the dehumanizing of people and the using of people for personal prerogatives. And every once in a while there is a Bonhoeffer or a Mother Teresa or a Martin Luther King. And they get killed, just like Jesus got killed. Now Jesus said, "I'm thirsty." John said Jesus said, "I'm thirsty." What John is really signaling to us is that Jesus was saying, "Give me the cup. Give me the cup. I'll swallow it to the last drop because I know it's over, but, by God, I've lived my truth." If you really are serious about identifying with Jesus' suffering, I'll tell you what you do. Don't go off in a closet with a hymnbook and read those awful hymns and weep a while. Hear this word of Jesus: "If you would be my disciple, take up your cross, and follow me." I've got to warn you it could prove very painful, but the end thereof is joy inexpressible. What, greater possession could you possibly have than your soul intact? © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5d42e849a065d675dda53497ab8718d7.mp3 73550d0fdf9f539e5ca7c6ee59d4de7b 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 Lent V Series The Seven Last Words of Christ Scripture Text John 19:28 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-0-19940320 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-03-20 Title A name given to the resource I Thirst 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 March 20, 1994 entitled "I Thirst", as part of the series "The Seven Last Words of Christ", on the occasion of Lent V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 19:28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Inclusive Lent Liberation Passover Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48371bb25c8da3b293474fa6f916921f.mp3 2e87951fa710a8b9d0bd75660a3cac22 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/157fe6b1dc352f3f19c26faf1871da87.pdf 07ccb4e194cf4619fac0d3a1130c546e PDF Text Text I Want to Make It On My Own From the sermon series: God’s Prodigal Love Text: Luke 15: 13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 27, 1986 Transcription of the spoken sermon …The younger son turned the whole of his share into cash and left home for a distant country… Luke 15: 13 The Parable of the Prodigal Son is misnamed. It is really a parable, not about a prodigal son, but about the prodigal love of God. If there is anything prodigal in the story, it is the love of God, the love of the Father, the love of God as reflected in the behaviour of the father in the story. We call it the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and one would be fighting a losing battle to try to rename it, I suppose, but I think the series title that we embark on this morning does reflect more accurately the nature of the parable. It really is a parable about God's love, about the nature of God, about the manner in which God relates to us - far more important than the action of the son. The parable was told by Jesus in the first place in order to defend his own behaviour as a reflection of the behaviour of God, or the attitude and spirit of God. In reading those first verses of Luke 15, one finds that the story was addressed to the scribes and the Pharisees, the uptight, upright who were condemning Jesus for his associations. In the Gospels we don't really get a fair picture of the Pharisees, and that is because we get this overagainstness, this adversarial relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees. But we do see the contrast, even if it is only given in that one-sided fashion in the Gospels. Nevertheless, the Pharisees, who were the strict, separated ones, believed it necessary to disassociate themselves from people who were considered ritually unclean. They called everybody that was not one of their own sect a sinner. NonJewish people were sinners; Jewish people who were engaged in some kind of employment whereby they could not maintain their ritual purity were sinners. And so, they very quickly wrote off everybody that was other than they were as sinners. Publicans, tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes - whatever the designation may be, there was a kind of general categorization of all of those who were other © Grand Valley State University   �I Want To Make It On My Own Richard A. Rhem Page 2   than the Pharisees. And the Pharisee would have nothing to do with the likes of sinners. And so they were condemning Jesus who was open to all, available to all, accessible to everyone, and, as a sign of his accessibility, would have table fellowship with such people. The Dutch New Testament scholar, Edward Schillebeekx, says that the most fundamental characteristic of Jesus in the Gospels is his table fellowship. That which speaks most loudly about who Jesus was are the narratives about his table fellowship. In that context, to break bread with someone was not only to extend friendship, but was to embrace that person. It was the most intimate sign of acceptance and the offering of fellowship to another. Now, it is still, to a certain extent, true for us as well. To have a meal together is a sign of friendship and is a method by which we share intimacy. But it was especially true then. And so, Jesus, being open to all and accessible to all and breaking bread with any, no matter where they were coming from, no matter what their history, no matter what their present circumstance, no matter what their status in society – that openness got him criticism and got him written off in the minds of the Pharisees. And to defend his action and to say that his action was such because God is that way was the purpose of this parable. And so, he told the story of the father who had two sons. One was a rebel who wanted his inheritance and who took off into the far country, only finally to come to himself and to come back. The other was uptight, upright, a model of the Pharisees to whom the parable was spoken, who did everything right, dotted every i, crossed every t, followed every command and lived in total subservience. But the interesting thing about both brothers was that both of them failed to be the one thing the father wanted them to be, and that was to be in relationship of love and trust. It is possible to go into the far country and to kick over the traces and to be a total rebel and live out of relationship with the father. And it is possible, as well, to stay in the father's' house and to dot every i and cross every t, follow every prescription, and use all of that righteousness and all of that rightness as an insulation also against the father, against the relationship of love and trust. What Jesus lived out was a relationship of spontaneity and a freedom that was characterized by love and trust. When he opened himself up to people, he was a reflection of the Father Who opened Himself up to all people, Who did not ask about one's history or where one was coming from, did not ask about the state of one's morality or the degree of one's righteousness, but simply said, "Come on, and let me embrace you. Let me love you. Let my grace make you new." The Father's heart was reflected in the action of Jesus who was open to all kinds of people. He spoke to the Pharisees who were mirrored in the elder brother, who in the father's house was as far from the father as the younger son who went into the far country. This morning I want to focus on the younger son. I have said already that the parable is about the father's prodigal love, but I have to admit that the perspective from which we are going to be looking at that is through the eyes of © Grand Valley State University �I Want To Make It On My Own Richard A. Rhem Page 3   the younger son, particularly. And so, this morning we are going to look at that young rebel as he looks at the father and he says in the depths of his being, as well as expressly to the father's face, "I want to do it on my own. I want to do it on my own." The younger son was a rebel. No, better, the younger son was simply human, and in this story Jesus painted that which lives in the heart of every human being. There is that in all of us that says, "I want to do it on my own." In fact, I want to suggest to you that probably within the skin of all of us live both the rebel and the elder brother. Probably there are not only two kinds of people, but most of us live with a kind of civil war going on most of the time. Most of us have within us both the rebel that wants to break out of bounds and the self-righteous Pharisee that condemns with a cold kind of legalism. And those two sides within ourselves live there with some kind of cold war going on and sometimes an act of rebellion against each other. We can find both of those sons within ourselves, and we can find people who reflect more the one or the other. But what Jesus was talking about was something that is intrinsic to our human nature, and this morning let us simply recognize that there is something within all of us that says, "I want to do it on my own." The thing that the youngest son failed to understand was that what he was seeking was not freedom, but autonomy. Now, God wants us to be free. Freedom is God's gift, and His intention for His people. But what we want, thinking that it is freedom, is really autonomy, and autonomy is to live as a law onto one's self. It comes from two Greek words which mean a self-law, and there is something in every human breast, I believe, that would desire to be a law onto oneself, to be autonomous, which is something other than freedom. Freedom is life in community, lived in responsible trust and love. Freedom is that ability to become fully actualized with the potential which God has created in us, but always in the parameters that have been set for us in the creative intention of God. Freedom is the ability to come to full expression by becoming what God intended us to be. Autonomy is that drive within us that says, "Don't let anybody tell me anything" (God, parents, husband, wife, child, government, whatever). "I'll take on the whole world. I will finally do it on my own." I think that until we come to recognize that some of that lives within us, we'll not fully own up to who we are. If it is true that within us live these two persons, the self-righteous Pharisee and the wild rebel, then, until we come to accept that about ourselves, we'll not really be truly healthy or spiritually whole. If we read a little bit in the field of psychology, we are told that we have to learn to accept our shadow side. That is, there is a dark streak in all of us we need to accept because it is a part of us. You see, the Pharisee gave to the world an exterior of total righteousness. But he lived behind a mask, because that external obedience to an external code, which could only be pulled off with a tremendous expenditure of energy, was not the real person. And if the Pharisee who lived with that total righteous mask, always on guard, always putting up a front, always © Grand Valley State University �I Want To Make It On My Own Richard A. Rhem Page 4   putting the best foot forward, didn't recognize that that was a facade and not the person, that within the person there was also the rebel, there was also this other person who was living quite differently according to his own compulsions and that which compelled him and drove him on – if the Pharisee didn't realize that, then he never came fully to be conscious of his total humanity. The rebel lives in us all, and if we have been so conditioned, so bound, if we have been so programmed that the rebel has never come to our consciousness and found expression in our life, then there's a whole part of us that we've never owned or reckoned with that someday could explode with great consequences. Within us all is that drive for autonomy that says, "Get off my back." (God, government, husband, wife, parents.) "Get off my back; I'll do it on my own!" And the best way to find it come to expression is to just push and probe a little bit and to see that welling up within, because there is that within us with which we have been created that wants to actualize itself. Now, in the story, the father doesn't fight that at all. The father simply goes to the safe and gets out the money, gives the boy the wallet and sends him on his way. And Jesus was saying something about God and about human nature. We understand what he was saying, because we have all lived through it ourselves. He purposely uses a father and two sons as a reflection of God and His children because he knows that that is exactly where we all live. And we've all been children. We've all moved through those dangerous, perilous years of adolescence. We've all felt the urge to break out and the constraint to hold it in. And if we are parents, we know that our families are so structured that we can hold the children in. And when the crisis comes, and you come to me and tell me about your son or your daughter, I can be quite objective. You can be at your wit's end, and I can smile in quite a relaxed fashion and say, "Look, she's only human. Look, give him a break. Look, you've baptized the kid. Trust God and give him a little room. Let them experiment a bit. Let them feel who they are." But, don't suggest that to me when it's my son or daughter, because then I get very worried, because they might be like I was, and I do want room for myself, but I don't want room for those I love because I know how deeply they can be hurt. I mean, this story ends rather nicely - the boy comes home. But what if the boy had been knifed in a brothel? Or what if he used his possessions in order to somehow or other engineer some plot to explode the world? We say, "Nice going, Father, you let the boy go and he came back." But what if he hadn't come back? And they don't always come back. Then we would say, "What a silly father! Why did you do it? Why did you let him go?" The father would say, "I had to let him go, because what I’m after, finally, is not an automaton, not a kind of puppet that responds to the pull of a string. I am for creating a child who loves spontaneously and trusts and lives in relationship." And that's the problem, isn't it? Even God has limited His power in order to exercise that kind of love, extending that kind of freedom in the cause of allowing © Grand Valley State University �I Want To Make It On My Own Richard A. Rhem Page 5   us to develop into fully human beings. It's a risky business, and God took the risk. In families, we do what we can to build a hedgerow to keep them going down the center of the road, somehow, not deviating too far to the right or to the left. If we do that in the family, we do that in the Church, too. The Church is an institution which is dedicated to the binding of human freedom. Why do many of the best people leave the Church? The most courageous spirits take off. Because, what do we do in the Church? We develop a ritual. We say we've got to worship this way. We develop a theology, and we say, "This is your dogma." And we develop rules of conduct and we say, "You're in or you're out, depending on whether you toe the line, dot the i, cross the t." The Church is institutionalized and becomes a great conservative force in society. There are people that don't believe in anything, but believe there ought to be a church because that keeps people in line. It is an anchor against the rebel in us all. And, of course, in government and society as a whole, we're always trying to program in order to hold that human rebel in check. And God delivers us to our freedom, stands lovingly in fear and trembling, looking to see if we'll come home. "I want to do it on my own. I want to do it on my own. Get off my back! Give me space; give me room. Let me breathe! Let me live! Let me be!" We say this until we find that that kind of autonomy leads to terrible anxiety and a bondage which we could never dream of. And then, thank God, there are those who come to themselves and come home, only to find that the real freedom they were seeking has been there all the time extended to them in the embrace of the Father, who just says, "Oh, good! You're home at last!" Jesus went about touching human beings, associating with them, eating with them, breaking bread, fellowshipping with them, hugging them, loving them, encouraging them, picking them up - the kind of people that the pure and the righteous really have little time for and no regard for and no hope for. And Jesus said, "You've got it all wrong. God is up there just waiting until you get it out of your system. And then when you're ready, He'll put His arms around you and say, 'Come home and find the freedom that you always thought you could find out of my presence.'" "I want to do it on my own." I suppose that there is a kind of once-for-all coming to God through Jesus Christ. There is a kind of once-for-all yielding up our arms, laying down our weapons, coming to the Father through Jesus, the Son. But I suspect that it is probably something we have to keep doing again and again, as well, because we can get way off in the far country, fall back into that old temptation to autonomy and doing it our own way, and all of a sudden wake up and say, "Gosh, I'm a long ways from home." And whether it's that once-for-all commitment, or just coming back again, the beautiful invitation is the Father standing there with open arms saying, "Who are you fighting? What are you running from? Why don't you just come home and let me love you?" © 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 God's Prodigal Love Scripture Text Luke 15: 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-0-19860727 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-07-27 Title A name given to the resource I Want to Make it On My Own 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 27, 1986 entitled "I Want to Make it On My Own", as part of the series "God's Prodigal Love", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 15: 13. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Freedom Inclusive Grace Nature of God Parable Prodigal Son https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a503d8a764d33009dd85e998c8a1de86.mp3 84ba667e9bf10ed011418446f9212014 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c7384105eae71b92553d5e333e550549.pdf 9424f83120501bf498932b261fa66021 PDF Text Text I Wish I Could Start Over From the sermon series: God’s Prodigal Love Text: Luke 15: 17 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 10, 1986 Transcription of the spoken sermon The parable of "The Prodigal Son" is probably the most familiar and best loved of Jesus' parables. Strange, then, that it should have become known as a story about a son when, in reality, it is a story told to portray the nature of God in His relationship to us. There is prodigality in the story, but it is the prodigality of God's love. "Prodigal" is defined as "given to extravagant expenditure," "recklessly wasteful," "lavish." That sounds like God's love, which comes to expression so powerfully in this compelling story. The story was told to "The Pharisees and the doctors of the Law." They had been grumbling at Jesus' behaviour; he extended fellowship to "sinners." He opened himself up to and embraced persons with whom the religious elite of his day would have nothing to do. "Sinners" covered a broad spectrum of persons. Of course, we do know that he was available to all, the prostitute of Luke 7, the hated tax collectors such as Matthew and Zaccheus, the Samaritan woman of John 4, Mary Magdalene whose past was colorful. But the category "sinner" referred not only to the obviously tainted, but all non-Jews and all Jews who failed to keep the ritualistic demands of the current interpretation of the Law. Jesus told the story to defend his openness to all persons, his offer of grace and forgiveness to all who came with a longing to be made new. He told the story of the father with two sons, each son representing different attitudes and situations of persons. The sons are necessary to the story, but the story is really told to reveal the heart of the father. The amazing truth we learn is that the father has a consistent, steady, boundless love for the rebel who leaves home, and for the uptight, upright son who stays home. The one is a rebellious youth who wants his own life, his independence, feeling he cannot be his own person in the presence of the father. The other is a meticulous, humorless, obedient son whose virtue through performance is offered in place of the one thing the father desired - a warm, spontaneous, loving relationship. © Grand Valley State University   �I Wish I Could Start Over Richard A. Rhem Page 2   The latter described those to whom the parable was addressed. The former described the persons about whom the grumbling occurred: the "sinners" Jesus received. The Truth of the parable is that God is limitless love, open to all, yearning for all His children, wanting their wellbeing, wanting them to be themselves fully, at home, in the Father's house. The focus of the first message was the younger son, the rebel who requested his inheritance and left home. He is a mirror of the person who says, "I want to do it on my own!" The second message pointed to the emptiness that is the end of a life of autonomy, a life which seeks to be a law unto itself, a life lived selfishly, selfindulgently with no meaning or purpose beyond the pleasure of the moment, a life out of relationship of love and trust. Such a life sooner or later raises the question, "Is that all there is?" That sense of emptiness or meaninglessness can come over one gradually or as a jolting revelation. Sometimes it comes after a period of treadmill existence with life going nowhere. Sometimes it comes about in a crisis. Whatever the concrete situation, we are caused to reflect on our lives, on the choices we have made, the priorities we have set and we may be led to sigh, "I wish I could start over." That is the place the younger son came to in the story Jesus told. In the midst of the disaster that befell him, he "came to his senses." (NEB) The Revised Standard Version renders it, When he came to himself. Reality hit. Sober reflection on his situation revealed the folly of his ways. He remembered his father and home. He decided to return; he wanted to start over. Wanting a new beginning is a very common human desire. There are so many areas of our lives that we would like to do over - choices we have made, decisions that directed our life in one course rather than another - to marry or not to marry, to marry this person rather than another, to get an education or not, to pursue one career rather than another, to have a family or not, to make a major move, to start a business. There is no end of the decisions one makes, and every decision becomes a thread in the weaving of the tapestry of our lives. The complexity of decisions forms a web and within that web our lives are caught. The sigh, "I wish I could start over," is thus not uncommon. Most of us, at one time or another, have known the feeling, the longing for a second chance. But there is no going back. © Grand Valley State University �I Wish I Could Start Over Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The very nature of our historical existence is such that we are writing a story in time that is moving from a point of beginning to an end point. Time can be recollected in memory; time can be anticipated in imagination; thus we can transcend the present moment but we cannot unravel time; we cannot undo it. Nor can we freeze it in the present moment. Relentlessly we must move on in the stream of time and to move on is to continue to make decisions. Such is the nature of our human existence. What might be included in the moment Jesus describes in the story as "coming to himself?" I suppose, first of all, there was an honest facing up to his life, to his story. Coming to one’s senses or coming to one’s self is a moment of Truth. Such moments are rare and precious. So much of our lives never come under honest scrutiny; many persons never come to a moment of Truth at all. Most of us live with denial; we may consciously suppress the truth of our lives and expend great energy keeping the truth under, or we may be unconscious of the denial and live with a vague restlessness and anxiety. Who am I really? What is the Truth about me? It takes courage to ask that question. Some of us never allow the question to surface. I doubt that the Elder Brother ever faced the question. Had he honestly engaged himself in dialogue, he might have come to self-awareness of the anger and resentment that were seething beneath the surface of his righteous exterior. He was not a free person, spontaneous, happy. He was without humor. He worked diligently but it was drudgery and life was a drag. When he came upon the joy and celebration of the prodigal's return, it all erupted; the dam burst, the volcano within exploded. He had never really come to know himself. The younger son paid a price for the choices he made. We must not glamorize his wild fling. He suffered. He came to the edge of despair and we must assume that he carried with him throughout his life some scars from his scrape with desolation. But all of that was as nothing compared to the experience of the moment of Truth. When he finally got the courage to do some serious introspection and to take inventory of his life, he came to himself; he came to the moment of Truth. Such a moment does not issue in a running away from oneself or a denying of one’s life. Indeed, that is precisely what had been the case. He had done his best as long as he could to convince himself that he was glad to be away from the father, on his own, actualizing his own person. As the emptiness became more and more evident, the denial of the mess he had made of things was increasingly difficult to sustain. Finally he could do it no more. Now he owned his life, he owned his story. He had made his choices and this is where it led. There was no wallowing in self-pity. There was no blaming of his Elder Brother or his father. He faced his life; he took responsibility for it. He decided on a course of action that would enable him to start over, to begin again. © Grand Valley State University �I Wish I Could Start Over Richard A. Rhem Page 4   In traditional Christian terminology - biblical terminology - the younger son repented; he changed his mind, changed his thinking. That is the literal meaning of the Greek word Metanoia. His thinking was turned around. The speech he prepared for his father indicates that he was aware of his own responsibility. He says bluntly, "I have sinned against heaven and against you." The parable shows us what Jesus understands by sin. It is going out from the father's house, i.e., godlessness and remoteness from God working itself out in a life in the world with all its desires and its filth. The word "sin" used in this instance means literally "missing the mark." That puts it well. That was what the younger son came to see, acknowledge, and confess. He said, "I've missed the mark." Today one might say, "I really blew it!" And then he acted on his new knowledge. He arose and went to his father. He came home. This, too, is a vital step and of critical importance. It is one thing to come to oneself. It is one thing finally to be engaged by the moment of Truth. It is another to act on that insight when it means turning around and facing up to wrong choices and deeds in the presence of family and friends. This phase of the story we might call conversion - the actual about-face. It involves the honest recognition and acknowledgment that one has been in the wrong and is responsible for "missing the mark" and for appropriate action in light of that acknowledgment - in the case of this story, the actual return to the father. All of this is included in coming to oneself. It is a crisis. It is devastating. It takes great courage and it is wonderfully liberating. Our young friend still knows nothing of grace, but he is now ready to face his father and bargain for a chance to start over on the father's terms. "Let me be as one of your hired servants; I know I can no longer expect to be considered your son. Thus he brings to expression the longing to start over. Let's reflect on that for a moment. Starting over is not a denial of the past. We write our story. What we are is the compilation of all we have been. Starting over does not rip us out of our past; rather it creates the opportunity for new beginning with the past no more a weight shackling us with guilt and remorse that would hobble our spirit and limit our future. We own our past. We assume responsibility for it. We are the wiser for it; we live with the consequence of it. © Grand Valley State University �I Wish I Could Start Over Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Sometimes that past is something we would not want ever to experience again, but even in its tragic dimension, having gone through it, we would not trade the lessons learned, the experience gained. One must come to accept and take responsibility for one's own story. Beginning again does not involve amnesia. There is no whitewashing, brainwashing or some other psychological trick that we play on ourselves. We put it behind us and we move on, but the past remains our past. It is our story. The younger son did not really realize the newness that grace creates. His intention was to return and earn at least servant status. What he was to encounter in the father's loving forgiveness and total acceptance was beyond his wildest dreams. Move, now, to the attitude and posture of the father. He did not use his authority to hold the young son. He used no coercion, manipulation or guilt trip. He let him go. From the reception he gave the boy on his return, we know this was not because of a lack of love and concern. We will focus on that love in the final message. Why, then, did he simply let the boy go? The answer is that he knew he would not have his boy home, even if he forced him to live under his roof, until the boy came to himself, until he came to his senses. That is the only way God's intention can be realized. What he desires is a gracious, personal relationship. Our relationship with him is not reciprocal in the sense of being "fifty-fifty." He initiates. He offers grace. He sustains us in relationship. But we are not passive blocks of wood. His initiation must call for the response which is a genuine turning toward him. Trust speaks of response. And for response to be the inward movement of the person, it must be elicited but cannot be demanded or forced. Remember again why Jesus told the story. He was claiming that his very presence was a sign of God's initiating grace, a sign of salvation present and freely offered. To respond to him was to respond to God - to come home to grace. When the son said, "I want to do it on my own!" the father recognized the always possible option of seeking autonomy rather than relationship. Only when he came subsequently to say, "Is that all there is?" had he made his own discovery that he was on a dead-end street. That was the moment of truth. He came to his senses. He said, "I wish I could start over." He had not yet encountered grace; he did not yet have the faintest idea of grace. But one thing he remembered: the sadness in his father's eyes when he left. The absence of anger, of threat. The sense that he might cut off his father, but his © Grand Valley State University �I Wish I Could Start Over Richard A. Rhem Page 6   father had not responded in kind, cutting him off. The posture of the father built no barriers for return. In our broken human relationship we often cut off the possibility of return because we respond in kind, anger for anger, wound for wound. Jesus portrays a father whose spirit and action communicate that the door is always open. There he was pleading with the religious leaders saying precisely that - come home, just as he pictured the younger son arising and going to the father. The good news of the message is that the way is open; the barriers do not exist beyond our own minds. The Father awaits us. We can start over. We can begin again. The longing for home is the first sign of grace. The honest owning of one's life, its light and shadow, its goodness and guilt is the dawning of something more wonderful than words can describe. There is much more to tell. We will come to that. But hear this good news, all who are weary, bored, empty, guilty, afraid — Come home. You can begin again. © 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 XII Series God's Prodigal Love Scripture Text II Corinthians 15:17 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-0-19860810 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-08-10 Title A name given to the resource I Wish I Could Start Over 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, 1986 entitled "I Wish I Could Start Over", as part of the series "God's Prodigal Love", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 15:17. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Forgiveness Nature of God Parable Prodigal Son Sin Unconditional Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b7be61b1d531e27356aa3566d19f3f01.mp3 694f590459d6f60d2cbec393f470ce50 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fc9a1931c55f7ba5134056d3428ef95.pdf 3a6b67ccb6e39ca5ff2b463abb1870f1 PDF Text Text I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or, Did They? Baccalaureate Sunday Text: Romans 8:31,39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Eastertide, June 4, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon This morning I want to speak to you graduates. These remarks are for you, but the congregation is invited to listen in because there may be a thing or two for them, as well. In this year 2000, when you get a diploma, I received a Medicare card, and that may qualify me as a sage. Having lived this long, I have acquired some wisdom, and I thought there were some things I would like to share with you. In fact, they are the things that I wish someone had told me - or, did they? There are some things that I wish that someone had told me as I was growing up, some things that could have saved me some anxiety and some mistakes, some things I wish I had known. I wish someone had told me that - or, did they? Maybe they did, because you don't always listen, nor did I, and sometimes the wisdom that flows just rolls off your back, and later on, maybe, this conversation will come into focus. I have no illusion that just another sermon is going to change your life, but I didn't really think you wanted another sermon, either, so I thought I'd just tell you some things that I wish somebody had told me, or if they did, I wish I had caught on to. At this commencement season, I am aware of the fact that these young people and countless others across the country receive all kinds of encouragement and challenge, in motivational speeches we'll hear from Presidents and Generals and significant people who will address all kinds of graduating classes and all phases of education in these days. We'll get little snippets on the television news and, by and large, they will be words of encouragement; they will be words of motivation to achieve, to pursue your goals, to pursue your dreams and to work hard and to accept the challenge of life, and that's good, because it is true that you will kind of slide through if you can, but you also do respond to challenge when it is significant and meaningful. So, I think all of that is good, but I also had the strong feeling as I contemplated Baccalaureate Sunday that we do put a lot of pressure on our graduates. As parents and as pastors and as teachers, we create a lot of pressure for them and we are not always totally honest with the way life really is. There are some things we don't tell you, and I thought that this morning I would © Grand Valley State University   �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   like to tell you some things that I wish that I had understood. It's a little different from the voices you're going to hear at this time of graduation. I hope you get a lot of challenge, a lot of encouragement. I hope you are stirred and motivated, but this is going to be an alternative voice. First of all, what I wish someone had said to me is: Relax a little bit and take time to live, and don't let the pressure squeeze you into a mold, meeting everybody else's expectations, the expectations of all the people in your life who are important and society in general. Take some time to live. Have a bit of humor about your life. Relax a little bit; let up a little bit. I suppose there's not another church in the country that would ever print that poem on the front of its liturgy by Jenny Joseph about wearing purple, but the poet suggests that when she gets old, she's going to wear purple, she's going to do all kinds of outrageous things, all kinds of silly things, all kinds of foolish things. And the only reason that poem sells, the only reason we read it and we smile at it is because in all of us we spend an awful lot of time toeing the mark, living up to expectations, doing the thing that is wise and respectable and responsible and in all of us there's a little something that needs to break out of that once in a while. If the poet is going to wear purple and be outrageous when she's old, she does suggest that maybe she ought to start practicing so it wouldn't be such a shock when she got old, and it occurred to me that we're not always honest with our children and our youth. We push pretty hard and our society creates a lot of pressure on young people. I think they're working very hard. I'm very impressed with what our young people are doing these days and I think it even goes farther than that. There are probably a few Baby Boomer parents that need to hear what I'm going to say this morning, also, and that is that we can get into a mode of drivenness about achieving and succeeding. We are bombarded by the media with the fact that we ought to be consumers, we ought to purchase and possess and acquire, and there is a groundswell in our society, I sense, that it's not easy to live up to, not easy to meet the expectations, and we start with young people like this and we simply try to push them and not say to them, "Once in a while it's okay to wear purple and to dance in the rain and to do something foolish, just for the sake of it, because it's a part of living and, God knows, it's not easy and you're going to have to be responsible and work hard and do all of that which you have been encouraged to do by the many voices that you have heard." That is all good, but hear me this morning: Don't be driven. Learn to relax. Learn to live fully and let that whole beautiful person you are come to blossom. There is another thing I want to say I wish someone had told me: Don't expect that you are going to acquire Truth with a capital T. Don't ever expect that, in whatever field you enter or whatever kind of life you lead, you are going to have Truth, absolute Truth in your possession, because, being human, that is impossible, and I wish someone had told me that because I was trying to nail it down, to get it right, to have all the ducks in line. I thought that I could come to a possession of the Truth and stand in the Truth. I wish somebody had told me that © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   is not possible. It is not possible because of the nature of our human experience. We are people in process. We are a part of a cosmic process. We are a part of an evolving process with a new emerging reality all of the time and, for God's sake, it is 15 billion years already and who knows where it's going, and if we are creatures in process, if we are people on the way, as we certainly are, then we do not possess absolute Truth. That means that we ought to live with an open mind for expanding knowledge and humility before the things we don't know. Let me give you an example. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was invited to be a part of the Diversity Day at Grand Haven High School, and it was a stellar event in which some of you were exposed to the diversity of race, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion. It was exactly the kind of thing that you should be exposed to because you are entering a world that is full of diversity and diversity comes closer to home all the time. I mention this as an illustration because in the local newspaper we're carrying on a battle of words about the fact that that should not have been done and, of course, the sticking point is the question of sexual orientation. Some are saying these young people should not be exposed to the fact that sexual orientation is a given of our human nature. The scientists are studying it and all the information is not in. It's certainly obvious to anybody who has an open mind at all that sexual orientation is a part of the constitution of the human being and it is as diverse as are people, and yet you would think by reading the newspaper that you could quote a Bible verse that seems to condemn a same-sex union and that God has spoken and that's all there is to it! That really is not the case at all. The problem, you see, is that this Bible is used for some kind of absolute rulebook that has information in it rather than recognizing that this book is an ancient book, a marvelous book of the story of the spiritual experience of people, the people of Israel and the people who followed Jesus as a record of their experience, their encounter with God, their devotion to God. Instead of recognizing that, it becomes a kind of moral guidance book with rules in it. Now, the Bible says a lot about your sexuality. It says it to all of us, no matter what our orientation may be. It says be faithful and responsible in the exercise of this wonderful gift. But, the questions that we are aware of in our day about sexual orientation weren't even in the purview of this book. It doesn't address it at all! Of course, there were abusive sexual practices then and they were condemned and there is abuse of sexuality today and it should be condemned. That has nothing to do with whether a person is homosexual or heterosexual or somewhere inbetween, and to refuse to know that, to admit that, is simply to close your mind to what is obvious to all of us. So, one would live in ignorance, and one living in ignorance could become arrogant, and when ignorance and arrogance combine, the potential for violence is there. This is not a sermon about sexual orientation. Don't forget my point: You are never going to have absolute Truth with a capital T. I use the other only as an illustration of the disruption and the disharmony and the alienation and the violence that can occur when people think they have the absolute Truth spoken by God rather than recognizing that we are people on the © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   way, but that knowledge is expanding and we must be open to new knowledge, and then change our mind where necessary, but always be humble because the capital T Truth is God's, never the possession of the human. Dear God, I wish someone had told me that. There is another thing somewhat related and that is that life isn't neat. It is complex and full of ambiguity. It is not simple to find your way. It is not easy to be human. It is full of questions and if we're honest it is full of struggle and wrestling within, and I use as an example of this my hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 just before the camp where he was incarcerated was liberated. Bonhoeffer was a pastor and a theologian and he was really in his heart a pacifist. He really believed that to follow Jesus was to be nonviolent. But, he was in that situation of the rise of Hitler and Nazism, and he recognized that if Nazism were to prevail, Western civilization would be lost, and so Bonhoeffer as a pacifist made a decision to join a conspiracy to kill Hitler. Now, do you see the conflict? I'm a pacifist; I don't believe in violence and now I join a conspiracy to kill the head of state, which is treason as well as murder. Can't you see the conflict? Can you not see that this man wrestled within himself and he has this strong conviction about being non-violent and yet he sees what he has to do. He has to act. In the human arena, you are going to have to act and you are not always going to know that it is exactly this or that; you are going to have to act with limited knowledge and limited insight and sometimes you are going to make a mistake and you are going to do something wrong, because life is difficult and life is complex and life is full of ambiguity, and you have to act without knowing everything, and you cannot know everything, but you have to follow your conscience and follow your heart and do what you think you have to do, knowing that it is a judgment call. Read Bonhoeffer's poem in the back of the liturgy, "Who Am I?" This brilliant, deeply spiritual person -was he cock-sure, self-righteous? Not at all. He said, "Who am I?" Those in the prison whose life he lighted up because he led them in prayers and worship, they admired him and respected him. He was a fragrant presence there, but he said, "They think of me that way, but who am I? Am I that, or am I what I feel inside me, with all the struggle and all the distress and all the turmoil in my soul. Am I a hypocrite? Am I one thing one day, one thing another day?" And finally, "Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!" That statement came out of the cauldron, that came out of struggle, because life is not easy. The corners are not neat; loose ends are not all tied up and you are going to have to live with that. That brings me to a final word about God. I put some things in the liturgy, in the insert by St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I wish somebody had told me that God was in everything and present to me in every moment, in every experience. Don't get me wrong - I had a deeply sensitive and devoted home and church and I am grateful for that, but what I am saying is the impression of God I had was like a super-policeman up there keeping records. © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Even St. Paul said that we come into this world at enmity with God. I felt there was an adversarial relationship with God and that if I didn't keep in the tracks pretty well I would incur guilt and then I'd be alienated from God and it seemed to me that there was an awful lot of that in my nurture, my growing up. I don't know how to tell you something different, except that I don't know how important God is to you right now, but God will become important to you and when that moment comes, I want you to know that it's the God of Hosea, the Hebrew prophet who spoke about Israel and Israel's rebellion and disobedience and all of that, even though God had tenderly nurtured them and cared for them, and in this very human presentation of God, the prophet speaks of God as being angry with them. Then, however, the prophet has this deep, deep insight, for he puts these words in God's mouth: How can I give you up, 0 Israel? How can I give you up? I should give you up, but how should I give you up? I can't give you up because I love you. The cosmic lover. I'll never give you up. I can't give you up. I'll never abandon you. I don't care where your road takes you, what experiences you have, remember Hosea's God, because Hosea got it right in the midst of a lot of other stuff where he spoke of the God who is a lover who will never let you go and is as present to you as your breath is, in some burning bush or flaming sunset or in some human relationship in which you find yourself made whole. In all of that, God is. God is the God that Paul pictures in the 8th chapter of Romans who is for you. If God is for us, who can be against us? And then he gives us that picture which you hadn't ought to literalize, but the picture of Jesus who dies crucified, risen, ascended, and sitting at the throne of God and making intercession for us. In other words, you have an advocate at the throne of power of the universe. That's the picture; that's the image. But the idea of it is that there is something in the heart of things that is for you, for you, on your side, that will never let you go. Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I don't care how ambiguous your situation, how poor your judgment, what wrong path you may take, how much you stand in confusion before all of the options that hit you in your life, God is with you, win be with you, will never let you go. I sort of knew that, but God wasn't so user-friendly for me, and I want you to know there is no adversarial relationship between you and the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and so relax a bit, open your mind to truth wherever you find it, act in your life according to your vision and your values, in the midst of the ambiguity in which you don't always know the answers, and love God, love God, because you are loved of God, and that will never change and that's the greatest thing in the world. God bless you. © 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 Baccalaureate Sunday, Eastertide VII Scripture Text Romans 8:31, 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-0-20000604 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-06-04 Title A name given to the resource I Wish Someone Had Told Me That - Or, Did They? 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 June 4, 2000 entitled "I Wish Someone Had Told Me That - Or, Did They?", on the occasion of Baccalaureate Sunday, Eastertide VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Romans 8:31, 39. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Diversity Immanence Inclusive Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/68ce2b1be0476067b9167c9e62f98b61.jpg fc693d7fc87dbdb857ffbd5e70a3e3c8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/17f1bc4d4eb1c0faebc4738873ff129d.jpg b4fbab9436064f9a41eb389cf7b6411a 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 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/. Title A name given to the resource I'll block that game, you thieving rascal! Description An account of the resource Design shows eagle killing rodent, labeled Jeff on Confederate flag, stealing eggs. Design in black and red on a yellow envelope. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-49_PE020 Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Postal service--United States--History Covers (Philatety)--United States--History Patriotic envelopes Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War patriotic envelopes, (RHC-49)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg 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/ec2fc6967dcad956668660487bb32663.mp3 b5e8c100ad18f451dd06f1aff7dc0390 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 Christmastide Scripture Text I John 4: 9, Matthew 1:20 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-0-19901230 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990-12-30 Title A name given to the resource I'm Afraid That... 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 December 30, 1990 entitled "I'm Afraid That...", on the occasion of Christmastide, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I John 4: 9, Matthew 1:20. 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/0b38449877a3442c1c0dcbdb0e97ce9d.jpg b75b4de0383d8b44a45b6226886852de 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 Concert & Event Posters Subject The topic of the resource Posters Events Michigan Universities & colleges--Michigan Description An account of the resource Division of Student Services provides programs, services, and environments that enhance the personal, social, and intellectual growth of undergraduate and graduate students at the University. Events including concerts were managed by the office of Student Life. Posters for music, speakers, poetry readings and other campuswide events are included. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Division of Student Services Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/106">Student Services concerts, events, and posters files, (GV028-06)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-07-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV028-06 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1963 – 1981 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 GV028-06_IanHunter Title A name given to the resource Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, April 27, 1975 Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State College Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities & colleges--Michigan Events Posters Description An account of the resource Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, in the GVSC Fieldhouse, presented by Dome Productions, April 27, 1975 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/106">Student Services concerts, events, and posters files, (GV028-06)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image 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/ec1148512920052e886fccd8e3dc1003.pdf 6dafd634447b5fa5dc5706130fa78578 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Iberia Hampton Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 2/9/2012 Biography and Description English Iberia Hampton is the mother of murdered Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, as well as Dee and Bill Hampton. Throughout her life she has been active within her church and the community. She contributes time and money each year to organize a family reunion traveling to her southern birthplace to remember her son, husband, and other relatives that have passed at their gravesites. Along with Bill Hampton and the board, Mrs. Iberia Hampton is the primary organizer of the annual celebration of the Fred Hampton Scholarship Fund. Her keen and natural brilliance stands out in this interview, as well as how humble, friendly and kind she remains, even after the proven government corruption that led to the brutal loss of her son. Spanish Iberia Hampton es la madre de Fred Hamton, al vicepresidente quien fue asesinado, y también madre de Dee y Bill Hampton. Durante su vida fue dedicada en su iglesia y comunidad. Contribuye tiempo y dinero para organizar una reunión con su familia en que van a visitar en donde nació y donde esta enterrado su hijo, esposo, y otros familiares. Con su hijo, Bill, y otros miembros Señora Hampton organiza le celebración del Fred Hampton Scholarship fund. Su profunda y genialidad natural brilla en este �entrevista igual que como humilde y agradable ella todavía es, aunque la corrupción en el gobierno le tomo la vida de un hijo. �Transcript IBERIA HAMPTON: (inaudible) some of us don’t leave here to go back (inaudible), and we always stayed a extra week. [With the extra week, we have to?] clean the farm up and [stuff, fixing the house up. Something?] real nice. JOSE JIMENEZ: So, when you go there, you went to the cemetery to fix it up, you said? IH: Go to the cemetery? JJ: Is that what you said? IH: Mm-hmm, yeah. Go to the cemetery. JJ: I mean [when you would go there?]. Who were you talking -- you’re talking about Fred? IH: I got Fred down there. My husband’s down there too. JJ: Your husband’s down there now. IH: Mm-hmm. JJ: Okay. So, (inaudible). IH: Yeah. JJ: Your husband. IH: Mm-hmm. [Fred’s there?]. JJ: And this is done every year? IH: [Mm-hmm, I do every year?]. JJ: On Mother’s Day. IH: Mm-hmm. Go every year. 1 �JJ: That’s beautiful. Yeah. IH: When Fred was -- [you’ve got?] pictures of Fred there. When he was little, [00:01:00] he went every year too. [They’ve been?] going every year since they was little kids. They always got a vacation, all their life. JJ: And you made sure it was Mother’s Day. IH: Yeah. No. No. They got a vacation. It wasn’t Mother’s Day all the time. Sometimes, they got it for Easter. Whatever time. See, when he was working, we got it whatever time he got the days off. Then, we left (inaudible). He said, “We can take a week for Easter if you want to.” [We said?], “Okay, we’ll go.” (inaudible) for Easter. Then, after we got Bill, they didn’t want Easter. They wanted a different day. They wanted it to be later [so they had?] more time. The kids did. [And, see, at the start of?] that time, I wasn’t working. (inaudible). He’d take his time off. JJ: [00:02:00] That’s beautiful. I mean, I wish we could do that. I mean, we’re from the country too. We’re in Puerto Rico. IH: Yeah. JJ: [Same thing?]. But (inaudible). IH: [It’s a good time?] JJ: Are you ever planning to go back there just to stay, or you’re going to stay here? IH: (inaudible) [to live by?] my kids are here. JJ: You don’t want to go down there? IH: [I’d go down there to meet ’em?], but -- JJ: But not to live. 2 �IH: -- not to live. I won’t go there to live. My kids are here, and most of my people are scattered around. We just got -- there’s three houses now on the farm (inaudible) bad shape. We’re thinkin’ about how we’re gonna fix them. JJ: So, most of the kids and everybody’s here. In Maywood, or --? IH: My kids? JJ: Yeah. The two kids are here -- IH: [00:03:00] Uh-huh. JJ: -- but I’m saying -- IH: They’re both here. JJ: But the rest of the family is here, I mean? IH: Uh-huh, yeah. My -- JJ: I mean, how many brothers and sisters did you have? IH: My brothers and sisters? Oh, I don’t have any brother and sister. I’m an only child. JJ: Oh, you’re an only child? IH: Uh-huh. I had one sister and two brothers [before, but?] they’re all dead except me. I’m the only one living. JJ: Okay. And what about Francis? IH: [Frankie?]. His family’s [out in?] California. California, Arkansas, (pause) Texas, and -- [where was Libby?]? P1: [00:04:00] When she was living, she was living in Las Vegas. IH: Yeah. Yeah. P1: [She’s dead now?]. 3 �IH: Yeah. Las Vegas. [Yeah, she’s?] Las Vegas, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana. I think [that’s all of it?]. (inaudible). California. Mm-hmm. My sister lived in Louisiana, and my brother lived here. My other brother was -- he was in -- he lived in all different places. [He was?] -- JJ: What about, like, Fred Jr.? I mean, you spent a little time with Fred Jr.? IH: [He would see me the night before last?] (inaudible). JJ: [A night before?] (inaudible). IH: Mm-hmm. JJ: [How did it happen?]? Did you enjoy [00:05:00] [him growing up?]? IH: Oh, I love him. JJ: You love him? IH: Yeah, I love him. JJ: Anything that you remember when he was a child, or --? IH: Mm-hmm. [I would?] take him outside with me all the time on vacation. [Yeah, he was?] right with me. (inaudible) [nothing for me to cook him or anything?]. JJ: What does he like? What does he like? IH: Huh? JJ: What does he like the best? IH: What do I make for him? JJ: Yeah. IH: Cabbage and fish. [He likes?] cabbage and fish. (inaudible) [I get it?] (inaudible) [came out?] (inaudible). He told me [he’ll be back Friday?]. 4 �JJ: Okay. All right. Well, let me -- I was gonna ask you a few questions, but -- so, let me -- [00:06:00] anything that we should add about Fred or yourself that you think we should add to this video? IH: Uh-uh. (inaudible). JJ: Okay. IH: Uh-uh. JJ: Well, I appreciate it. I just wanted to put that on because I’m going to interview your son, but I wanted to [put a few things out?]. Since I’m here, I wanted to make sure that I get something from you. IH: Okay. JJ: I appreciate that. IH: Mm-hmm. JJ: And happy birthday. IH: Thank you. END OF VIDEO FILE 5 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/90d7cc40923a8bcde45056adeb44bbf2.mp4 c82010de81b44083d79bbd7044a86537 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 Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Iberia Hampton vídeo entrevista y biografía Descripción Spanish language Description entry Iberia Hampton es la madre de Fred Hamton, al vicepresidente quien fue asesinado, y también madre de Dee y Bill Hampton. Durante su vida fue dedicada en su iglesia y comunidad. Contribuye tiempo y dinero para organizar una reunión con su familia en que van a visitar en donde nació y donde esta enterrado su hijo, esposo, y otros familiares. Con su hijo, Bill, y otros miembros Señora Hampton organiza le celebración del Fred Hampton Scholarship fund. Su profunda y genialidad natural brilla en este entrevista igual que como humilde y agradable ella todavía es, aunque la corrupción en el gobierno le tomo la vida de un hijo. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Afro-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Hampton, Fred, 1948-1969 Partido Pantera Negra. Illinois Capítulo Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> 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-65_Hampton_Iberia Title A name given to the resource Iberia Hampton video interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hampton, Iberia Description An account of the resource Iberia Hampton is the mother of murdered Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, as well as Dee and Bill Hampton. Throughout her life she has been active within her church and the community. Along with Bill Hampton and the board, Mrs. Iberia Hampton is the primary organizer of the annual celebration of the Fred Hampton Scholarship Fund. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) African Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Hampton, Fred, 1948-1969 Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-02-09 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/6da43061c0d1b9a3cae7a510540a27b4.jpg fe4ad49a6006d28fe65e01f7f8527702 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_K167-0027 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 1970-07-16 Title A name given to the resource Ice Cream Sign, Sycamore, Illinois Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an advertisement for ice cream located in the countryside of Sycamore, Illinois. In the photograph, the sign features a picture of a large ice cream cone and reads, "Van's Dari-Ripple, Route 64 East City Limits, Sycamore, Illinois, 2 Miles on Right" while being situated alongside a corn field. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Sycamore (Ill.) Signs--Illinois Signs and signboards--Illinois Ice cream industry--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/278c451632ae3a1f30d11f319f62175d.jpg afaaaddde9ce178a578576fcd26b886a 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_A001-0004 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 1960-01 Title A name given to the resource Ice fishing in Holland, Michigan Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a group of fisherman ice fishing on a frozen lake in Holland, Michigan. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Ice fishing Holland (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Winter 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 1960s 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/60b172668521c3628c89f005b6c9e2ad.jpg 87b6bb19d1b26fe637b4b6ebdf426432 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_A001-0008 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 1960-01 Title A name given to the resource Ice shanties in Holland, Michigan Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a group of ice shanties scattered across a frozen lake landscape in Holland, Michigan. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Ice fishing Holland (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Winter 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 1960s 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/9ffcc338f0e57ea34d314429524fda53.jpg 4068f087cd2f7d75f9b4fb7fb21d26e0 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_B020-0007 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 1961-03 Title A name given to the resource Ice Show in East Lansing Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an ice show held in East Lansing, Michigan in March 1961. In the photograph, a group of young women stand in a row while in uniform and looking away in the distance. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan State University East Lansing (Mich.) 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 1960s 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/ee1c20718f5eb2d30acfe1f1a2fd5f6b.jpg 28adeb8ac3de8be5057af1f97ad59643 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_B020-0009 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 1961-03 Title A name given to the resource Ice Show in East Lansing Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an ice show held in East Lansing, Michigan in March 1961. In the photograph, a group of ice skaters are skating in a circle while wearing traditional dresses that appear to celebrate cultural heritage. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan State University East Lansing (Mich.) 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 1960s 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/dcc0a5c7005cd64c8e06ccf26c6d9911.jpg f4593334cc3bcf0f2a4c87edc9495082 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_B020-0017 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 1961-03 Title A name given to the resource Ice Show in East Lansing Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an ice show held in East Lansing, Michigan in March 1961. In the photograph, an ice skating couple are seen skating arm in arm and looking toward the sky while the spotlight shines upon them. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan State University East Lansing (Mich.) 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 1960s 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/7d3dff127995f870262061b1ba5aaf3a.jpg 0546cf80191c91292ba733b2bcdf5d17 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_B020-0027 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 1961-03 Title A name given to the resource Ice Show in East Lansing Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of an ice show held in East Lansing, Michigan in March 1961. In the photograph, a group of female ice skaters are seen in the foreground standing proudly with their arms raised and wearing costume headdresses, jewelry, and dresses. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan State University East Lansing (Mich.) 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 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives