18 24 1045 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cf542e792610e5009a2907825faefceb.mp3 7997bdc5316ccb7f286163d9f4d0f2c9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fbac2e1920cf3255954a7899dec15df4.pdf af881b96b3ab0b92f9f9f75dbb24de62 PDF Text Text The Holy Family – God’s Elect? From the sermon series: Once Upon A Time… Text: Genesis 27:1-4, 18-40; Romans 9:1-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 24, 2002 Transcription of the handwritten sermon text Laying out sermon series or setting down themes and texts for a 2 or 3-month period or for a season such as Advent or Lent is hard work. It is a creative process that cannot be coerced. Sometimes a couple of days of rather intense struggle leave me empty and, then again, a whole series may take shape in a moment after such struggle. And sometimes I can move methodically through the subjects set down and sometimes the series takes on a mind of its own and I find myself going where, in the setting down of the series, I never dreamed I would go. Such is the case with the present series of sermons from Genesis. Last Sunday you applauded as I ended the sermon suggesting we may need a moratorium from our respective ancient texts – the Jewish Scriptures, our Bible, the Koran of Islam – because the texts are being used in too many instances as justification for hatred, violence and war. Then I suggested we lay down our respective texts and look each other in the eye, meet heart to heart as human beings – Jew, Christian, Muslim, three peoples, three faith traditions, with one common ancestor, Abraham. Do you know the first time ever a sermon of mine received an ovation? It was the last Sunday in October, 1992. I was asked to represent the Reformed Church at a conference at Brandeis University – a conference on congregational participation in Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. All three were recognizing a falling off of congregational membership and involvement and the conference was called at Brandeis at the Jewish Center there to reflect on what was happening and to show models of some successes in the respective faiths. It was Reformation Sunday. I had been asked to preach at the opening session on Sunday evening. On Sunday morning I concluded the sermon here by saying on that Reformation Sunday we should all go to Geneva and then on to Rome to pick up the Catholics, then to Constantinople to heal the breach between West and © Grand Valley State University   �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   East. Then to Medina where Mohammed received his revelation and then all of us together return to Jerusalem where we could be the one people of God. You applauded. I was dumbstruck; it had never happened before. But I touched a nerve – and something in you said, “Yes.” That happened last week too – and the appeal was the same: moving beyond the divisions that have proven so perilous and finding our common humanity before the face of the Mystery toward which we all grope and yearn. Nancy said, “Now I suppose you’ll never retire, after getting an ovation.” I said, “Oh, yeah! How would you like to come back the next Sunday?” I relate this because I became aware again of the intuitive sense of the people – in this case, you – but I wonder if it is not true of a good many people in any given congregation – the intuitive sense that religion should build community, should bond and heal, and that religion is being misused, abused, twisted when it is the stimulus to derision, hatred, violence and war. And, as I said, sometimes a series takes on a life of its own and takes me where I did not intend to go. But here I am seeing what I did not intend to deal with, seeing what is not new to us but seeing it in a new and powerful way: seeing how religion is tribal and leads to tribalism and thus potentially to alienation, hatred, violence and war. There would be no problem with tribal religion if it were recognized that that is what we have and if we could seek the Face of God through our respective stories, rituals and moral codes, but that has not been the case with the Abrahamic faith. There is a universalizing tendency, which is understandable because we claim to be speaking of God, the Creator, the ultimate, the One True God, and thus there has been a tendency to absolutize our vision, our understanding. This doesn’t seem to be a problem in the East, and Judaism considered itself a light to the nations but without the need to proselytize. The universalizing tendency in Christianity has led to the idea that we are to evangelize the world, that the world will be saved through Jesus Christ alone and the rest are lost. This has been the Christian mission. And Islam – sometimes it seems to claim absolute status, sometimes not, in the course of its history. In any case the danger comes from fundamentalism in each of the Abrahamic faiths, and this mentality is the same, whether Jewish, Christian or Islam. And to come back to my suggestion last week that we take another look at the ancient texts – you understand I am not suggesting we forget our respective founding stories, but I am suggesting that we hear them but not absolutize them as if they were the Word of God, that we see them as human products containing © Grand Valley State University �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   within themselves all the negative potential of human tribalism, of overagainstness of one group over another. Let’s look at today’s lesson: Esau and Jacob. The story: Is this God’s idea? This is a story written to explore, to justify the existence of the Jewish people. Reaching back to Abraham, Jewish faith understands the Jewish people as God’s chosen, the Elect of God – elected to be light to the nations, to embody the rule of God on earth, to teach the nations Torah– God’s way of life. In its positive statement this is a grand vision: not through conquest or domination, not even by effecting conversion to Judaism, but by its very being and by its Torah as a law or way of life, Israel would be the world’s teacher. And its ancient past is some story: Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, bitterness, heartbreak… amazing that their dysfunction and human misery should be recorded as a peoples’ past. There is a self-critical awareness and honesty in the Hebrew Scripture. The Hebrew prophets, too, criticize the nation. Today: Esau and Jacob. The story: the struggle in the womb, the elder shall serve the younger, father Isaac loving Esau; mother Rebekah loved Jacob. The deceit of Rebekah and Jacob in securing Isaac’s blessing for Jacob and Esau’s piteous cry, “Is there one blessing only, Father?” What a set-up for discord. And, of course, this is explaining the situation of the time of the writer, written back into the past – the present explained in terms of the past – of God’s choice, God’s accomplishing God’s purposes through human deceit. To think of it makes one’s head swim. This is the Holy Family? This is God’s Elect? Well, let’s go again to St. Paul, this passionate Jew who has been converted to the conviction that Jesus was God’s Messiah, God’s promised anointed One, who would effect salvation for Jew and Gentile through his death and resurrection. This Paul brings the message of the God of Israel acting through the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, to the Gentiles, the nations, and he meets with success. However, his own kinfolk are not convinced. Many are but it must have been obvious to Paul that the mass of his people did not share his conviction about Jesus and that is deeply troubling to him. That is the problem he struggles with in Romans 9-11. If the Jews don’t turn to Jesus as Messiah they are missing out on God’s salvation. They are missing the boat. Well then, is God unfaithful to his promise to Abraham? As we saw last week, Paul says, “No.” All of Abraham’s seed is not in the Elect line: through Isaac, not Ishmael. Now, today, we move along a generation to Esau © Grand Valley State University �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   and Jacob. Paul is trying to defend God against the charge of failing to keep the promise to Abraham and to Israel. So his argument: God has always worked through the chosen, the elect. Not Ishmael, but Isaac; not Esau, but Jacob. And why? No one can say. God has the prerogative of showing mercy where God will, having compassion where God will. The choice cannot be questioned. There is not a way behind the simple fact of the choice. Brueggemann uses the best term – inscrutable: God’s inscrutable will. Listen to Romans 9:11f: …for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls… Nothing to do with character/worth/morality. …. Then verse 13: …I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. But what are we to say? Injustice? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy… Period. Verse 18: So then he has mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardens. Well, I’ve been tortured by that for years. It didn’t seem fair. Finally, just yield to it! Who are you to question? And positively – Grace – not merit/work, lest anyone should boast and Election to service not privilege. If one believes the Bible as the Word of God – an infallible, inspired word – what is one to do? Well, I think it’s time simply to recognize what is going on here: tribalism, overagainstness, rivalry. Paul was a Jew. He was captivated by Jesus and believed God’s plan for history was coming to its climax. He believed the God of Israel was God alone and now God was moving into history and beginning to bring all things to their consummation…and so he interpreted the present, his experience, in terms of Israel’s history. – Why are all his countrymen not believing in Jesus? Well, all of Israel never did belong to the chosen line within the nation. © Grand Valley State University �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Is this fair? God can do as God wills. Malachi 1: 2-3 – Jacob loved and Esau hated. Obviously a present situation of threat, alienation and potential violence explained in terms of the ancient story which is imputed to God. I simply do not believe it was some word of God that sent Hagar and Ishmael away. I do not believe God chose Isaac in the womb before the twins were born, nor that God was party to the deceit perpetrated by Rachel and Jacob on old blind Isaac. Look at what literalizing them does. For example, the orthodox Rabbis who transmitted the tradition about the promise of the Land of Israel to Abraham the Patriarch such that a young student assassinates Rabin, who as a military hero was able to lead peace negotiations with Arafat. Or the terrorists who on 911 flew those airplanes into the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon as acts of worship and martyrdom to Allah in the cause not of Islam in its total faith tradition but on the basis of selective interpretation, which places terror in the mind of God. As I was contemplating all of this I was reminded of my friend Krister Stendahl. You remember him – thin as a pencil, thus appearing 7 feet tall – the Dean of Harvard Divinity School for 20 years and for 10 years Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm –a great New Testament scholar and a gracious man. He was my surrogate Bishop during the years of conflict. He preached for us one Sunday, and of course you remember the title – Shepherds, Good and Bad – but the weekend theme was “Good religion opens the mind and warms the heart. Bad religion closes the mind and hardens the heart.” I took his study on Romans off the shelf. Krister loves the Scriptures and he is a marvelous interpreter and preacher. In regard to these chapters, Romans 9-11, he understands Paul as seeing the unbelief of the Jews in his time as the means by which the Gospel is taken to the Gentiles. But he interprets Paul as believing God will redeem Israel in God’s own time and manner. And then I remembered that N. T. Wright, who preached here in May with Marcus Borg, had just completed his commentary on Romans published in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. It is a massive work and Tom Wright and the Commentary on Romans is indicative of the stature he holds in the academic world. He is, as we experienced, a gracious gentleman and a brilliant scholar. He is also a conservative evangelical several paces to the right of where I am and, as we experienced, also of Marcus Borg. © Grand Valley State University �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   So I thought what does Tom Wright do with those chapters 9-11? Well I was not surprised. Tom Wright takes Paul as authoritative, writing under the Spirit’s inspiration. So God is involved in the Isaac/Ishmael issue and in the Jacob-Esau issue. And I was reminded of my early years when passages that seemed so contrary to my human experience had to be interpreted so as to put a good spin on what really seemed simply incredible. Tom Wright is careful to guard against using Paul and these passages as justification for anti-Semitism, for attacks on the Jews for not believing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. Nonetheless Tom reads Paul in the traditioned fashion as seeing Israel’s story leading to Jesus as the Messiah and as the failure of the Jewish people to thus believe as leading to their exclusion from the Kingdom. Whose reading of Paul is correct? Two brilliant interpreters; both taking the text seriously, both deeply committed Christian scholars: two interpretations, both can be argued. One, Krister, includes Israel, and in the other the Christian Church supercedes Israel and those of Israel who do not come to God in faith through Christ are lost. And as I wrestle with this I have no doubt where I stand – it is with Krister, even though Tom Wright’s interpretation is certainly there as well. But then I move beyond the impasse. The whole conception of God needs overhauling. The biblical God throughout is a God running the show: intervening, interposing, controlling, working out a plan in history with sovereign power. And that is the God of the ancient text. I want to hear the text. I want to know that whole tradition. I want to understand how the Christian faith inevitably claims things that are untrue. And frankly, I do. And then I need to have the courage to argue with the text, to critique the text and to bring to the text everything else we know about the reality of which we are all a part. Then I want to bring our global consciousness to the text. I want to be able to think. I want to bring our knowledge of other faith traditions and of historical consciousness, realizing how these traditions developed. I need to remember that the great civilizations of the East were not even in the purview of the three Abrahamic faiths. And I must add to the mix my understanding of religion and see it for what it is – tribal stories – with all the limitations and dangerous potential of tribal loyalty. And then, for many who have come to see the primitive tribalism of the religions, perhaps one would simply throw up one’s hands and be done with it. But look where that would leave us – where vast multitudes are today, adrift without anchor on a sea of meaninglessness in a pitiless universe. © Grand Valley State University �The Holy Family – God’s Elect? Richard A. Rhem Page 7   And so I return to the stories, not now as divine revelation, but as human stories of folk who have wondered about the meaning and purpose of life, about how to live, how to find comfort and joy and truth and security. And I can look to the stories that make up my story: The story of Jesus – Paul wasn’t interested in the historical Jesus. He saw a divine action in the cross and resurrection for the salvation of the world soon to be consummated. He was wrong about that. But what about Jesus? What about Stephen who died like Jesus, praying for his killers and Paul standing by? What about what Jesus embodied? Is there still something there? Can you imagine Jesus in Jerusalem today? Can you imagine him a Jew turning away a Muslim? Tribal religion has fueled the fire of violence and war. It has been exploited for ethnic advantage, for social control, for domination – and always there is an ancient text which is appealed to, a tribal story which is universalized, absolutized, used to bludgeon the other. Do you really believe there was a family filled with intrigue, conspiring, deceit, treachery, hatred, and alienation that would be God’s Chosen, God’s elect? In spite of groveling in the dust saying I am nothing and all is of grace, pure grace is being chosen – and almost inevitably the chosen ones become proud of their election and absolutize their story. Isn’t it time to see those stories for what they are and to claim therefore not that God is not the Creator Spirit of the whole but that our gods have been too small – tribal gods made in our image. Must God – the Mystery of Being, the Infinite – be indeed the God of the Whole, of the whole creation, of the whole movement of history, of the whole human family – named variously, worshiped in many different ways, imaged in diverse manners, yet the Mystery beyond our limited tribal stories? © 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 XXVII Series Once Upon a Time... Scripture Text Genesis 27:1-4, 30-45, Romans 9:1-18 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20021124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-11-24 Title A name given to the resource The Holy Family - God's Elect? 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 November 24, 2002 entitled "The Holy Family - God's Elect?", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time...", on the occasion of Pentecost XXVII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 27:1-4, 30-45, Romans 9:1-18. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Abrahamic Faiths Interfaith Non-exclusive Pluralism Universal Grace https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f38c2c26cb23044581fbb816a68d28d7.mp3 93f73fe9936139c166a52ba6b45ce304 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2a6dd2405d05187ec29ad7dffd63da8e.pdf d713323e021caa5fc4dbccad02f544a5 PDF Text Text Abraham: One God, Three Names From the series: Once Upon a Time… Text: Genesis 12:1-3,21:8-21; Romans 9:1-8, 11:25-36 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 17, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon It is serendipitous when a series of messages is set down and then in the meantime one discovers a best-selling book, as happened in this case. Perhaps you have read a major article in Time magazine about the book by Bruce Feiler, Abraham. Bruce Feiler is a young Jewish writer who in the wake of 9-11 decided that he would try to probe the nature of those three religious traditions that root themselves in Abraham, he being a Jew, but also the Christians and the Muslims. All of us together are of Abrahamic faith. All are rooted, somehow or other, in that founding father. Feiler visited the Holy Land, interviewed the Christians and Jews and Muslims, visited the shrines, the sacred places, and he writes an illuminating and very fascinating study of these three faith traditions all rooted in Abraham and where they have been and where they are today. As I speak to you this morning you are aware of Hebron south of Jerusalem, the city of Abraham, the shrine of Abraham, the place where Abraham purchased ground to bury his wife Sarah and where he, himself, is buried according to tradition. You perhaps know that it was in 1994 that a Jewish settler born in this country, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, entered that shrine of Abraham and gunned down 29 Muslims as they were at prayer. You are no doubt aware that on Friday of this week past Palestinian gunmen killed twelve Israelis on the way to the shrine to say their prayers in Hebron. And so, as we think about “Abraham: One God, Three Faiths,” we are speaking about an ancient story, and we are speaking about events that are on the late-breaking news. It is so very important, I believe, that we get some historical and biblical perspective on the relationship between these three faith traditions all rooted in Abraham. You know the story as we have it in what we have always spoken of as the Old Testament. We speak of it here as the Hebrew Scriptures; it is the Jewish Bible, and the story of Abraham originally is recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Abraham, a part of the cultural scene of his day, somewhere in the TigrisEuphrates area, Ur of the Chaldees, is moved with his family north and west to Hebron, and then he receives a call. © Grand Valley State University �Abraham: One God, Three Names Richard A. Rhem Page 2 Now we don't know if Abraham was historical or not. He is perhaps a mythical figure, a representative figure. In any case, that which we learn about Abraham in the biblical story is corroborated by the archeological digs. There was this period of time with these kinds of people moving about in that part of the world. Abraham, according to the Jewish story, hears this call to go. What is it to hear a call? What is it to have this kind of voice within that compels one to pick up and to move on? In any case, that is the story. Then he goes on his way with Sarah his wife. The promise is to go and he will be blessed and he will be a blessing to all nations. How will he have seed when he is an old man and Sarah is beyond the age of childbearing? Well, this is the promise, of course. And so they wait and they wait and they wait, and he gets discouraged. And then one day Sarah takes things into her own hands and she says, "Have my slave girl from Egypt, Hagar," and Abraham has a child, Ishmael, with Hagar. There are the natural, normal kind of tensions and conflict, but in any case, Ishmael born to Hagar is Abraham's son and Abraham is satisfied with that. But, God says no, according to the story. Sarah will have a son, and this holy line is going to be through that son. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that Sarah was barren we are told at the very beginning of the story, and what the story is trying to say is that God is starting over again. And God is starting over with a barren womb. Well, eventually the child is born and it would seem that all is coming to fruition, except that one day Sarah sees Ishmael playing with Isaac and all of that natural, normal, awful, human jealousy and envy and fear arise and she says to Abraham, "Send her out with her son," which he does. An awful story. And Hagar is about to give up when she hears the voice of God, the angel of the Lord, who says, "There is water. Lift up your son." He becomes the father of a great nation, the Arab peoples. So, there is in the Jewish story itself the legitimacy of Ishmael as the father of many nations blessed by God, the Arab people, so that all of these people are interrelated. They are all cousins or whatever you want to make of it. That is in the Jewish story itself. And it goes on then, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve tribes, Israel and so forth, eventually to Jesus, and then after Jesus comes Paul. Now, Paul is a child of the son of Abraham. Paul is schooled in that Abrahamic tradition, that Hebrew tradition. One day Paul has this blinding experience and he is convinced that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the long-promised one. He is turned around in his tracks. Paul the Jew becomes a promoter, an apostle of this Jesus Jewish movement. But, Paul the Jew sees in the experience of Jesus the breaking out of that particularity. And so Paul takes that message beyond the limits of the Jewish community and he is the one who brings the gospel to the world. He gets into conflict with the Jewish community for doing that. But, nonetheless, it is his vision. He sees a universalizing, the universalizing that was in Abraham. Paul now has to figure out how he, as a son of Abraham, can present Jesus as the Messiah with his own community which is not going along with it, to © Grand Valley State University �Abraham: One God, Three Names Richard A. Rhem Page 3 be sure. There is a Jesus Jewish movement that might have carried the day. It was not at all clear whether the Jesus Jewish movement would become the dominant movement, or whether the rabbinic movement would come to the ascendency. Paul is in that conflict situation. Paul loves his people. Paul wants his people to see Jesus as he sees Jesus. Paul wants his people to see that that universalizing promise in Abraham is being realized in Jesus, that there is now the God of Israel for the whole world through Jesus. But that is not the way it seems to be going. And so, in Romans he struggles with it, and he says, "I could wish myself accursed if my brothers and sisters according to the flesh could see this. If only they could see this!" But, they don't see it. So, how does he figure that out? He said, "I guess that all of Israel is not Abraham's seed. There is seed of Abraham that is other than Israel. There is a line of Israel within Abraham's seed. It is narrower. Now I realize that everybody that came from the loins of Abraham is not the true Israel." Well, you can see what Paul is doing. As he works in his other letters, he says we are part of the Mosaic tradition of Sinai and of Moses and that whole community set up after the Exodus. Abraham was 400 years before that; Abraham preceded that, Abraham did not come through the legalities of the Jewish community as presently practiced. Abraham came by faith. Abraham had faith before he was circumcised. Abraham had faith before there was a nation Israel. It was through faith that Abraham was declared righteous. And so, right now faith is enough. Circumcision isn't necessary. The temple isn't necessary. The temple, the circumcision, all of that which was local and particular is now busted open. Now it is possible through faith in Christ to come to God. You see what Paul just did? Paul just used Abraham against Abraham's children. Paul reinterpreted Abraham over against the community whose father was Abraham. Six hundred years later there was an Arab, a trader and capable person, who had a vision and heard a revelation. He came to the Jewish community in Medina and shared the revelation and they rejected him. But, he was no one to pass off lightly. Mohammed was quite somebody and he had this revelation, and he began to write down what he heard and the long and the short of that is that we have the Koran and we have the fate of Islam. Of course, Paul is a Christian, had a revelation from the true God. Mohammed as a Muslim just got things screwed up in his head. Right? Of course. Paul is our man. I mean, this other guy had too much sun and sand. He started to hallucinate. He thought God was speaking to him. Well, what we have are three faith traditions and they all root in Abraham, and there is the Jewish story and Paul doesn't deny the Jewish story, but he says that is only the opening chapter and now it is here. And he re-writes the story in terms of Jesus and Abraham and Paul and the Christian movement to the Gentiles. Mohammed has his vision and hears his voice, writes his text, and there has come this great community of Islam in the wake of that. So, we have Abraham: Three © Grand Valley State University �Abraham: One God, Three Names Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Faiths, One God. And we are killing each other. We are either killing each other for religious reasons, or co-opting religion to fuel the conflict for political or economic reasons. Our world is in jeopardy and in great peril, because we have three traditions rooted in one founder claiming one God. That's where we are. So, where do we go? Just briefly. There is a quote in one of the inserts in your liturgy from this Bruce Feiler book, Abraham, and in the midst of that quote there is a quote from Walter Brueggeman who is in the Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. I have met him, know his work. He is probably as fine an Old Testament scholar as we have in the country today. And so, Bruce Feiler goes to him and says, "Help me to understand this," and Walter Brueggeman as a confessing Christian says, "It is perfectly legitimate for the Jews to tell their story back to Abraham. It is perfectly legitimate for the Christians to tell their story back to Abraham. It is perfectly legitimate for the Muslims to tell their story back to Abraham. What is not legitimate is for any one of the three traditions to claim that theirs is the only story." Brueggeman uses these wonderful words like “twisting the tradition” or “confiscating the story,” because what he recognizes is that those stories are interpretive movements. I love that phrase. Brueggeman says our religious stories are interpretive movements. Our religious stories are the stories we tell in order to try to understand who we are. They are stories that try to help us to understand about this fascinating, perilous, exciting, fantastic, scary business of human existence. That's what religious stories are. And you have interpretive movements. You have stories told in order to give some sense, to make some sense out of the data, out of the experience, out of the past that has come down to us. The Jews do it legitimately as they tell their story, and we do it legitimately. Paul had a grand vision. Paul could see that this Jewish Jesus was enough for the whole world, and Mohammed, obviously Mohammed had hold of something, for he brought about a tremendous tradition of people who yield their lives in obedience to the will of Allah. David Hartman has been another teacher of mine, a rabbi from Jerusalem. David Hartman, when he comes to this story of Sarah and Hagar and that awful human anguish and bitterness and rivalry, says, "Let's look at it, folks. We wrote the story. Let's think again. Let's change the story." And I would say, "My God, David Hartman, that's the Bible. You can't change the story." And David Hartman would say, "Oh, that's your Protestant problem. As a Jew the living tradition always trumps the text. It is the ongoing living tradition, the oral tradition that always has a greater authority than the text. Israel lived most of its centuries without a text. It wasn't until the sixth century BCE, in exile, that the scribes began to write down the story, and Ezra came back to the © Grand Valley State University �Abraham: One God, Three Names Richard A. Rhem Page 5 second temple community and they had a story. They dotted the i and they crossed the t and that is when they began to get into trouble. They are storytellers. They were better off without a text." And David Hartman says, "Don't let the text lead you to places that you know you ought not to go." The more I wrestle with this and think about this, the more I am convinced. Do you want me to say something radical? Do you want me to say something that you can take out of here that will scandalize the whole community? It's high time that we burn all the Korans and we burn all the Bibles. We'd be better off without a text, because then we could look at each other in the eye, heart-to-heart and begin to say, "What in the world is going on? Because when a text literally interpreted makes me hate you, the text is wrong. And when a religious community is bound to an ancient text that is leading it to destruction, to conflict, to war, to hatred, it is wrong. A written text needs always to be interpreted by the Holy Spirit and the ongoing story of life and the ongoing living tradition. And unless we do it, unless we break free from bondage to the story, we will end up killing each other, and you know it is a very real possibility as we sit here. We are living on the edge of our seats. We are scared to death, and the whole is on tenterhooks. We read the quote down at the bottom, "There are fanatics who are misusing the story and making it a literal word of God, absolutizing it and justifying their hatred, and justifying their violence." Most of the religious community just keeps it going by not being radical enough and facing the story enough. It is possible, another scenario is possible. Bruce Feiler, the young Jew who went on this pilgrimage, saw something different. He saw another possibility. Walter Brueggeman, the Old Testament scholar, sees another possibility. David Hartman, a rabbi in Jerusalem, sees another possibility. I see another possibility. It is religion which is not doing what it ought to be doing that has brought the world to the edge of disaster. It is high time that we look each other in the eye, heart-to-heart, human being to human being and begin to live out our story that is told us. References: Bruce Feiler. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. New York: William Morrow and Co./HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. © 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 XXVI Series Once Upon a Time... Scripture Text Genesis 12:1-3, 21:8-21, Romans 9:1-8, 11:25-36 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Bruce Feiler. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, 2002. 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-0-20021117 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-11-17 Title A name given to the resource Abraham: One God, Three Names 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 November 17, 2002 entitled "Abraham: One God, Three Names", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time...", on the occasion of Pentecost XXVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 12:1-3, 21:8-21, Romans 9:1-8, 11:25-36. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Abrahamic Faiths Religious Pluralism https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9923e00b8711c472963f6a8e9f79b3ad.mp3 8bdb48933f146ecdc706c3cc8f1eaeb7 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 All Saints Day, Pentecost XXIV Series Once Upon a Time... Scripture Text Genesis 3:1-3, I Corinthians 15:20-26 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20021103 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-11-03 Title A name given to the resource Death - The Last Enemy 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 3, 2002 entitled "Death - The Last Enemy", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time...", on the occasion of All Saints Day, Pentecost XXIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 3:1-3, I Corinthians 15:20-26. 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/1efd6ba1b071b67e28da5062ff8ae102.mp3 d731b069b6cd2bc929595626d5614eca 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 XXIII Series Once Upon a Time... Scripture Text Genesis 3:1-10, Romans 5:12-21 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-0-20021027 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-10-27 Title A name given to the resource The Fall Into Authentic Humanity 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 October 27, 2002 entitled "The Fall Into Authentic Humanity", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time...", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 3:1-10, Romans 5:12-21. 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/312775eebee1633f010c3f351eed10f2.mp3 d2fe2c2dcbf27c72ef9a0d397d396a41 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 XXII Scripture Text I Chronicles 29:10-18, II Corinthians 9:6-15 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-0-20021020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-10-20 Title A name given to the resource Integrity of Heart - An Honest Work 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 October 20, 2002 entitled "Integrity of Heart - An Honest Work", on the occasion of Pentecost XXII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Chronicles 29:10-18, II Corinthians 9:6-15. 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/93e68fcdb6ec047cfb8fadf44d2aee0b.mp3 1cc834c7219d39f1fdd52869871a7264 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f415604d4c1fd565eea9041ffb903bd6.pdf d0e9eb37637fbce034791d641599d164 PDF Text Text Creation: Stardust to Human to… From the series: Once Upon a Time… Text: Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27; Ephesians 4:1-16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 13, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon [Beginning remarks to the community about last week’s David Ray Griffin lectures on his book, Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion during the Center for Religion and Life weekend] I do this morning want to say something that will enable you … to know that you had in your midst this outstanding scholar whose scholarship is not an intellectual curiosity as an end in itself, but very practically in order to learn how to say God today and how to understand that Infinite Mystery, that Divine Presence, the sacred and the holy in a world such as we understand our reality today. For, really, our storybook, our ancient text, the Bible, comes from an ancient people and ancient languages that understood the world altogether differently than we did. They had no knowledge of the physical universe as we do, and so their image of God, their imaginings of God were quite other than those which we would have if we would try to think of God in the light of the cosmos as we understand it and in the light of our human experience. Probably most people don't even think about that - how to speak of God, to think of God, how to live a human existence, given the world as it is. Probably most don't even think about that until maybe they pray passionately for the life of a child and the child dies. Or, plead with God for something else which never comes to fruition, and then get to wondering about the suffering in the world and maybe something as horrible as the Holocaust. And then maybe, in moments of solitude, there would come a question - Where is God? Who is God? Is God at all? David Ray Griffin's work is to try to give us an opening on that eternal transcendent dimension which is not other than our world, but is a part of our world. This morning I intended anyway to begin a new series of messages. When I set these series far in advance, eventually as the time comes, I can twist them any way. So, I am going to keep with the series title, Once Upon a Time ..., because I © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 2 want to call to your mind immediately that the things we are going to talk about, and we are going to go to the book of Genesis for these messages, are stories. "Once upon a time...," for the ancient religious storytellers were dealing with those ultimate questions and that ultimate reality - Why is there something rather than nothing? What does it mean to be human? Who am I? Whence have I come and whither am I going and what does it all mean? Those ultimate questions lived before the rather fearsome reality of a mystery that can never be penetrated. Those early human religious figures, dreamers, poets told stories, and we have a story, too, and our story is precisely that. So, once upon a time... Once upon a time, there were Hebrew dreamers and poets and prophets who believed that all that is was the consequence of a word of the creator God who called it all into being. And that creative act was by a God who was not a part of the created order, but stood above it and continued to guide it and providentially to move it and here and there, now and again, to intervene in it and to interrupt its processes, if necessary. That belief in a supernatural being we speak of as theism, God "out there," tweaking the creation which that God called into being. That was the ancient picture, the old story, and we read it again a moment ago. But, in this particular message, I entitle it "Creation: Stardust to Human to..." because we have come to know that we are a part of a cosmic process of 15 billion years. Whether it is 15 or 14 or 16, we won't argue. But, we have come to know that all that is part and parcel of the same thing, that this cosmic process has been evolving and unfolding with new emergence over billions of years, and that the stuff that we are is the stuff of the universe, that we human beings are made of star-stuff, the explosion of those marvelous stars that sprinkle the inky darkness of the night, that explode and seed the planets and the galaxies with the elements that are the elements of life. And all reality is uniformly a part of that explosive explosion of elements and, amazing miracle of miracles, those elements at some point came alive. Was it an amoeba or an algae or a moss? I don't know, but it was life, that point of life with no one there to witness it. And then, greater miracle of all, that life again, over billions of years, eventuating in conscious life, self-consciousness, consciousness of the other, community, human community. And here we are. Someone has said if you took that 15 billion years and collapsed it into one year so that you had the whole 15 billion years with all of the markers that can be marked as to what developed when and so forth, all of human recorded history would have arrived in the last 15 seconds of the last minute. The last 15 seconds of the last minute. That's who we are - we are Johnny-come-latelies, we are newcomers. We are a recent emergent in this whole cosmic process, and there is nothing about us that is any different than that which was part of the process 12 billion years ago, 14,15 billion years ago, and it is absolutely an amazing thing. In an expanse of time we cannot take in, in an expanse of space that is simply beyond our comprehension, there is one process going on: billions of galaxies and billions of stars, and this little planet earth in the midst of the solar system, in the © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 3 midst of a galaxy just a speck, just a spinning mud heap, just a pile of rocks, and here we are human beings, conscious, reflecting on it all. That's amazing! That is really a miracle. David Ray Griffin is simply one of those thinkers who thinks about all of that, and he has taken in what all of the sciences tell us about that reality, and the philosopher who has informed his work, Alfred North Whitehead, is one who said, at the beginning of this century, the problem with the modern period is that it has separated matter and mind, or matter and spirit, and a consequence of that in the modern period has been a kind of an absolute materialism with no one knowing what to do with spirit or even denying its existence. But, Alfred North Whitehead has said, the thing is that that matter is inspirited. The whole thing is permeated, is shot through with spirit, with consciousness, and it is on that kind of radically "new" conception of reality, although we can go all the way back to Plato 600 years before Christ to find echoes of that as well, that he is trying to say: in this totality of which we are a part, God is fully present in it all, and there is a creative spirit nudging and moving, but not coercing or forcing, but beckoning, persuading. The lure of love, if you will, seems to be the way of the cosmos and, among human beings that we are, thinking, conscious, aware, one day one was born and those who encountered him said, "That's it. That must be the divine intention for the human." In the beginning was that divine intention and all things came into being through that one, and in the fullness of time that divine intention became flesh, human, and no one has ever seen God, but that one, that one reveals who God is. That is our story because we say, concretely, there was a human being. To look upon that one was to look upon the face of God. And so incarnation or embodiment: this spirit that inspirits everything becomes concrete in the human form. The mistake the Church made was to say it happened once for all in him. The fact is that it happened in him in order that we might know that it happens in everyone at all times, that it is the human that is the embodiment of the divine, that that infinite spirit has become concretized in the human being, and that human being in Jesus. Those who saw him said, "That is human." "Stardust to human," human paradigmatically, preeminently in Jesus who is our pattern. And then my title says, also, three dots, "Stardust to Human to ..." To what? Are we the apex of it all? Are we the summit of it all? Are we the end of it all? Or, is there something more? Is there another stage? Let me tell you where we are today. We who have lately come on the scene, we “last 15 seconds” human pride, let me tell you where we are today. The nation stands on the brink of war, and great religious leaders, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and others, the Catholic Conference of Bishops, the National Council of Churches, heads of denominations - all across the board, except the Southern Baptists and © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Jerry Falwell, but otherwise quite uniformly across the board all have said war is not the answer, war is not the solution, go slowly, go cautiously. Nobody is listening. I know that we religious leaders really don't deserve any real attention because what do we know? The face in a book, dealing with sweet communities of people, what do we know about the real world? I almost find it a little humorous when I think about the universality of the spiritual counsel and the total disregard. It wasn't always that way. But, if you want to know the impact of the spiritual community in today's world, you have a parable before you. Nobody gives a rip about what the Church is saying. But, I have a little stripe of cynicism in me, so I don't always trust myself. I have been saying that this whole thing is really, finally, about oil. And then, praise be to God, yesterday's Grand Rapids Press headline was: "Seidman Bullish on War." William Seidman, local boy who has made good, at age 81 now comes back to Grand Rapids to speak to some business leaders about matters similar to insider trading, only this is the inside information to a few folks. It's at the Peninsular Club, a nice place to eat. I'll bet you President Bush could shoot him, because he has let the cat out of the bag. "Seidman Bullish on War" - that's an obscene headline. The article says that he claims that defeating Saddam Hussein and controlling Iraqi oil is at least as important as eliminating weapons of mass destruction. Now, you are getting it from an insider who says that it is political rhetoric about the weapons of mass destruction and the locus of evil that therefore needs to be wiped out. He is really telling us you're just being played because it is not about mass destruction weapons. It is about oil. He goes on to say that it would never deepen the bear market (that's a misleading reading of the market - war, that is). "Oil prices fluctuating is a very large drag on the economy, ours and the world's, said Seidman. If we are in Iraq, nobody can use oil as a weapon. I think probably the most bullish thing I can think of today is winning the war. We are planning to set up a MacArthur-like government," referring to Japan after World War II," getting control of that oil, thereby gaining sway with neighboring Saudi Arabia's oil production will make a vast difference to the economy in all sorts of areas, but particularly the price of oil. Having the two major oil producers not part of any radical Muslim or any other unfriendly government," he said, "would be a huge additional factor in the world's economy." And then, and this is the clincher, he said he's not surprised that the Bush administration is not the one heralding a return to profitability by way of war. Oh, really? The administration is not saying that by way of war we could return to profitability? No, he's not surprised they are not doing that. Neither am I. But, he says, "I deny it specifically on behalf of the government," he said, joking. That's obscene. Now you have the whole religious world trying to whisper in somebody's ear, and nobody's listening. But, you have an insider coming back to say finally, folks, the talk is about eliminating weapons of mass destruction, but finally it's about oil, because finally it is about the economy, because finally it is about beating the bear market and returning to profitability. And you know what? It might work. I © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 5 may yet be able to retire. It could work. We could go in there and maybe if we're successful, maybe we'll knock the stuffing out of Saddam and maybe we'll be able to establish our own puppet government there and maybe, over years, maybe, maybe, maybe ... But, you see what we're doing? We are the superpower and we can act unilaterally. We can have our way in the world. Do you want to be with us or against us? Well, we don't believe in what you are doing. Do you want to support us or not? We'll go to the United Nations and we will use the United Nations if it works, but if it doesn't work, we'll do it alone. And we might pull it off. But, don't you see that if we pull it off one more time, we will not have solved anything except the present generation's prosperity? What about the rest of the Muslim world? Why are we the victims of terrorism? Is terrorism not the technique of those who have no power? And is there any power in the world that could protect against terrorism? So there is the irony that here we are, wealthy, powerful, top of our game, and we live with fear. We live with as much fear as a nation as the people around Washington D.C. are living in fear of a sniper right now. That is the kind of irrationality that cannot be defended against. Yet, we can go in there and we can square things around, and we can dominate and we can hold on powerfully enough, long enough, perhaps, to pull it off for the likes of us for another generation, but, eventually, don't we know eventually it is only justice and compassion that can ever solve the anguish and the agony of the world? Don't we realize the cynicism of this world that talks about being born again and about Jesus, only to go to war, when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers and the merciful and the gentle? Don't we know what a mockery it is to be called a Christian nation when we are no more ready, even though we are the superpower that would have it within us to change the game, that we will continue one more time to use our power and, if need be, violence and war? And the secret is out. … I'll bet they could kill him for letting the cat out of the bag and confirming what some of us have worried about all the time. The passion of David Ray Griffin's life right now is global democracy. He is working now on a book in which he suggests, if there were an objective, neutral observer who was good, who had all of the facts and who could adjudicate the human situation, wouldn't that be good? And after all of his philosophical and theological explorations, it is the God reflected in the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount for whom he sees room in this cosmic process of 15 billion years. What we need is not a little tweaking of the system. What we need is a transformation of human consciousness. What do you think? I'm just blowing bubbles, huh? I'm just blowing smoke. I'm just another idealistic romanticist. I'm just another preacher. But, unless there is a transformation of human consciousness that gains a critical mass that revolutionizes the way we are human with each other, we will keep on in our tribal ways and we will keep killing each other and we will continue to be afraid. © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 6 References: David Ray Griffin. Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion. Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, 2000. © 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 XXI Series Once Upon a Time_ Scripture Text Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, Ephesians 4:1-16 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Barbara Brown Taylor. The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion, 2000. 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-0-20021013 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-10-13 Title A name given to the resource Creation: Stardust to Human to... 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 October 13, 2002 entitled "Creation: Stardust to Human to...", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time_", on the occasion of Pentecost XXI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, Ephesians 4:1-16. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Cosmic Evolution Lure of Love Transformation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f198b4f446a1e7edec0f23a7697950d0.mp3 393e612e02abdfa404521b525537f890 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48db89d0aacfc5cb27e83d9f5814ccd8.pdf 883ffa3b29b2332d13bf6ecbb9dea4cf PDF Text Text Hunger for God Romans 8:12-27; Luke 12:13-21; Psalm 42:1 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 29, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon I'm not going to read the “Reading From the Present,” except a few lines in order to introduce what I want to reflect upon with you on this morning. Robert Solomon is a philosopher in a university in Texas. I came across his book recently and was enamored with the title, Spirituality for the Skeptic. I thought, "Well, that fits," and found out that he is a person who in his mid-life woke up to the question of what is the meaning of life. His background was Jewish, but a Jewish person can lead a totally secular existence, as he did, non-observant altogether, and then came to a point of wondering what is the meaning of it all. He discovered a larger, enhanced sense of life, and he came to think again about Nietzsche, the German philosopher-nihilist; and Sartre, the French atheistexistentialist; and Hegel, the German philosopher, and he began to think of them who are identified in our minds generally with modern atheism, and began to see them as thinkers who were trying to re-value and revise spirituality. And now, in his mid-life as he is asking about the meaning of life, he is looking at them with new eyes and seeing perhaps what they were doing in their day was what he finds it necessary for him to do in his day, and frankly what we have been trying to do around here in our day. He says, speaking of Hegel and Nietzsche, "They attempted to revalue and revise our concept of spirituality. Or to put it a different way, what both Hegel and Nietzsche tried to do was to naturalize spirituality… " When I read that, I thought, my goodness, that's what we have been talking about. Have you found it true that sometimes you become aware of something or you learn a new word or a new idea and suddenly you find it everywhere? It was always out there, but just sort of passed over, and suddenly you become aware of it and you see it every place. Here I read Solomon and he is talking about naturalizing spirituality to get away from the other-worldly religions and philosophies and to re-appreciate or re-enchant everyday life. That word reenchantment has been popping up all over the place. That, as a matter of fact, is what we are all about. I mentioned it several times this summer, the reenchantment of life, for us to come to a new appreciation of ourselves and our reality and God in order that the human experience, the daily experience of our © Grand Valley State University   �Hunger for God Richard A. Rhem Page 2   lives, the world might be re-enchanted, that we might receive it with a new dimension of delight and awareness and gratitude and joy. So, here is this philosopher down in Texas who is going back to these old 19th century philosophers and he says, "What I think they were trying to do was re-enchant everyday life." The idea is to recombine spirituality with science and nature, rather than play them off against each other. How often have we been talking about that here? To recombine spirituality with science and nature rather than that awful war that has existed for so long. Thus, for Hegel, nature is spiritual, and spirituality is nothing less than nature fully developed in us. Hmmm. Nature is spiritual and spirituality is nothing less than nature fully developed in us. My goodness, I have been saying that. I must have been right. You will remember this summer we talked about Creation as God's ecstasy and as the garment of God, and about God, the Infinite Source of all, being a Mystery, outflowing and becoming embodied in the world, becoming embodied in the stuff of the cosmos, the story we are told that goes back 15 billion years, fifteen billion years of the development of this process that eventuated in stars and stuff, and then just lately on the scale of that 15 billion years the appearance of life, of consciousness, of awareness, of the human being. The human being has just arrived, as it were, in this long process of billions of years, and that human being with awareness has become the intelligence of the cosmos, being able to rise above, to transcend the process and see the process, and to speak of the process, and to stand in awe and wonder of the process, to become the tongue of praise of the process, to become the consciousness of it all. This human being that we are, the finite embodiment of the Infinite Mystery, with a mind and a voice so that here we are, human that we are, finite, matter, matter which is one with the dust of the universe, because we are stardust, after all. And yet, we are stardust that has come alive, become conscious, become aware, able to wonder, stand in awe, and we human beings find within us a longing for something. The Psalmist said it so beautifully and it was sung so beautifully in our presence this morning, "As the deer longs for living streams, so longs my soul for thee, 0 God." The Apostle Paul, in the 8th chapter of Romans, in that very complex letter when he was giving expression to that amazing experience he had, there was something in him that recognized that there was something in God in him, and there was something in God in him that was reaching out to God beyond him. The Spirit sighing, sighing within us, or longing within us. And Jesus in this little story I read, where somebody says, "Settle this dispute," and he says, "This dispute isn't worth worrying about. Let me tell you about the investor whose stocks were so good that they were going through the ceiling, and he began to plan his future in terms of wonder and glory. And then in the midst of it all, it was over." And Jesus said, "You really ought to be concerned about being rich toward God." © Grand Valley State University �Hunger for God Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The point of those lessons is simply my contention that there is a hunger for God in the depths of every human being, and that is not surprising because, after all, we are made of God-stuff. We are the consciousness and the awareness of the finite creation which is the embodiment of the infinite God, the infinite source of all being that is Mystery beyond us, flowing out into the concretion of creation of which we are the conscious inhabitors, become co-creators, having within us a longing for something, a longing for God. And why shouldn't we have a longing for God? For we are made of God; we are inspirited by God. God is our home; God is our source, the source of our being. Paul quoted an old pagan philosopher, "In God we live and we move and we have our being." Someone like Robert Solomon, studying the 19th century philosophers – we have talked about them all here, Feuerbach and Marx, Freud and Nietzsche, identified with modern atheism – Solomon looks again and says, "I wonder if they weren't just trying to find a way to say God in a world that had drastically changed?' Because, you see, our storybook arose at a time when the conception of everything was totally different than our present conception of everything. The sense of ultimate reality was altogether different. In the expressions of the Hebrew prophets or in the New Testament letters of Paul or in the talking of Jesus, it was a totally different conception of the reality of which we are a part. So maybe it was necessary for this old world, on its way in human development, to go through that period, that backwash of atheistic thinking, which sent such tremors through the Church, an atheistic movement that alienated scores and scores of people and generations, a modern atheism that has affected the academic community and the intelligentsia of the world today so that the Church becomes a defensive community trying to hold on, but too often trying to hold on with an old way of thinking and speaking so that it doesn't resonate with the reality of our present world. Robert Solomon says maybe those atheistic philosophers were simply trying to naturalize spirituality. Maybe they were trying to learn how to say God in their day, because A-theism does not necessitate atheism. And that is not just a little play on words, because what the modern period did was to reject a theistic conception of God that was in the tradition, the idea of that supernatural being up there in control, running things, the God who interrupted the process on occasion, the God who could intervene here and there. In a world that had become so convinced of the findings of the natural sciences, a God out there doing that kind of thing just didn't make a lot of sense. And so, to a lot of people who thought about it, there was alienation and there was movement out of the Church. Bishop Spong would call them believers in exile. I believe that the largest part of the congregation of Christ Community Church is out of the Church, and if they could only hear the good word, they'd be back in, because it is possible to say God and to have a spiritual existence in our day without adopting a world view that doesn't make sense anymore. Down deep in the human heart is a hunger for God, but the heart can not long rest where the © Grand Valley State University �Hunger for God Richard A. Rhem Page 4   mind cannot follow. That is, if the mind is operative at all, if one is thinking at all, the heart cannot long rest where the mind cannot follow. And so, so many have been alienated. I decided long ago, before we left for Europe, to speak about the hunger for God today because I knew I would be coming back to preach this Sunday, and then next week David Ray Griffin would be here, and David Ray Griffin is the one who has been so stimulating to me. He was introduced to me by Howard VanTill in the book Religion and Scientific Naturalism. It is a very fine book in which he tries to do what Solomon speaks of here, he tries to say God in a conception of reality which is consistent with all that we know. In other words, with the best understanding that we have of ultimate reality, given that, how do you say God? That's the thing that David Ray Griffin has worked at. In the concise title of his latest book which I have quoted here, Reenchantment without Supernaturalism, he says volumes. Reenchantment of the world -that's what Solomon speaks of here. He says that is what Hegel was about and Nietzsche, trying to find the reenchantment of everyday, because what was happening was that old image of God and that old conceptuality was so challenged, leading to atheism. There were those who were living then alienated without any sense of the reality of God. And yet, you can't wipe out that deep hunger for God, because we are, after all, the embodiment of God, so if that Infinite Mystery has overflowed into the concretion of nature, and if we are the voice, the awareness, if we are the human beings who are the finite embodiment of God, the conscious expression of that concretion, then is it any wonder that there is a longing for God within us because, after all, God is our source and God is our home, and we cannot be at home in this world, we cannot be at home with ourselves unless we are at home with God. Unless we have a sense of the reality and the presence of God in the reality of our lives and of our world, we cannot be whole. We have an opportunity next week to have in our midst someone who is working hard trying to bring all that to expression. How do you naturalize spirituality so that our spiritual life isn't some otherworldly thing, so that our spiritual life isn't some Sunday business, so that our spiritual life is not some compartment in our being that does not affect the totality of our everyday? Rather, our spiritual being is the expression of our authentic being living with an awareness and a wonder and a gratitude and an amazement at the miracle of life. Because, you see, I want you to sense this - God breathes in you. It is not a question of whether or not God is in you. It is only a question of your awareness. Let me tell you about Marina. She was our guide in St. Petersburg, Russia, for five days. A lovely, lovely person, a beautiful woman, articulate, with impeccable English, bright, knowledgeable, great humor, delightful spirit, and we all fell in love with her. And as we went day after day, one day on the tour bus she said, "That yellow church I was baptized in." © Grand Valley State University �Hunger for God Richard A. Rhem Page 5   I said to her later, "So you were baptized?" "Yes, she said, "I was." I said "What year?" a question you must never ask a woman. She said, “ 1959.” I said "Oh, '59. So, you were baptized in '59?" She said, "Yes, but my parents weren't religious at all. And I'm not religious and my friends are not religious." She said, "I did have my 12-year-old daughter baptized." I said, "You did?” She said, "Just in case." And when we came off the grounds of a monastery, she made the sign of the cross, and I said, "I saw that." As we gathered in Oslo a couple of Sunday nights ago at our little group reflection, I said, "I am convinced more than ever through this wonderful engagement with the Russian people, and that Eastern rite of the Orthodox tradition which was in danger of being intentionally stamped out, but which cannot be stamped out, I am so convinced of the irradicability of the spiritual being, because Marina is a spiritual being, a beautiful human being, and God is in that woman, and she is resonant with God. I would love to have the opportunity to pursue that more. I said to Marina, "Tell me about your spiritual life." She said, "Well, with my friends, we talk about ideas." (I think what she was saying was we do grapple with meaning.) She said, "We have suffered and suffering can lead to a spiritual sense." Once again, you see, here is a non-observant Russian woman who is every bit modern, contemporary, wonderful and delightful, totally non-religious. But she is not non-spiritual, and it seems to me the only thing she lacks is the awareness of the Source of the beauty of her humanity, of her spirituality. There is a hunger for God within the human breast, and those who may seem farthest from any kind of practice or observance, nonetheless at some time or other must, as Robert Solomon, come to say, "What does it mean? What does it mean?", and hopefully find some way through the maze. He concludes, finally in the end, thoughtful love of life is spiritual being. Well, yes. Thoughtful love of life, because life is gift and to be able to live with awareness and intentionality and appreciation and gratitude, to be able to lift a glass to the wonder, miracle, glory and joy of life, to be able to look at a sunset and an evening star, the smile of a © Grand Valley State University �Hunger for God Richard A. Rhem Page 6   child and the embrace of human connection, to be able to live not just in the morning awake, breakfast, work, dinner, back to sleep, awake, breakfast dinner, sleep, but to live with awareness of every moment of every day that it is Godfilled, that it is God-breathed, that we are the embodiment of that Infinite Source of being full of grace and creativity, to look at it all and to live with that constant sense of wonder and amazement - that is to come to the awareness of the roots of the hunger within us and, finally, to be at home in our skin, in our world, because we are the children of God. References: Robert C. Solomon. Spirituality for the Sceptic: The Thoughtful Love of Life. Oxford University Press, 2006. © 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 XIX Scripture Text Romans 8:12-27, Luke 12:13-21 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Robert C. Solomon. Spirituality for the Sceptic: The Thoughtful Love of Life, 2006. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020929 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-09-29 Title A name given to the resource Hunger For God 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 September 29, 2002 entitled "Hunger For God", on the occasion of Pentecost XIX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Romans 8:12-27, Luke 12:13-21. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Cosmic Evolution Divine Mystery Natural religion https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1df3378e26bf9fbb8e81f46f0bd38352.mp3 2dd738f20837f85c3f051345e184ece8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/21574e35f3d037263ed6383a9b647e07.pdf 43720cfb8e31701eb36e544c928583f7 PDF Text Text The Gift of Sabbath Labor Day Sunday Scripture: Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:23-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 1, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon I'm not going to tell you anything new this morning. I'm not going to tell you anything I haven't told you before. I simply want you to reflect with me and think with me about the importance of receiving and celebrating the gift of Sabbath. I have to smile when I see that title, 'The Gift of Sabbath," because it took me a long time before I thought of the Sabbath in terms of a gift, for I was raised in a home in which the Sabbath was very solemnly and seriously observed. The observance began on Saturday night where my father would peel the potatoes for the Sunday dinner. And then he would go out on the porch and take down a basin, one of those old white porcelain basins with chips all over it, fill it with water and put it on the stove, get it steaming, put his towel in that water, and put it on his face. Six days a week he shaved with an electric razor, but on Saturday night, he really did a job with the safety razor very closely so he wouldn't have to shave on Sunday. The Kalamazoo Gazette came to our door on Sunday morning, but it was put under the couch and never opened. And then it was off to church, and after church there was Sunday School and my mother stayed home to get the dinner ready. Dinner was ready when we came home, we ate the dinner and my father took a very brief nap. It had to be a brief nap because we were off again, off again to pick up my grandparents where I was dropped off while they took the grandparents to the Dutch service in the afternoon. Then back to the grandparents where the clan gathered for coffee and cookies. By 5:00 p.m., with the other grandfather in tow, we went home for a light supper and then off to the evening service. Following the service it was a social gathering with friends for more coffee and cake, and finally home about 10:00 p.m. That was Sunday - our Sabbath observance, but it was hardly a Sabbath. It tires me even now to think about it. It was one big day. © Grand Valley State University �The Gift of Sabbath Richard A. Rhem Page 2 It was a strict and serious observance. It accomplished the purpose of stamping my existence. Here I am six decades later still observing Sabbath, but in quite a different mode, for that observance of my childhood was marked by legalism. It is not easy to observe seriously without falling into legalism. This is a problem generally for us as humans beings - the things that we structure into our lives, to be able to do them, remembering why we do them and to revel in the joy of doing them and not to get caught up in the obligation to do them in a certain fashion so that there is a kind of legalistic pall over the whole thing. There certainly is a positive there. We all need structure, predictability, and I don't want to paint my growing up in tones too dark, for there were moments of delight in that; there were family gatherings, there were community gatherings. And, of course, in spite of myself, I must have picked up some stuff in all those church services and Sunday School classes and youth groups. That steady observance, obviously, imprinted my life, so I am still doing it week in and week out. But, there can be a negative side to it, as well. We all have certain moments we remember in encounters with others, and I remember dealing with a young man, I say young from my perspective, that makes most people on earth young. He came out of my very circle. But, somehow or other, his observance was hard, lacking all grace, and I shall never forget when he looked at me, his eyes moist with deep emotion in his voice, saying," I most regret I have lost 40 years of Sundays." That's almost five and a half years of one's life, and what he was saying is that it was such an oppressive, almost abusive experience - it carried with it such heavy weight, such baggage that, to this day, he has been unable to come back to worship because of that experience which was so negative in his past. It is difficult. Do not hear me playing light and fast and loose with this. Observances that are significant and meaningful in our lives must be observed. If we don't have a structure for them, if we are not caught up in a pattern and a routine, chances are that we will be less and less likely to carry out any kind of serious observance. But to mark out a sacred space and sacred time and avoid that heavy legalism is the secret. Because, as a matter of fact, as we look at the Sabbath principle in the scripture it is designed with human beings in mind. Somehow or other we twist that around as though we do this for God. We don't do this for God. We do this for ourselves. We do this for our sanity. We do this for our humanity. As Jesus said, when he was criticized by the Pharisees, who were giving expression to that negative legalism of which I spoke a moment ago, "The Sabbath is made for humankind not humankind for the Sabbath." The translation is, "So the son of man is even lord of the Sabbath." The real translation is, "So humankind is really the lord of the Sabbath." In other words, we are in the place of determining how the Sabbath will be observed. It is our gift. It is given to us. © Grand Valley State University �The Gift of Sabbath Richard A. Rhem Page 3 If we go to the Hebrew scriptures, the Sabbath principle was a revolutionary principle. The observance of one day in seven is a big part of it, because it was that weekly observance, and in the giving of the Ten Commandments we have it attached to the fact that God created the heavens and the earth and then rested and blessed the Sabbath, so that Sabbath is a day which God has blessed and has given to humankind for rest. The significance of one day in seven can be seen in Leviticus 25 where the Sabbath principle is applied to the agricultural situation in terms of years, and they are to work the land for six years and then let it lie fallow for a year and not work, and not work their slaves and not work their beasts of burden, and take what the land offers, but let it lie fallow. Let the land rest. And then if you continue in Leviticus 25, you will find the year of Jubilee is every fiftieth year, a Sabbath of Sabbath years, seven sevens, and the 50th year, the year of Jubilee in which the trumpet is sounded, the slaves are set free, debts are cancelled, and property, if it has moved from one family to another, goes back to the original family. You try running on the Republican or Democratic ticket with that kind of a policy. The point of it is obvious. You don't own your land. The land is God's. It was an intentional instrument to short-circuit human greed and acquisitiveness and aggressiveness and competition. It was all set up very carefully. If you get indebted at a certain point in that Jubilee run, it is thus and so. If you get land at one point, it is thus and so. It is all set up so that there was a kind of justice about it. But, the point of it was this: the land belongs to God. If Israel had ever lived by that ideal, there would never have been the development of the gap, an excessive gap between the rich and the poor. It was a day to be delighted in. It was a revolutionary principle of freedom and liberation. It was a weekly reminder that we didn't create ourselves, that we live by grace. It was a weekly opportunity simply to be and not to do. In the Jewish observance, it was not for corporate worship as in the Christian tradition. When I think back about my own story as I related it a moment ago, that was not a day of rest. I get tired thinking about it. I can't believe that we did that year after year after year. But the day was intended, according to the Exodus passage, for the contemplation of creation, for in six days God created the heaven and the earth and rested and blessed the Sabbath. Or, if you go to Deuteronomy, it was the contemplation of their redemption, their salvation. It was a punctuation in the ongoing tale of their lives in order to short-circuit and cut that drivenness. It was in order to say, "Cease and desist! Stop, already! Would you for a moment simply be! You are a human being, not a human doing." So, the biblical intention, whether you take the Sabbath principle in the Hebrew scripture, or Jesus' application, which was simply the mantling of that institution with grace, the intention of the Sabbath is human well-being. In the situation where the disciples were hungry on the Lord's Day, they broke the Sabbath. They © Grand Valley State University �The Gift of Sabbath Richard A. Rhem Page 4 broke the ordinary, regular regulation. In the gospel of Thomas, there is an incident recorded where Jesus sees a man picking up sticks on the Sabbath, which is to break the law, to break the Sabbath regulation. Jesus said to him, "If you understand what you are doing, blessed are you. If you do not understand what you are doing, you are cursed." The point is that this is not a matter of the literal dotting of i's and crossing of t's in some slavish manner. The Sabbath principle in a given situation cannot be observed in the same way, perhaps. And if that is true in given circumstances of our human experience, how much more true is it in the culture in which we live. How in the world do you observe the Sabbath in our culture today? Think of it with children, for example. I remember when I came here 40 years ago that Wednesday nights, in terms of the school system, were sacred and left for the church. Now, Sunday morning isn't even sacred. Sporting events are scheduled now on Sunday mornings. And we went from the Sabbath to Sunday to the weekend. Some time ago in Time magazine there was a cover story about the demand on parents to get their kids involved all over the place. The cover said, "Sports-crazed kids - year 'round play, summer clinics, pushy parents. Is this too much of a good thing?" The author said, "So what are parents to do?" This isn't a preacher; this is a journalist observing a cultural situation. What are parents to do? We do what Americans have always done. This is, after all, a country that systematizes. We create seminars on how to make friends, teach classes in grieving, make pet-walking a profession. In that light, Greg Heintzman's praise of structured play seem almost unAmerican. Any activity, no matter how innocent or trivial or spontaneous, can become specialized in America. So, if our children are to have sports, we will have leagues and teams and schedules and rulebooks, publish box scores and rankings, hire coaches and refs, buy uniforms and equipment to the limit of our means. We will kiss our weekends goodbye, and maybe more than our weekends. So, what are you going to do? You want your kid to grow up distorted? You want your kid to go through life with no self-esteem, feeling odd and different? Well, as a matter of fact, that is the intention of some religious groups whose very peculiarity is their statement of being different. I couldn't do that, personally. I didn't do it very well with my own. I could still remember how difficult it was always being different, always being odd person out, and I know the gospel says this whole thing is for us, not against us. But, what do you do? How do you find that golden mean? How do you raise your children so that they have a sense of identity which is other than main street culture? How do you get through to them that there are some other concerns than that with which we are bombarded in our culture? I mention that as the whole school year starts and all the activities start, and I do it from the luxurious position of a grandparent, because it's out of my hands. All I have to do is sixteen soccer games on weekends, that's all. Watch the grandkids. © Grand Valley State University �The Gift of Sabbath Richard A. Rhem Page 5 That's easy. And we can laugh about it, but I know if you are a parent, I mention this in order that there might be the beginning of a conversation, if it's no more than talking to yourself, in order that you are not simply pressed into a mold, but you live with some intentionality that comes out of your own vision and value. But, that's one thing. What about the world of technology? Look at all the laborsaving devices that have given us so much more leisure. That's a joke. The laborsaving devices that allow us to work all the time. I sent this very weekend to my associate, Jane Ruiter, a fax which had a letter to be e-mailed to the other side of the country, and I thought to myself, "This is Labor Day weekend. Why am I doing this? One is able to receive e-mails. You know, there are certain number combinations that take hold and signify a whole panorama of things. You say 911, immediately we all pick up on it. What else do you always pick up? What do you see everywhere these days? What other number combinations? 24-7, 24-7, 24-7. There is no ceasing. There is no stop. There is no gap. There is no peace. There is no rest. Susan is working with my son Joseph who has some system going at George Washington Hospital in Washington D.C. where there is a system whereby the doctor can be on the ninth tee and with his little wireless thing check into the computer system of the hospital to get the pulse rate of his patient and prescribe whatever needs to be done and then get on with his golf game. I mean, it's wonderful. You never have to work. You can never simply play. And, of course, I speak about others. I am fortunate in that my work is my hobby and my hobby is my work, so I never work and I am an exception to all of this, as Nancy will bear with this. I'm talking about a real serious issue. It was the intention, the sense of the Hebrew writer of the Jewish tradition that God would have us have a cathedral in time that there would be those moments in which we could be present to the presence. In these past weeks we have been saying, if the world and nature, if we ourselves are the incarnation of that overflowing font that Mystery that is God, then God is in us and God is in the whole creation, and then it takes a moment to stop and to be aware and to allow that sense of the eternal to bathe our souls and mantle our spirits in order that we might be sane, in order that we might be human. I come back to these things because I have preached them before and it doesn't make any difference. It just gets worse. We are just being bamboozled. We are bombarded. We are driven to a kind of obsessive compulsive posture in so much of our lives and that is, according to the Hebrew prophet and according to Jesus, not good for us. God will get along just fine. It is our souls that wither. It is our spirits that grow thirsty and hungry, and we can't figure out what in the world is wrong with us. The gift of Sabbath, finding time, taking time, making time, time to be, time to be in the presence of God, time to be with the family, time to be in community. And this isn’t a bad time, this Sunday 10 o’clock hour. Not a bad time for a serious © Grand Valley State University �The Gift of Sabbath Richard A. Rhem Page 6 appointment full of grace in order to keep our lives on track. It’s a gift. Don’t miss it. © 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 Labor Day Weekend, Pentecost XV Scripture Text Exodus 29:8-11, Mark 2:23-28 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-0-20020901 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-09-01 Title A name given to the resource The Gift of Sabbath 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 September 1, 2002 entitled "The Gift of Sabbath", on the occasion of Labor Day Weekend, Pentecost XV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Exodus 29:8-11, Mark 2:23-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Open Mind https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/41f830b388bd4aaf87e151cdb68d005d.mp3 d0c783a964fa95c72dcc9d3bf69135e0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c16ee22875e13959becc4dabc0831d23.pdf fe0bfc8004bf369ccd00f921d3ea706e PDF Text Text Where in the World is God? From the series: Creation – God’s Ecstasy Scripture: Isaiah 46:1-17; John 14:1-20 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 25, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon The Reading From the Present: In an excerpt from Barbara Brown Taylor's The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion, she contrasts the classical image of God with a new vision which she brings to expression in such an eloquent and poetic fashion: When I am dreaming quantum dreams, the picture I see is more like that web of relationships - an infinite web, flung across the vastness of space like a luminous net. It is made of energy, not thread. As I look, I can see light moving through it like a pulse moving through veins. I know the light is an illusion, since what I am seeing moves faster than light, but what I see out there is no different from what I feel inside. There is a living hum that might be coming from my neurons but might just as well be coming from the furnace of the stars. When I look up at them there is a small commotion in my bones, as the ashes of dead stars that house my marrow rise up like metal filings toward the magnet of their living kin. Where is God in this picture? All over the place. Up there. Inside my skin and out. God is the web, the energy, the space, the light - not captured in them, as if any of those concepts were more real than what unites them, but revealed in that singular, vast net of relationship that animates everything that is. As I suggested a moment ago, the reading from Isaiah, the 46th chapter, parodies the gods of Babylon. Babylon was in trouble and in that historical context, there were rumblings and the foundations were shaking. The people of Israel in captivity in Babylon had begun to doubt their own God and had begun to think that the gods of Babylon were, after all, God, because that God had won the battle. But now that God was on shaky ground because Babylon was besieged by Persia, and so the Hebrew prophet called the people of Israel to Judah to remember their God. In was in this context that the first chapter of Genesis was written, that poem of creation. The Hebrew prophets were arousing the people to © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 2 remember their God, and to remember their God as the God who spoke and called all things into being. With a bit of ridicule over against the Babylonian gods, that had to be loaded on beasts of burden and carried out of town for safety, the writer suggests that the eternal God, the God of Israel, was one who does not need to be carried or saved, but one who carries and saves. In the rumbling of the foundations, such as a time like that, is a time to think about how we speak of God and where to find God in this world. I have been trying to do that in these last weeks, two series of sermons which really have melded into one series, as it were, "The Spiritual Life, Re-imagining Religion," and then "Creation as God's Ecstasy," but, really one series which was about how we speak of God in our day, how we image, how we envision God in a world whose world-view has become so drastically different than anything ever conceived of in the founding documents of our own religious faith, our own Judeo-Christian tradition. So, we have lived with those old stories and that old conceptuality, but as a matter of fact, the whole world has changed on us, the whole reality of which we are a part creates for us an entirely different picture. In such a world, our world, where in the world is God? And how do I speak of God? The first Sunday in October, philosopher- process theologian David Ray Griffin will be with us and I have been nicking away at this in order to prepare somewhat for him, for he has attempted to express God in terms of the reality of this world as we have come to know it through the natural sciences. His last book, Reenchantment without Supernaturalism, is a title from which I quoted some weeks ago. Reenchantment of the world, seeing the world with the light and charm and mystery and grace, but without that classical supernatural, theistic conception of a God "out there" who occasionally tweaks the process or interrupts or intervenes. Rather, a God who is a part of the process. That's where the term process theology comes from, God is not apart from but a part of that very process, the creative center, the energy that moves through, and, as Barbara Brown Taylor in the piece I read suggests in such poetic fashion, the God who is everywhere, the infinite one who is in us and through us and around us. But, how do we speak of that God? Let me say a word about the nature of a religious community such as we are. We are a cultural linguistic community. That means that we are a community that has a lot of relationships and interrelationships, and we have a language. We are a linguistic community so that there are certain words, there are certain symbols, there are certain images, there are certain actions, there are rituals, there are prayers, there are hymns, all of which are familiar and common to us, and when we hear those or speak those or sing those, something is triggered deeply within us and we know that we have been to church. Our emotions are stirred and we feel again connected. We are a cultural religious community. © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 3 If you want to go to the big picture, we are a part of the Christian community. But, then you could have Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Protestant, and those are all sub-sets of that large picture. As far as the Protestant Church is concerned, there are sub-sets again. If you were raised a fundamentalist, certain things will trigger for you. If you were raised in a liberal community, other things will trigger for you. The point is this: religion formed into community is a human creative construct. It didn't fall out of heaven. It is the result of some founding vision that found expression, finally, in a community that was knit together by certain language, ritual, action, attitudes, a way of being. And so, a religious community is a community which is bound together by those things that mark it out and that touch it deeply. One community to another will differ. Someone has said that the difficulty of moving from one denomination to another is that you don't get the inside jokes. That's really true. There are certain things that happen that make us feel, okay, "I'm home. This is my family." The philosopher, George Santayana, made a profound statement when he wrote, "Ultimate insights (that is when I really see something, when I see through, when I really get it) have a tendency to undermine the orthodox approaches by which they have been reached." Now, think with me for a moment. Don't go off drifting and dreaming. This is important. Peter told me the last ten minutes of this sermon are terribly important, and I said that's only because the first ten minutes are even more important. Santayana said ultimate insights, when you really see it, undermine the orthodox method by which you arrive there. When you climb up the ladder and suddenly the heavens open up, you don't need the ladder anymore, at least if you scrambled off onto the roof. There is no other way to get that vision than through the hard work of that orthodox process, catechisms and creeds and confessions and hymns and worship and prayer and Bible study and all of that. And then one day everything comes into focus and you see the storybook of the Bible, you see all of the confessionals, the catechisms, you see all of the rituals, the sacraments as the means that brought you finally to say, "Oh, I see! Wow!" Santayana said to see that tends to undermine the orthodox way by which you came, because you recognize the relative nature of that way, you recognize that it was a humanly constructed way that finally brought you to see. He also says that when that happens to you, you pull the ladder up with you because you don't want to cheat anybody else. You pull that ladder up into your private little heaven into that grand vision because you have no right to deprive someone else of that same ladder, that same orthodox process. Well, I have flown in the face of Santayana because I have kept the ladder in place and I have pointed you to that ladder and I have said that is a good and relative and provisional and transitional instrument. It is not ultimate. It is not absolute. It is the way by which we got at the point where we could see the big vision. I have done that because I believe, not to do that, is to be unfair to you because you are © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 4 bright enough and curious enough and you live in this world with your face ground into human experience deeply enough to where you have to know that the world-view with which you operate Monday through Saturday is a world-view, a reality, an understanding of all that is that needs to find a new way to say God. Where in the world is God in this vast cosmos with its amazing story? How do you speak of God in a fifteen-billion-year process where God is the energy, where God is the creative interaction, where God is the creative Spirit moving in a stream of being that has been unfolding and continues to be unfolding? In that kind of conception, how do you speak of God? That is what we have been trying to do. When you come to see that your way is relative, when you see the big vision that undermines the orthodoxy by which you got there, then what happens often is people say, "Well, it's just an illusion." Freud said that. Religion is just an illusion and one becomes a purely secular person. That's one possibility. But there is another possibility, and that is what we are about here, and that is with passion to seek to find fresh expression in order that this cosmos, of which we are a part and of which we know more and more, may be for us that stage where constantly, continually we experience the reality of God, where our spiritual life is in tune and resonates with the rest of the reality, the web of being into which we are woven. That is what I suggest to you is the grand possibility - to find a way to speak of God in light of everything else we know. Barbara Brown Taylor does that better than almost anybody I have found, in poetic fashion to point to the web of reality into which our lives are woven, we who are the children of the stars. Let me remind you again of what I have been hammering away at - creation is the garment of God, this Infinite Mystery that overflows, and creation becomes the finite incarnation of the mystery, that source of life, that source of being that is beyond us, yet before which our lives are lived, that Infinite Mystery whose overflowing results in cosmic reality, that cosmic reality, Big Bang cooling, expansion, life, consciousness, human. Here we are, a part of that overflow of the Infinite Mystery, the finite incarnation of that Infinite Mystery. In our own Christian faith, the classic center is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the word, the word became flesh, no one has ever seen God, the only son in the bosom of the father, he has made God known. Jesus Christ the incarnation of the eternal God. The word in the beginning becoming flesh, revealing that Infinite Mystery. An incarnate finitude that reveals the Infinite Mystery. Then the Church went on to say that is once-for-all, the one supreme revelation. Wrong. That one instance is paradigmatic. It is the model. Jesus is the exemplar of what is true everywhere. The whole creation and everything human is the reflection of that Infinite Mystery that has found concretion. © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 5 In John 14, they say to Jesus, "Show us the father," and Jesus says, "Have I been with you so long you still don't get it? If you have seen me, you have seen the father." The Infinite Mystery incarnate in the face, the exegesis of the Infinite Mystery. And not only Jesus, but then in the human. This is where the whole process has come. We see it in Jesus, but we can make it universal, for that whole unfolding drama has come to the point where God is incarnate in the like of us, and experienced, then, in community. There's mystical language in that 14th chapter. “I in you, you in me, God in me, I in God.” I don't understand that, but it seems to me the author was trying to say that the eternal intention became human, the Infinite Mystery became finite concretion and there - we see the Mystery, but we experience that we are the emanation of that Mystery. We are finitude in touch with that infinity. We, finite creatures, have a sense now of that Mystery. God is in that process and the process continues to unwind, and I had to say to you last week the toughest thing a pastor can say, because a great motivation of your religious experience is to find safety when you are afraid and security when you are alarmed and comfort when you are grieved and answers when you have questions. I had to say to you it is a self-creating universe and it goes on. It is a pitiless universe. It is a pitiless universe. There is no one to tweak it so that it works out well for you. There is no one to keep it from raining on your parade. I'm sorry. Does that mean, then, that you have to live without the experience of God? O my God, no! For the world is shot through with God. I suggested to you last week that, in your need, my arms will be the arms of God. In your grief, my tears will be God weeping with you. My forgiveness will be God's grace to you, and vice versa. You may say, "Well that's just human. I want something more than human." You can't have anything more than human because the human is divine. God has become incarnate in human flesh and when you feel human arms, when you see human tears, when you experience human grace, you are experiencing all of the God that you will ever have. But, what about when you sit under a tree and contemplate a babbling brook? What about when you see lofty mountain grandeur? What about when you stand before the starry heavens or the setting sun? O, of course, of course, because it's all shot through with God. It is the garment of God. It is the immediacy of God. In the whole realm of the natural world, there is nothing supernatural about it. It is the natural world with all of its wonder that is so wonderful, that is so pregnant with divinity which is the place where we live, where we can experience in human relationship, in community experience and alone, contemplating the evening star. © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 6 Dear God, do you see? It is not that I take something away from you. What I take away from you is a broken symbol system and you can have it back with a second naiveté, if you give it up first of all and then you experience God in the width and breadth and height and depth of the human experience. And to see that is to live with wonder. In the Grand Haven Tribune, this sermon was entitled, "The Gift of Wonder," because that is what I thought I was going to call it when I was wondering about it. But it is the same thing. "Where in the World is God?" The gift of wonder is to know that God is shot through the whole of my experience, every moment freighted with eternity. There is no denial here. God is present even in the darkness. As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of Tuesdays With Morrie. Remember Mitch Albom's story about his old professor, Morrie Schwartz, who died with Lou Gehrig's disease by stages, who chronicled the gradual loss of his powers, the gradual draining away of his human existence? And before he died, Morrie had his own funeral. He had his own funeral with his own friends to celebrate his life. I said to my friend, Lenora Ridder, last night, "Wouldn't Bud have loved his funeral?" Why do we wait until a person is dead to celebrate life, human relationships, love, grace? Dear God, you see when I get a sense of that, if that's the way things are, well then I live with gratitude. Then I live with reverence before the wonder of it all. Then I live with humility, because then I know all is grace. My Dad never let me use the word luck because he believed in the sovereign God whose providence ruled over all, so I could never as a kid be lucky. But, I'm lucky. I am lucky. And so are you. And there are a lot of people that aren't so lucky. This pitiless universe grinds on its way, friends. It wavers not to the left nor to the right. The River of Being unfolds inexorably. But, I've been so lucky. Maybe I can do something for somebody that has not been so lucky. And maybe I can live with all the vitality of that wonder that washes over me so that I can be a source of life and light. Ah - don't you sense it? Don't you sense the wonder of it, how big it is, how beautiful, how filled with limitless potential? No, my religion is a human-created construct, it is relative, it is the ladder by which I have finally been able to say, "I see!" But then religion is so important in order for me to continue as a human being to live a spiritual life, knowing in my finitude that I am a part of the Infinite Mystery. That's really something. Really amazing. And that's really enough. References: Barbara Brown Taylor. The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion. Cowley Publications, 2000. © 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 XIV Series Creation: God's Ecstasy Scripture Text Isaiah 46:1-7, John 14: 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-0-20020825 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-25 Title A name given to the resource Where in the World is God? 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 25, 2002 entitled "Where in the World is God?", as part of the series "Creation: God's Ecstasy", on the occasion of Pentecost XIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 46:1-7, John 14: 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/23bf80c3a82938490b9b7a24d76047a2.mp3 f15449eecc2b240a0bc7af3c0a3ae477 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d66c40aced804a74961170240adc57d.pdf 561cdae4dfcfa06cb5430d2f926d4b19 PDF Text Text The Garment of God From the series: Creation – God’s Ecstasy Text: Genesis 1:24-31; Psalm 8; John 1:1-5, 14-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 18, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon Before we begin the Reading From the Present, let me introduce the author to you. She is Beatrice Bruteau, an author I do not know. Someone gave me her book, which happens now and again, and it went on that tall stack, “To be read.” Then I was pursuing things and thinking about what I would be preaching, and for some reason, I picked up that book and found out that it was precisely what the preacher ordered. Bruteau understands the things I have been contemplating. Beatrice Bruteau is a contemplative and co-founder of Schola Contemplationis, an international network of contemplatives. The Roman Catholic tradition does that a lot better than the Protestants. The whole contemplative tradition in the Roman Catholic Church is very strong. Bruteau was part of the founding of the American Teilhard de Chardin Association and founded the Teilhard Research Institute at Fordham University. Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit scholar, worked in the science field and had a fascinating conception of nature, of reality as moving toward an omega point. Fordham is a great Catholic university where scholars have done a great deal of work in spiritual formation and the mystical tradition. Beatrice Bruteau is also a scientist and handles with great facility chemistry, biology, and physics as they play into cosmology. She lays open the universe, the cosmos as it is understood scientifically in our day, but doing so as a contemplative, as one who follows exercises and disciplines which enable one to be in communion with that transcendent reality, that mystery we call God. In short, she is a scientist who is also deeply spiritual, and her pursuit of science is really to have a better understanding of natural reality in order that her spiritual life be consistent with her understanding of nature and vice versa. Beatrice Bruteau’s book God’s Ecstasy provides us the theme for these summer messages. She speaks about the nature of reality in a way that a spiritual person can pray and contemplate. At the end of her book, she addresses the contemplative because, all the talk about the cosmos, about science is really so that one may pray, that one may speak of God in a significant and meaningful © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 2   way. (That is true here, also, in case you didn’t know it.) In this paragraph, she addresses the contemplative: So, what now in light of this cosmic miracle, this cosmic drama that I have been talking about, what about the contemplative? Does the contemplative have some special role? I say to the contemplative, “Feel at home in the universe. Study it. Try to understand at least some of its innumerable marvels, including ourselves who are more and more capable of this understanding. Marvel at that. Rejoice in the cosmos. In spite of all its hurtful ways, look at what it has done, is doing, is capable of doing. If you can see the God you love as present in, even as, this world, then feel that union and rejoice at that. And be active in it. Contribute to it, participate in the building, in the artwork, in the healing, in the understanding. This is where reality is. You yourself are both a member of the finite and a member of the infinite. You are a participant in the trinitarian life cycle, for you are doing the incarnating and the creating and the realizing and the rejoicing. God’s ecstasy creates the world and the world’s ecstasy realizes God, and you are right in the midst of it all.” You can read that again this afternoon, but let’s see if I can make some sense of it for just a moment. The sermon is entitled “The Garment of God,” and my intention is to point to the natural world, the universe, as the garment of God. You will remember that we are talking about all of this because what we want to try to do is to be able to speak of God in a meaningful way in the light of everything else we know about our world. Too often, tragically, the conflict between science and religion caused science, in part, pridefully to say, “We don’t need the hypothesis of God.” And it caused fearful religionists defensively to say, “That science can’t be true.” So you get an impasse and there has been a conflict. The first Sunday in October, David Ray Griffin is coming, and he is a process theologian, a process philosopher, who is doing very much what the author of the morning is doing. His latest book is Reenchantment without Supernaturalism. His book before that, Religion and Scientific Naturalism, is an attempt to deal with the world and its “stuff” as we know it today, and translate our understanding of God in such a way that there is not dissonance between our understanding of the world and our image and imagination of God. And so, in Griffin and in Bruteau, the world is understood not as being static, something simply there, but rather as process, something underway. It is an unfolding drama which involves matter, beginning, they tell us, with an infinitesimal spark or speck of explosion, and an expanding universe has been a consequence of that initial “Big Bang.” This universe, which is expanding as we speak, has eventuated not simply in matter, but also in people like us who are matter, flesh, but who have minds and spirits as well. This cosmic process has moved to a point where the conscious human is aware and able to reflect back on the process and to conceive of an infinite mystery that becomes incarnate in the finitude of the universe. The © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 3   universe has moved to a point of consciousness and awareness where it is able in its finitude to have a sense of the infinite. So the loop is closed, as it were. From that Infinite Mystery we call God, the ground of everything, being flows out, and the being that flows out is incarnate in cosmic reality. The cosmic reality in us becomes conscious so that we are able to look back to our source, and to worship, to be moved, and to offer alleluias to that Infinite Mystery. The world, then, is the garment of God, the incarnation of God. Ecstasy, God’s ecstasy. Ecstasy comes from the Greek preposition ek, which means “out of,” and statis, and when you are ecstatic, you are out of yourself. We speak of people in ecstasy as being beside themselves. Well, God is beside God’s self in ecstatic flow in a world which is matter, a cosmic reality which is in process—not a thing, not a static being, but an event—a happening that has eventuated in us who say, “Oh, a happening! Hallelujah!” I love the prologue of John’s gospel. That is why I go back to it again and again. “In the beginning was the word....” I like to translate that as “In the beginning was the intention.” I’m not claiming this morning that the biblical writers had the sense of this that David Ray Griffin or Beatrice Bruteau have, but something’s going on in that writer. “In the beginning is the intention and the intention is with God.” Or, let me say, if we don’t quibble too much about terminology, that Infinite Mystery had an intention which flowed out in the form of cosmic reality, and in the midst of that process, that intention became flesh, human. In classical Christianity, we have said that the word became flesh, meaning Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ becomes the revelation of God the Father, and we have made that a unique, once-for-all kind of event. But what if we move beyond that? What if we sense behind that a deeper genius, an insight, an intuition that the intention of the Infinite Mystery which becomes flesh in Jesus finds Jesus not once-for-all, but as the paradigm or the model of that which is true of the whole process? What if the intention becomes cosmic reality and in the human becomes conscious, able to pray and to praise? In verse fourteen, “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And then we have the eighteenth verse: “No one has ever seen God.” No one has ever seen the Infinite Mystery but the only son, the one that became flesh and revealed this God. Someone translated that in a marvelous fashion, particularly if you are one of the rather to be pitied people who ever went to seminary. What you do in seminary is take a text and learn how to exegete a text. Exegesis is a particular disease of people who work with the Bible. Exegesis is how you open a text, interpret a text. Someone marvelously translated the eighteenth verse as this eternal, this only son exegeted the father. Isn’t that beautiful? As though Jesus is the exegesis of God. The Infinite Mystery becomes manifest in the exegesis of the human. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 4   I wonder about the Hebrew poet who penned Psalm 8: “When I consider the heavens, the moon and the stars, what am I?” The writer knows, and we know: a speck of cosmic dust that has breath and mind and consciousness and is able to contemplate the moon and the stars and the heavens and is able to wonder and to sing “Alleluia.” But then he says, “You have made us,” not as the old translation has it, “a little less than the angels.” Someone translated it that way because they didn’t dare say what it really says: “You have made us a little less than God.” I suspect that was a reflection of Genesis, the first chapter, which speaks about the creation of the human, the male and the female, in the image of God, the likeness of God. The ancient writers are not dealing with cosmology as we know it. They have not a clue as to the cosmic reality which is unfolded before our eyes through all of the sciences. But wasn’t there some deep intuition of that close connection between the Infinite Mystery and the finite creature bearing the image of God? Wasn’t there an awareness and consciousness that as they looked into each other’s eyes, they were experiencing God? In our human experience, we have personified God as a father, or as a mother, a mother hen gathering her chicks, or a nursing mother who would never forsake her child. We have learned in our human relationships, we have intuited, we suspect that that Infinite Mystery is the source of all and the expression of that which is the highest and the best of our own human experience. And so the world, the cosmos, is the garment of God, the finite incarnation of that Infinite Mystery, an incarnation that has become conscious in the human who is able to pray and to praise and to be in communion with the source of all being in contemplation. Beatrice Bruteau has another book which I have never seen, but I smiled as I read the title. I suspect what she says in that book entitled Radical Optimism. Because as the Infinite Mystery in ecstasy flows into being, and that being becomes conscious and in communion again with the Infinite Mystery, who knows where it is going? Who knows what is yet before us in the unfolding drama? I have to say this: We can no longer sit passively by as spectators, for we have become actors, indeed co-creators, and we have it in our capacity to make heaven on earth or let it all go to hell. We have it in our capacity to make it a humane cosmos or to allow the horror of which we also are capable to run loose over the earth. Ah! What an amazing way to live—with wonder and awe before this miracle unfolding. But you say, “What I really want is that intimate relationship with God. What I really want is that immediate intervention of God the Father.” I understand that. That is a totally natural desire and yearning, and it is probably much of the source from which religion arises. But you can’t have it, because that is not the way the world is. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 5   If we are honest about our human experience, as much as we wish we had that personal immediacy and a God who now and again would tweak and twist and arrange, we know we are part of a self-creating universe. That is the most difficult thing as a pastor I have to say to you, my people, because I take away from you then that which is dearest and most desired. Do I leave you desolate? No. Because if you have my arms, you have God’s arms. If you have my tears, God weeps with you. If you experience grace and forgiveness from me, that’s a cosmic experience, and of course, I receive the same from you. Does that mean, then, that all simply is human? No. The human is divine, the finite incarnation of the Infinite Mystery. After all, God is a speculative idea, friends. It is a philosophical idea. God is a word. It is a label. But, flesh, flesh and blood, arms, compassion, human compassion, human love and care, all this is the incarnation of God. It is not to say that’s just human. It is not, and you ought not to say, “You’re not enough.” Because I’m all you have. But I’m God, and you are God. We are God to one another. We are the flesh and blood of God. We are the incarnation of God, and as the future unfolds, that Infinite Mystery with the lure of love beckons us to love, because God is love and the one who dwells in love, dwells in God, and God dwells in that one. To love one another is to make heaven on earth, and it is wonderful. It is amazing, and when you have loving human arms around you, there is nothing you cannot go through. References: Bruteau, Beatrice. God’s Ecstasy, the Creation of a Self-Creating World. New York, NY: 1997. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIII Series Creation: God's Ecstasy Scripture Text Genesis 1:24-31, Psalm 8, John 1:1-5, 14-18, Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Beatrice Bruteau, God's Ecstasy, the Creation of a Self-Creating World, 1997. 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-0-20020818 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-18 Title A name given to the resource The Garment of God 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 18, 2002 entitled "The Garment of God", as part of the series "Creation: God's Ecstasy", on the occasion of Pentecost XIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:24-31, Psalm 8, John 1:1-5, 14-18, . Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f19af46a2657853b0973785495faf2ad.mp3 041a1fce9d2d02f3618913e2fefc1ce8 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 Creation: God's Ecstasy Scripture Text John 1:1, 14, 4:16 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References David Griffin, A Process Philosophy of Religion, 2001. 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-0-20020811 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-11 Title A name given to the resource The Self-Creating Universe and the Problem of Good 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 August 11, 2002 entitled "The Self-Creating Universe and the Problem of Good", as part of the series "Creation: God's Ecstasy", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 1:1, 14, 4:16. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d50ad709ca0b20bb1befd2f1e4aec212.mp3 3b35367fdc7222d6c20cbd5c228e41c9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24b1463cffbd75c2802d725667441ab6.pdf a64babc4fe998529e3a523e825a13713 PDF Text Text   Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism Text: Genesis 1:1-23; Revelation 21:1-7 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 4, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon The Reading From the Present comes from the book Reenchantment without Supernaturalism by David Ray Griffin, and that title of the book is the title to this sermon. David Ray Griffin is a philosopher-theologian who concerns himself with finding a way to express the faith, to experience God in a world which has become disenchanted. He quotes the German scholar Max Weber, who says that it is modern thought that has disenchanted the world. The more we know of all of the science and technology, the more we discover, the more we understand, the less mystery and the less magic there is— the less enchantment there is. I have been saying to you that I would love to create a new sense of enchantment for you in your spiritual life experience. The word “disenchantment” is cited by David Ray Griffin, although now I find it popping up all over the place. Griffin says that the consequence of that disenchantment is that the world is no longer believed to contain any inherent meaning or normative values around which human beings should orient their lives. That is serious. There has been a reaction to that, and Griffin says the majority of those who have reacted say that the mistake was to leave the supernatural God, the Creator, who was the foundation of morality. But David Ray Griffin disagrees and says: My title, Reenchantment without Supernaturalism, signals that this is not my view. Completely rejecting supernaturalism, understood as the belief in the possibility of occasional interruptions of the world’s most fundamental causal order, I present a world-view that, although saturated with values, is fully natural. This world-view does involve a form of theism, but it is a fully naturalistic theism, according to which divine influence is a natural dimension of the world’s most fundamental causal order, never an interruption thereof. In so many words, David Ray Griffin is trying to speak of God as one who is immanent in the process of reality of which we are all a part, and not a God external to reality who now and again dips in, pulling a string or shifting a gear or tweaking that natural process. He wants us to have a vision, an understanding of the totality of reality, which is a naturally moving event, an ongoing event, laced © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 2   through with the mystery of God. But this is not the God of the old tradition who snapped his fingers and let it all come into being, guiding it providentially through the whole process to an end that God had set. That conception, that old orthodox conception, is one that has run aground on the shoals of modern knowledge. Consequently, we have a world that is in large measure, in terms at least of the leading intellectual voices, a world that is devoid of God, and so devoid of mystery—devoid of wonder. Griffin’s intention is to recapture that which the old system was able to communicate, but in terms of a story that is resonant with our present human experience. So I invite you to think together with me about it, to see where we are. Although it seems that science has laid bare the reality of which we are a part, the scientists say the more we know the more the mystery grows, and the gap between what we know over against what we don’t know is tremendous. But scientists continue to look and to study and to uncover, and it is a dramatic process. In the process information has trickled down and the world has become, in many respects and for many people, disenchanted. It becomes a mechanism, a machine. It is bloodless, spiritless. The consequence of the scientific method and the empirical method and the pursuit of the natural sciences is that, in some quarters and with some leading voices, the conclusion has been reached that matter is all there is; there is nothing more. There is no such thing as spirit. There is a naturalism that is materialism, which is atheism in so much of the modern world as a consequence of modern thought, and I think Max Weber probably was right in his observation. His life stretched into the twentieth century and he was a towering scholar. He looked at the whole modern experiment and said it had left us with a disenchanted world. Science is powerful because it produces results. It sends airplanes into the sky and rockets into outer space and men to the moon. That compelling power makes the one who would speak of spirit or religion or the spiritual life tremble in their boots before the amazing accomplishments of the sciences. Of course, to deny spirit, to deny a sacred dimension to reality is not going to work very long, because we are people who desire meaning. We are more than the physical body that houses us, and so there has been reaction. One of the phenomena of the last century is the rise of Pentecostalism. In his book Fire from Heaven, Harvey Cox documents the global expression of Pentecostalism, which is the immediate experience of God, God the Holy Spirit, an immediate experience of the holy. If you watch any late-night television, you will see on occasion some Pentecostal services where there are thousands and thousands of people. Hands are raised, people come forward, and they are slain in the Spirit. If I would describe it a bit unkindly, I would call it an emotional orgy. But, as a matter of fact, it is a spiritual, emotional fix, and it is a global © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 3   phenomenon. It simply points to the fact that the human animal is more than simply a physical body. The other reaction that we are perhaps more familiar with is Fundamentalism, which is a militant mind that would reverse everything to a former paradigm, to a former understanding. The old way. Of course, you cannot go home, but this militant Fundamentalism is in reaction to the myth of science that claims that there is nothing beyond what you can touch and taste and handle. The reaction to that has become violent in our day. Thus, there is Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism. The problem with the old tradition and with Fundamentalism is the literalization of our biblical stories. It was appropriate that the scripture lesson was read by the choral readers this morning. There was a touch of theatre. There was a little bit of drama, which points to the fact that Genesis 1 is a poem, and it is a myth of origins. That beautiful picture of the city of God and the union of heaven and earth in Revelation, again, is a marvelous image. The way it was read enables us to sense that there is something more going on here beyond a literal description of reality. Let me try a little experiment this morning. Let’s think of the whole cosmic process of billions of years. Let us think of it as a river of being unfolding, the River of Being unfolding. If you go down to the end of Washington Street in Grand Haven, you can see a map of the Grand River with its various tributaries winding their way here and flowing out into Lake Michigan. Let us just think about the Grand River as the River of Being. As the river nears Grand Haven, the human species arises. The human being becomes conscious, self-conscious, conscious of the other; community grows; the mind develops. Let’s picture that budding human phenomenon on a houseboat on the Grand River, plopped right there in the middle of the river. They don’t know how they got there. They have no sense at all of that river on which they have streamed. They don’t know where they are going, either. The analogy breaks down with the Grand River, because you know the Grand River empties out into Lake Michigan. But the River of Being is being formed as we move on. The human project is right on the threshold of the unfolding drama, and we don’t know where it’s going. But people need to have a sense, a sense of where their houseboat came from and where it is going. And so people create stories, stories of origin and stories of ultimate destiny. The Genesis story is such a myth. Where did we come from? Why are things the way they are? What does it mean? That vision of Revelation—where is it all going to end? What is it going to be? Whence have I come, whither am I going, what does it mean in the meantime? Those are the kind of stories that you have in Genesis. They are the kind of stories you have in the Bible. They are the kind of stories you have in every religious expression of humankind and in every circumstance and every geographical location. They are the same questions. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Ultimate questions. Because we’re human. Because we wonder about that. How did it begin? Where is it going? What does it mean? The River of Being continues to unfold. Along the way, the human being continues to think, to experience. He or she gains some knowledge and has a beginning sense of history. One day the mechanically minded among them develops a helicopter, and they go up and trace that river, study the course over which they have come. It’s fifteen billion years of river, and they say, “O, my God! Look at the Big Bang! Look at the billions of years it took for this meandering stream to reach this point. Look at what we are a part of and where are we going!” Well, we can make some projections; we can speculate. But the scientific mind begins to take over and experiment. Pretty soon we have the scientific method, which I described a moment ago, with testing and inductive reasoning. In the midst of the human story we develop a very potent myth that this is all there is. And we cannot deny the stuff on which science has based this information. That knowledge is hard knowledge, although it continues to be adjusted. Scientists continue to refute themselves in order to find a better understanding. But why would we fight knowledge? Isn’t it ridiculous that there is a Fundamentalist Christianity that is heralding Creationism in the twenty-first century? Isn’t it interesting that there is a more sophisticated stealth bomber approach with this Intelligent Design idea, trying to get God back into the equation? So what is it we need? And where are we? Well, let me suggest that the Genesis account of creation is still profound. I can read it and understand it and appreciate it. I understand the profound insights that were coming to expression there, and I can understand the longing for that holy city and the union of heaven and earth. Those are images and they continue to be fruitful images. They continue to inform us in the River of Being where we are traveling together in our particular little houseboat. But don’t you think that it would be better if we could find a way to incorporate all that the sciences lay bare for us, all of that knowledge, with a sense of the holy and the sacred woven through it? Wouldn’t it be better if our River of Being was not simply matter, not pure materialism as opposed to any God-presence, so that it does not lead to atheism, but rather to an understanding of God in terms of the human experience which is common to us all in our day? Wouldn’t it be better if we embraced a naturalism without supernaturalism, a reenchantment without supernaturalism, a God-presence without the engineer tweaking things from above, dipping in here and there? I did mean to tell you about my friend Bud who is critically ill, but still with us. Last evening was a bit difficult and so I was called in. He has not yet awakened, and the day before the family gathered around him. One of his daughters is an ordained pastor. She put together a beautiful healing service, just for the family. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 5   They read scripture and said prayers and they anointed Bud with oil, oil for healing. Does that work? Yes, I think it works. Can it heal? Yes, I think it can heal. Is there something miraculous about that? No, not really. But the love and the care of those who are concretely present with a ritual involving anointing and touch will trigger whatever is possible to be triggered in terms of the healing potential of that body. If you go into the room, you will find computers of every sort— banks of them. Medical science can tell you everything about the blood, liver function, kidney function, the dialysis process, the breathing tube. They can tell you everything about neurological function, blood pressure, temperature, all of that. It is amazing. You want to talk miracles, that is a miracle. And I’m thankful for every one of those machines, every one of those tubes and wires, and every one of those competent medical personnel who can calibrate it all in order to sustain life. But when you know all the statistics, when you know everything about that body that is lying there, you still don’t know anything about the human being. I could always get Bud to laugh, particularly when I would talk a little Dutch to him. So I shouted a little Dutch in his ear, and I got just a little flicker of the lip, a little recognition, a little communication. That is so much more than all of the statistical data that you could offer me. Yet there is no conflict whatsoever. For when science has done everything it can do, and I want it to do everything it can do and in the best possible way, then it still has not answered the question of who are we, because that’s a human question. That’s a spiritual question. That is the transcendent dimension that hovers over the tapestry of the natural connections and causal relationships and all of the processes that make up what we call nature. What we need is a new story. I can still preach from Genesis meaningfully because I understand what they were getting at, and it was a profound word. But when you are in the River of Being, and Being continues to unfold, and you have just begun through your intellectual capacity to understand something of the past, you realize that you are the consciousness of the process now, and you are the voice of this process. It is unfolding before your very eyes, and your stories of origin and ultimate destiny were told as tales way back there. Look where you are now. Are you going to absolutize an ancient story that was profound, a profound myth with deep understanding? Are you going to say that it has to be literalized and it has to be the template over which I look at my world today? No. That story isn’t sacred. It’s marvelous! There has never been Eden; there has never been Paradise. There has never been a moment of perfection from which we “fell.” The story, according to everything we can learn and know, is the story of emergence, of spirit, spirit seeking to soar while still anchored in the mire. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Human beings—what marvelous creatures we are! Look what we can do. Look what we can create. Look at the beauty we can create. Look at the love we can make. Look at the joy. Look at all of the wonder of the world, the human world, and all of the hell we create. We are emerging creatures full of ambiguity, torn in two directions, knowing the life of the spirit, still very much of the flesh, fleshly. I need a story, a new story that will honor the integrity of creation and that process, that tapestry into which our lives are woven. I need a story with all of life’s meaning and all of its wonder and beauty, but a story that sees it all with enchanted eyes, knowing that there is more than meets the eye, knowing that it is all permeated with God-presence, with the Creator Spirit, the spirit that seeks to come alive in us. For you see, the Christian story at its heart is the story of incarnation, that God became human. In the beginning was the word, God spoke the word, creation came forth. In the beginning was the word and the word was God, and the word became flesh. The word became human. In the River of Being unfolding at some point, God became human and the human became the vehicle of divinity, the voice, the soul, the spirit, the instrument through which the whole process is made divine by the God who is present, not apart from it. Thank God for the richness of all we know and the mystery that beckons us still, and in the meantime, that sense of community in which we experience life together, enchanted. Griffin, David Ray. Reenchantment without Supernaturalism— A Process Philosophy of Religion. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2001. 140 © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XI Scripture Text Creation: God's Ecstasy, David Ray Griffin 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-0-20020804 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-04 Title A name given to the resource Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism 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 4, 2002 entitled "Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism", on the occasion of Pentecost XI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Creation: God's Ecstasy, David Ray Griffin. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/309db20aabb6bda9ec2220be38ba38dc.mp3 ed6c5d0e1a7cf60432dce3f18f8f7d2d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/26d4de16cf31e6bb1ee11ee50c2e5f36.pdf c35dd0d62fbf3d8fb839e3e65e2b761e PDF Text Text Prayer With Eyes Wide Open From the series: Spritiual Life – Religion Re-Imagined Text: Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 28, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon The Reading From the Present comes from Thomas Moore’s recent book, The Soul’s Religion. It is actually a quote that he gives us from a poet, Wallace Stevens. I liked it because I thought it had something to say about the breadth of experience of the spiritual life about which we have been thinking together. Wallace Stevens writes this in his Journal, 1902: Last night I spent an hour in the dark transept of St. Patrick’s Cathedral where I go now and then in my more lonely moods. An old argument with me is that the true religious force in the world is not the Church, but the world itself. The mysterious callings of nature and our responses. What incessant murmurs fill that ever laboring, tireless church. But, today in my walk, I thought that, after all, there’s no conflict of format, but rather a contrast. In the cathedral I felt one presence, on the highway I felt another. Two different deities present themselves, and though I have only a cloudy vision of either, yet I now feel the distinction between them. The priest in me worships one God at one shrine; the poet another God at another shrine. The priest worshiped mercy and love, the poet beauty and might. In the shadows of the church, I could hear the prayers of men and women. In the shadows of the trees, nothing mingled with divinity. As I sat dreaming with the congregation, I felt how the glittering altar works on my senses, stimulating and consoling them, and as I went tramping through the fields and woods, I beheld every leaf and blade of grass revealing or rather betokening the invisible. Sometimes the things that we talk about here together stimulate other thoughts, and we have been talking about religion and spirituality these weeks—how religion is the structure through which our spiritual lives express themselves, whether for good or for ill. Someone gave me a quote from the AA community. It goes like this: “Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there.” As is often true, AA has a lot of wisdom. But our religious life does, in many ways, determine the nature or the degree to which our © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 2   spiritual life is really in tune and in touch with where we are and where we are living. This morning we consider “Praying With Eyes Wide Open.” Prayer is certainly the center of our religious experience. Prayer is the heart and center of our spiritual life. To pray is to be human, to be religious, to be spiritual. Without prayer, there is a barrenness that certainly bespeaks a sickness of soul. Prayer comes in many forms and takes many shapes, probably as many as there are those of us who pray. Following the cue of Thomas Moore, who did some autobiographical writing in his book, I have shared with you some of my own autobiographical experience, and when I think about prayer, I think of my own story. I have had such a difficult time with prayer. I have been a terrible model of prayer. I have never successfully had a devotional life, and I confess that before you, my people. That is not the fault of my childhood, because my childhood was saturated in prayer. Three meals a day began and concluded with prayer. The day did not end without the offering of a prayer. In my youth, I was involved in all kinds of prayer groups. If I had been young these days, I would have been one of those kids gathered around the flagpole on the schoolyard. Because of my ambiguous feelings about that whole thing, I realize that I must keep in check any criticism. If someone like me could fall as far as I have from that, then there is hope for those gathering, too. In my college years there was more prayer and prayer groups. In seminary I worked with a pastor who was marked by his prayer life and everyone knew it. If you mentioned his name, everyone knew he was a man of prayer. Under his tutelage, I developed my own devotional style in the morning. It centered around a little loose-leaf notebook, page after page of names and causes and concerns, and every morning, I mean every morning, I rose early and on my knees paged through that book. I continued that practice when I came here in 1960 for a little while. But eventually it faded. I suppose it faded because I hated every minute of it. It was not me. For me, it was not natural. It was not the air I breathed. I am not sure if it has something to do with my being lazy, and it may. It may have something to do with my lack of discipline. I confess that, too. Or it may be that even way back then there was an intellectual problem that I had with prayer that I was unwilling to admit to, which perhaps short-circuited any vital prayer experience. I’m not sure. For a sermon on prayer in the midst of this congregation it would be smart of me if I would let my colleague Peter preach. But on occasion over the years, I have helped someone when I have spoken about prayer and my own difficulties. It seemed to give them some hope, having a lousy prayer life themselves. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Still, I pray, for prayer is the heart and soul of religious experience. My life is a dialogue. I am talking to myself all the time, and praying may be talking to oneself in the presence of that greater reality into which our lives are woven. It may be consciousness and awareness in the face of the web of meaning, the tapestry of reality of which we are a part. Certainly I pray, as I think we must all pray. Perhaps it was why I responded positively to Thomas Moore’s book, for he has a chapter entitled “The Instinct for Prayer” in which he speaks about an impulse to pray. And I know that. Don’t you? To be human is to have an instinct to pray, to bring to expression that which is in our depths. There are those situations in life when we have the impulse to pray, when there is that spontaneous eruption from within. And so, prayer really is the heart and center of religious experience, the dialogue and conversation that goes on within us. I speak about prayer with eyes wide open, because increasingly that is my experience. As I said a couple of weeks ago about the transformations through which I have gone in my spiritual journey, I have moved from a supernatural theism to a religious naturalism, where God is not “out there” somewhere, waiting upon my prayers in order to manipulate the human situation. God is not beyond the reality of which we are a part, running things and waiting to be influenced by the volleys of prayers from earth’s children. I don’t believe that. I don’t think one can think intelligently about that and carry on the practice with any vitality. There are recent studies about the effectiveness of prayer for people with illness, but I’m not too impressed with that, either. What do those kinds of studies finally prove? If we need to prove that prayer works, are we really afraid that God doesn’t exist and that there is nothing to it? I suppose there is some value in that sort of study, but I would rather not go there. I would rather pray with eyes wide open, recognizing that the whole of reality is of a piece, and that it is shot through with God; that the whole of reality is a seamless robe pregnant with divinity; that my life and your life is a part of a totality laced with creativity, and to the extent that we come to an awareness and an appreciation of the reality of which we are a part, our prayer will flow. I think Thomas Moore is right. There is an instinct for prayer and we ought to go along with it without too much intellectual machination, trying to figure it out. The Psalmist, for example, wrote a beautiful ejaculatory expression: “Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my cry. Hear my voice.” The Psalmist made a plea for forgiveness, resting in the graciousness of God. “Lord, if you should mark iniquities, who could stand, but with you there is forgiveness.” I have been there, haven’t you? When we have failed, when we come face to face with our flaws, and then experience the grace of forgiveness through that spontaneous eruption, we say, “O Lord, out of the depths I cry to thee.” © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Or perhaps in its original form prayer was that kind of ejaculatory expression in the face of our helplessness. For in the face of the mystery of life we often feel helpless, knowing there is more of our existence beyond our control than that little piece over which we have control. And so, perhaps out of fear, or out of wonder, or in the face of great joy, we pray. We cry to the Lord. Out of our depths there erupts the expression of those deep emotions that are so much a part of who we are. Prayer can be that kind of spontaneous expression. And then there is the prayer of awareness. I think of that passage of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus has the whole village at the doorstep of Peter’s mother-inlaw’s home. Jesus had healed her and now the word is out that he is there, and so they bring everybody to the doorstep. Through the evening he reaches out, giving of himself in his healing ministry. The next morning, Mark tells us, a long while before dawn he arose and found a solitary place and he prayed. I suppose that is how one lives with intentionality. I suppose that is how one keeps from getting swept away with inordinate success or bitter disappointment, by having that encounter, that moment of awareness, that attention in the presence of God. If I had been Jesus and had a successful evening such as that, I would have gotten up before breakfast and put posters on every telephone pole about the time of the next healing service. But Jesus prayed. And when they came after him and said, “Hey, we have something good going, Lord,” he said, “Let’s get out of here.” He had found his center in the presence of God. There is that prayer of awareness and attention, that self-consciousness in the presence of the other that enables us to keep our balance. And there is the love and care expressed in prayer. We express our love and care by saying to one another, “I’ll pray for you.” I don’t know how many of us actually do it, but we all tend to say it, and when someone we love, or when we ourselves come into crisis, again it is simply natural and instinctive to pray. About three or four weeks ago, one of my closest friends, a colleague in ministry for over forty years and a person known to this congregation, Bud Ridder, experienced a stroke. When I got the news, it impacted me greatly because I realized how meaningful that relationship is to me. I said to him, “I came to see again how much I love you.” Although he came out of the stroke rather well, the doctors discovered an aneurysm and announced the necessity of serious surgery. Last Tuesday at lunch at Duba’s, because Bud is a member of the table, we discussed his forthcoming surgery. We raised our glass to him with eyes wide open and expressed our love and care and how we would carry him in our hearts and in our minds. We actually talked at the table about prayer. “We will pray for you,” we said, meaning we care for you, we love you, we yearn for all of the recuperative, health-giving, life-giving powers within you to be released in the presence of our love and care. When I called Friday afternoon, knowing that he had gone into surgery at seven o’clock in the morning, he wasn’t back into recovery. Nor at five. Nor at nine. The © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 5   one word I did get was critical, and I couldn’t get through to the family because of some phone problem, but I left a message on a voice machine. Saturday morning I got the call. He’d been in surgery twice and the surgeon had been with him for sixteen hours. Bud was hanging on by his fingernails. I had a wedding to do south of Grand Rapids, so I intended to do the wedding and on my way back stop at the hospital. But there was another call. The signs were going down. I went directly to the hospital to be there with the family. And I saw him. If you’ve ever seen one who has come through that kind of trauma, you know. I had to do my wedding, but when I came back to the hospital the bed was removed. I found he was in surgery again, a third time. And so, I sat with his wife, Lenora. I just sat with her. Her pastor came and I sat through that and we had prayer with eyes closed and hands held. I remained because I was determined to stay until the surgeon came back, and when he came back, the news was somewhat good. They thought they had things stabilized. But, he said, “The trauma the body has experienced is extreme. He is critically ill.” And he left. There I was with Lenora. How do you leave? I left with eyes wide open. I told her I would be preaching today about prayer and the only way I knew to pray for Bud and for her was face to face and to say, “I hold you in my heart,” because I believe that with all of the marvelous technology and the tremendous dedication of medical people, there is a process underway. I stand by that process and wait and hope, believing that my presence and my love and my care are the only prayer that can make a difference. I don’t say these things because I know them. I only share with you my experience, and I know that I have never had a successful devotional life in decades. But I pray all the time, with eyes wide open, feeling myself part of the web of life and meaning and community that is you. For me, that is enough. Moore, Thomas. The Soul’s Religion. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Series Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined Scripture Text Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39, Thomas Moore, The Souls Religion 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-0-20020728 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-28 Title A name given to the resource Prayer With Eyes Wide Open 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 28, 2002 entitled "Prayer With Eyes Wide Open", as part of the series "Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39, Thomas Moore, The Souls Religion. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Awareness Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2d517783f8073837eef9e7af3ee9b3a5.mp3 3d658ddca3d506628d6093f692a224a6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined Scripture Text Ezekiel 1:1, 26 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020721 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-21 Title A name given to the resource To Be Human Is Enough 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 July 21, 2002 entitled "To Be Human Is Enough", as part of the series "Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ezekiel 1:1, 26. 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/a6e2f89b21e1e13720ab2149816e66c8.mp3 10a6c758f21fa394e94a6951911f9a3c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/389be2d5f36808bdc683b151f78a100d.pdf db116260094e176da54b4d554a5f00eb PDF Text Text Dropping the Salvation Fantasy From the series: Spiritual Life – Religion Re-Imagined Text: Psalm 131; John 3:1-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 14, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon I begin this morning a brief series of messages on the spiritual life—re-imagining religion. The connection between the two is this: they are not the same, but religion provides the form and the structure for the expression of one’s spiritual life. I believe it is good to think about that and perhaps to make an attempt to reimagine that religion, because religious forms and structures can aid and abet the expression of our spiritual life, or hinder and block, causing the spirit to wither. And so, from time to time, it is good to ask ourselves about our religious practice, our religious experience, the structures and the forms that we utilize in the expression of our spiritual life. Thomas Moore’s book The Soul’s Religion was a trigger for this discussion. Some years ago, Moore wrote The Care of the Soul, which impressed me a great deal. I like this book, too, not so much that I intend to share what he speaks of there, but I like the format. He speaks autobiographically. And as I was reading his story, I was reminded of my story and the fact that there is a great similarity in that he was deeply rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, coming to the point of ordination to the priesthood when he left the Church. Deeply traditioned as he was, he has never been able to get it out of his soul, nor does he want to. But with its form and structure, the institution can no longer be the vehicle by which he can express the spirituality of his life. As I thought about his autobiographical expression, I began to think about mine. I have spoken for a long time about being in the springtime of my senility, but I have spoken about it so long that I suppose I should confess that I am well into the summer of it now. So rather than trying to remember these things, I decided to make a list. I identified eight transformations in my own pilgrimage, my own experience, and I share them with you, not because you are so interested in mine, but because as I do this, perhaps I can do for you what Thomas Moore did for me—cause you to think, “Where have I been? Where have I moved? Where have I come to and where am I going?” Well, this is my story; this is my list. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 2   I have come from a conservative orthodoxy to a liberal openness. I have moved from a supernatural theism to a religious naturalism. I have moved from religion as verifiable truth to religion as experience of the sacred dimension of all reality. I have moved from religion’s dogma to religion as poetry, from religion as institution to religion as community, from religion as consisting of absolute truth to religion as emerging experience, from Christianity as exclusive to Christianity as one magnificent window opening on the holy and the sacred. And finally, I have moved from religion as salvation from damnation to religion as celebration of life. That is quite a journey. I have made a slight course adjustment, some might say 180 degrees, and I would have to agree. Most people who have gone through that kind of transformation, most Christian leaders or religious leaders, I should say, have simply left the institution. They have left the institution probably as an expression of honesty and their own integrity, no longer able to profess, to affirm the institution’s forms and structure and creedal statements. They simply have left the institution as it was. And, of course, there are others who have been invited to leave the institution because their views were judged to be heretical. I have been very fortunate, and I think my experience has been a rather rare experience, in that I have been able to continue the spiritual quest, to continue to wrestle and struggle with the faith within a community because you have joined with me. You have gone with me on this journey, some of you kicking and screaming all the way. Some of you were relieved because you were already there before I was. And some of you, frankly, were just sort of watching from the sidelines, not really engaged. Whatever the case, I have had the rare privilege of being out of the institution, but not out of a community that is a continuing spiritual community on a journey, on a spiritual quest. Thank God for that, because I’d starve otherwise. I am of no practical good for anything else. But more than that, it is the passion of my life to create a community for that narrow niche of people who have gone through the same kind of transformation that I have and have doggedly refused just to throw in the towel and to give up on the spiritual life. And so, it is with a great deal of gratitude that I recognize, having gone through such a transformation, that there still is a community in which we can engage together on the spiritual quest with a freedom to re-imagine religion and to bring our understanding of religion more into conformity with our general human experience. This is a wonderful time to be doing this, because we are in a time between the times. Maybe that is always true to some extent, but it certainly is true in this period of history in which we are living. This period has been going on for some © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 3   time. I don’t know when something will gel out in the future, but we are in a time between the times. Those who study the philosophical development and religious theological development, the history of ideas, put the past into periods. They will speak of the ancient world and then perhaps the medieval world, and that medieval world included the Reformation world in which my particular brand of faith was honed. From there we have modernity, the last three and a half centuries, the modern period. We have spoken of that many times, characterizing it as the rise of critical thinking, the empirical method of verification spurring the development of all the natural sciences. It included the nineteenth century with the rise of historical consciousness and the sense of everything developing, the whole evolutionary cosmic emerging drama. And modernity presented a tremendous challenge to the old orthodoxy, to the age of faith, so that we are now at a time between the times. Modernity has been around long enough. Today there are those who speak of post-modernity, but that’s a story I won’t get into. Let me simply say that modernity has been around long enough so that its challenge has produced a reaction in our world today, a reaction we speak of as Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is a reaction to the threat to religious forms and structures and creedal statements that is brought on by critical rationality and by scientific discovery of the nature of reality, of historical development, and so on. The Fundamentalist is one who reacts against that because he or she feels threatened, because a religious community is really a cultural, linguistic community. We have our own language, our own vocabulary, our own forms, our own structures, and our own rituals. As long as we operate in that little circle, we are comfortable. It triggers meaning for us. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the scripture readings, the prayers and hymns, all trigger meaning. A certain vocabulary is used, a certain phraseology, and that community is comfortable with it. Now when you begin to analyze all of this, take it apart, it becomes scary. Our meaning and our life are tied up in that cultural linguistic complex of things. When that begins to be threatened, the Fundamentalist is born. (Someone has defined the Fundamentalist as one who reiterates yesterday’s answers to today’s questions.) Religious experience becomes more and more disconnected from everyday experience, because out in the world of business, the world of industry, the world of the arts, philosophy, or education, life goes on. New knowledge brings new methods, new breakthroughs, new technologies, and we enter into that whether we are Fundamentalists or not. Now if I am a Fundamentalist I fly in jets, access the Internet, and invest in stocks and bonds. There is no way my religious community and commitments are going to keep me from being part of the broader cultural scene. But my religious experience, in that case, becomes more and more disconnected from the broader world; it becomes a compartment of my life rather than watering the whole flow of my life. And so the Fundamentalist reaction is a recognition that we are in a © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 4   time between the times; the old is dying, and the new is too frightening to consider. I did my devotions yesterday with the Grand Rapids Press as I always do on Saturday morning, in order to find some fodder for my sermon or something to get excited or angry about, and I’m usually successful. I am thinking about all of this and then I read this big article about how the mainline denominations, all of them, have commissioned a survey about how to grow again. This is really a survey about how to survive, because they all know they are dying, having all experienced significant membership loss. I could have told them what they found out with a lot less cost. The survey revealed that churches need leaders who are innovative and creative and who are persistent in their purpose. They decided they can no longer build churches simply for “waspy” folks like us. They have to go after racial groups, ethnic and minority groups, and so forth. Well, I wonder why, when there are still enough waspy folks around. The crisis is that they are asking the wrong question. Why are people dropping out? Why are there thousands fewer church members today than there were ten years ago? Is the issue Church survival? Is it to try to figure out how you can hold on, hang on? Or ought the institutional forms be so open, flexible, fluid and free that they can shape themselves around our changing lives? On the back page of the same article was a story about the Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor who participated in Rudy Guiliani’s request to have a prayer service in Yankee Stadium after September 11. Do you remember the story? Yankee Stadium was full and there was a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim and a Hindu, and they had a service in which they sang “God Bless America” and prayers were offered for the nation. The Lutheran pastor who participated as a Christian is about to be ousted from the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church because his participation in that service might have given the impression that there are other gods or other ways to God. That kind of thing is really atrocious, isn’t it? If you are thoughtful, if you are sensitive at all, you would say such an institution really deserves to die because it is mindful of its own life, its own particularity with a kind of absolutist exclusivism that a thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent person could not honestly affirm in our world, in our day. The old institutional forms are dying. We are in a time between the times when the old is dying. I don’t know how long it will take. Maybe there will be another blush of triumph and another hundred years or so, but the old institutional forms are dying. The other reaction to the whole movement of modernity is one of modern atheism or agnosticism or just simply the writing off of the spiritual life as though © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 5   one was an animal. The extreme expression of that is nihilism, that there is no meaning, nothing means anything. The nihilist would simply say that this whole cosmic drama is just a chance accident unwinding who knows where, and certainly with no purpose, with no meaning whatsoever. And then there are hordes of our contemporaries who, without consciously saying, “I am a nihilist,” are living a nihilist existence, barren of any kind of transcendent dimension in their life. T.S. Eliot wrote a poem, “The Waste Land,” his poetic commentary on modernity, in which he speaks about the great Western religious symbols as a “heap of broken images.” That’s where it is for a lot of people. With the eruption of critical thinking and the scientific method and the whole rise of modernity, the tragedy was that religious people were threatened and so they fought it. Many in the scientific community insisted that what they were dealing with was all there was, and there was a great deal of hubris on that side. And so many who were thoughtful and intelligent, simply dropped out. In the West, the intellectual elite left institutional religion, although they have continued in some kind of personal spiritual pilgrimage. We are in the time between the times when on the one hand there is a shrill Fundamentalism that is afraid because it is losing its grip, and on the other a barren spirituality that lives just a little bit above an animal existence. So it is a wonderful time to be thinking about this. Where do we go? Well, I suggest in the title that we drop the salvation fantasy. Just drop the salvation fantasy. What do I mean by the salvation fantasy? I mean that God is a creator who created humankind perfectly, that humankind was tested and failed the test, came under the curse of God’s wrath and stands in threat of eternal damnation. Then God provided in Jesus Christ the atoning death, taking our sin and guilt, therefore offering forgiveness for those who repent and believe, assuring them of heaven. That is the story; that is the myth. I don’t care whether you take the lilting liturgy of the Anglican community or the passionate address of evangelist Billy Graham or the rumblings of television evangelist Jerry Falwell. Down deep that is the story. That is the myth. That is what is being talked about. It may be talked about in sophisticated tones or it may be talked about in down and dirty, blunt language. I am suggesting that we ought simply to give it up. Give up the idea that God created a creature, put it to the test, and then failing the test, will damn it unless there is repentance and acceptance of Christ’s atoning death. That picture of God makes God a monster and the picture of humankind is degrading. We are not God-damned creatures. We are animals emerging out of the jungle with all of the survival instincts clinging to us. But we are something more. Something within us lifts up our eyes and lifts up our hearts and beckons us beyond where we are. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Something tells us that what we see is not all there is. We are magnificent creatures. Are we lost? O, my God, we’re lost. Of course we are lost. We are trying to find our way. That is really what the whole religious quest is all about, the spiritual quest; trying to find our way. Who are we, after all? It is not as though God is angry with us, alienated from us. We’re just simply lost. Salvation? Of course. That word has its root in salve, meaning “healing”. Do we need salvation? Of course we need salvation. We are a blind and lost people, barren in our spiritual life and confused and disoriented. Do we need help? Dear God, we need help. But that is exactly what the invitation is from the God who would never abandon us, the God who embraces us, the God who calls us into a web of meaning. God is not “out there” somewhere, but that sacred and holy dimension which is in us and beyond us, which binds us together in a web of meaning and relationship. You might be surprised that a sermon on dropping the salvation fantasy should have in its text the words “born again.” But I think of old Nicodemus. I suppose that the author of the fourth Gospel was trying to bring Nicodemus to the attention of the Jews who were trying to continue in Judaism without following Jesus: “Look, one of your own leaders followed Jesus. He is a model, an example for all of you.” Old Nicodemus, a rabbi, a member of the Sanhedrin, a leader of the Jewish people, a representative of the best of Judaism, the best of Israel, came to Jesus one night to say, “What in the world is going on? Who are you? Who am I? What’s up?” And Jesus said, “You have to be born again.” Or born from above, or born spiritually. It is not so different from what I’ve experienced. I’ve been “born again.” I’ve seen things that I looked at forever and never saw before. I’ve had fresh spiritual insight, was able to move out of the cramped and crimped straitjacket of original orthodoxy that claimed to be the exclusive truth and into the spacious grace of inquiry, of openness, and freedom. Religion needs to be re-imagined so that one like Nicodemus who was deeply rooted in the establishment could come and be confounded by the statement that he had to be born again. Born again not as Jimmy Carter popularized it, not as the television evangelists harangue us about it, but born again with eyes to see and ears to hear, with a fresh awareness of new openness, and with a hunger and a thirst and an ongoing spiritual quest that is never done, but always inviting us to something more and something beautiful. Did you hear that marvelous statement of Psalm 131? “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me, but I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother.” There is a certain humility and rest and trust and peace, knowing that we are woven together in the bundle of life which consists of © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Dropping the Salvation Fantasy Richard A. Rhem Page 7   beautiful relationships and deep and profound meaning that causes us to see the wonder and the miracle, the glory and the joy of life, which is a gift full of grace. Last evening I sat on the bluff and watched the sunset and in that magnificent western sky illumined by the globe, the sun poured its radiance across the waters and there was a path of yellow gold. Then I went up into the loft and continued to work as the evening sky emerged. When I looked out the window later, I saw the silver crescent of a moon next to the evening star and noticed on the lake that the yellow gold path had become a silver path of moonlight, and I said, “O, my God.” And it is enough. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VIII Series Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined Scripture Text Psalm 131, John 3:1-10 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-0-20020714 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-14 Title A name given to the resource Dropping the Salvation Fantasy 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 14, 2002 entitled "Dropping the Salvation Fantasy", as part of the series "Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined", on the occasion of Pentecost VIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 131, John 3:1-10. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Sacred Dimension of reality Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76103b6159545760782e39fafb1bca9d.mp3 9ee34311324fdea7b3e3d6e22b433a86 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ac85dba6dbb6525931730aca58b2d6b.pdf 724df275527e8febf799d0364a326afc PDF Text Text The Revolution Then and Now Independence Day Weekend Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 33:10-17; Matthew 5:38-48 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 7, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon On this Independence Day weekend, I invite you to think with me about our nation, especially in the present circumstance of our post-9/11 world. It is always appropriate to reflect on the good fortune we have enjoyed - the privileges that we have enjoyed together as a people, as a nation. What a heritage we have entered into. What marvelous freedoms and liberty have we lived with. What advantages have we had. What a glorious vision was that vision that founded a constitutional democracy and all of those things that down through the last two centuries and more have made the American experiment. And an experiment it is. In that heroic document with its great language, the Declaration of Independence, we read of self-evident truths and of inalienable rights. But, as a matter of fact, the truths of the vision upon which this nation was founded are not at all self-evident, and the rights that we claim are not at all inalienable human rights. As a matter of fact, only a small minority of humankind has ever enjoyed them as we have, and those rights as documented in our founding documents are rights that even, at the time of their affirmation, were affirmed and appreciated by only a minority. But what a marvelous nation this has been in which to be able to pursue our happiness. And how grateful we should be for that privilege that has been ours. I did a little rummaging around this week thinking about this moment in order to understand how such a nation could have been born, and it is all the stuff that we learned in American History 101, but we forget, and so I had to refresh my memory. It was about ten years before the Revolutionary War ever began that the difficulties between Mother England and these colonies began to heat up. It is so typical, such a typical human story: England of empire, England of king and crown, and these thirteen bedraggled colonies with no national government, no army, no legislative body, really a confederation of colonies, and Mother England began to twist the arm just a bit. They had been rather exhausted emotionally and financially through the French and Indian War. They had not paid a great deal of attention to these colonies. These colonies became rather independent-minded, and when England caught its breath and began to feel that it should maintain © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 2 certain situations and conditions here, and to raise enough finances to enhance the imperial treasury, of course, the sparks began to fly. These were people from a common tradition, they spoke a common language and, as you go back and read about those events, one wonders that there wasn't someone there able to sit them down together and to talk together, because it was obvious that the human ego was flying high, that there was a battle of wills that was building up, and, human animals that we are, someone will either back down and submit and become submissive, or the clash is inevitable. So, the sugar tax, three pennies on every pound of molasses imported, a very costly tax for these colonies that were apparently importing a lot of molasses to produce a lot of great rum. And the tea business, the East India Tea Company, unhappy about the fact that tea was not being consumed as it should have been with a boycott at work. It all comes down to rum and profits eventually, doesn't it? And so, we have that sterling episode of the Boston Tea Party and all of those great events, and as you read it, you can remember, perhaps, if you are as old as I am, how those old history books used to make you thrill to the story of the Revolution. I suppose it is fruitless at this point to raise the questions as to whether or not it ever should have happened, but I think it is important for us to be reminded of the fact that there was a time when this nation was being born, that Mother England, the King and the Crown, were calling us terrorists and that we became violent in our pursuit of freedom and liberty. And it is good for us to remember that, as someone has said, one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist. At that time, we were weak and poor and ungoverned, and so we didn't have a great deal to lose and let it all go, and when you are fighting for your homeland and for a future, when your blood is running fast, then, of course, what can the imperial forces do against you? But we did get involved in war and thousands of lives were lost and there was tragedy in thousands of homes, and from all of that has emerged this great nation and it is fruitless, as I said a moment ago, to contemplate the question as to whether or not it was a good thing. Certainly it would seem that it could have been settled in some other way without bloodshed, but that is the human story, isn't it? So, we have a great heritage and we have enjoyed great privileges beyond comparison. But, there was a time when we did resort to violence in order to realize our dream. And it is probably important to remember that. I entitled the message "The Revolution Then and Now" because, although it was a local contest, geographically limited, happening in a small corner of the world, nonetheless it was a revolution and the revolution today is a global revolution, and all of the dimensions of it have changed drastically. But, as a matter of fact, that dream in the human heart which we pursued even with violence is a dream not so far from the human heart of earth children around the globe. The times have progressed © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 3 and technology has progressed and the world has become as small as a grapefruit, and we live in a global village today in which it is no longer possible for something which happens in one little corner not to affect the whole. And so, what do we do in this moment of our own crisis? This moment when our freedoms and our way of life and our peace are being challenged and disturbed? How well are we reacting to the revolution now? Well, if we were still those thirteen colonies without any power or prestige or position in the world, it would be a very simple thing for me to preach to you today. I would remind you what the Psalmist said, although his conception of God is one which I cannot adopt anymore: God looking down and sort of smiling at the machinations of humankind. Nonetheless, there was an insight way back there, millennia ago, when the Psalmist said, "An army cannot save and a warhorse is vain hope for salvation or victory." Even then the Psalmist knew that that which is effected by force affects nothing, finally. If we were just the thirteen colonies and a nondescript people on the face of the earth, I'd point you to Isaiah 42. It is one of the servant songs. In those middle chapters of Isaiah, there are several poems called the Servant Poems. One of them is Isaiah 53. But the one read a moment ago in chapter 42 is about the servant who will bring justice to the land, and he will not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. In other words, with tenderness and compassion, the servant of the Lord will work at justice. The 53rd chapter of Isaiah speaks about this same servant who, as a lamb to the slaughter, is led away to die. You say, "Nice image. Great hope. Happy motivation for us to follow in his steps." But, Jesus followed in the steps of the servant. We feel that it was those servant songs that shaped Jesus, and if we were just thirteen colonies of a nondescript people, I would preach from the Sermon on the Mount about moving away from that system of justice that said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, moving away from the natural animosity and hostility against the enemy to a love for the enemy, an emulation of God who causes the rain to fail on the garden of the just and the unjust and causes the sun to shine on all God's children. Because, you see, in God's view there aren't any enemies. We make enemies one of another, but God has a problem. God is the God of all people, and so what does God do? Rain falls on the gardens of both sides. Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, brought an uncharacteristic humility to the office of the presidency, an uncharacteristic sensitivity and spirituality, and in his second inaugural address, he recognized the fact that both sides in that bitter struggle in the Civil War read the same Bible and prayed to the same God. So, Jesus said love your enemies, be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect, but perfect is not a good word. A better word is mature. Or, in Luke's rendering of the Sermon on the Mount, it is be compassionate as your father in heaven is compassionate. © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 4 If we were just ordinary folks like the rest of the world without a great deal of power or responsibility, I could preach those things and you could hear those things and say, "Sure, that's good." Obviously, might does not make right. Obviously, military force does not create heaven on earth. Obviously, the world needs justice and it ought to be done with compassion and tenderness. And sure, loving one's enemies is a better way to go, Jesus. Even though it did lead to a cross. But, you see, the problem is that is not who we are. I've never particularly cared for Jesse Jackson. The last time I confessed that publically, somebody gave me a book by him, so you don't need to do that. But, one of our alumni from Christ Community, Jim Dykehouse, sent me this from a Chicago paper, Jesse Jackson to Yassar Arafat, an Open Letter. It’s one of the finest things I've read on this whole situation. Speaking about the PalestinianIsraeli situation, Jesse Jackson writing to Arafat says, Terrorist attacks can destroy, but they cannot build. They can generate fear, but not hope. They can revenge past injury, but cannot rebuild future prospects. In the end, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves everyone blind and toothless and bloody." A little later, he says, "Non-violence establishes the moral legitimacy of your cause. Nonviolence requires discipline and training. It speaks to hope for the future, not hate of the past. It engages the young, not in individual acts of despair, but in collective actions of hope. Terror bombings appall the world community. Non-violent resistance will engage that community and force it to respond. Palestinian statehood and Israeli security are two sides of the same coin. The one cannot exist without the other. Terror bombings generate hatred, fear and distrust and insecurity. Non-violent resistance recognizes the humanity of your opponents. It challenges their moral sensibility, but not their military capacity. It forces them to recognize your humanity and because it demonstrates your discipline, your commitment, your love of life, it lays the basis for co-existence rather than coannihilation. Non-violence is not passive suffering. It is an action strategy. It actively resists repression. It actively challenges the occupier. It actively disrupts business as usual. Non-violence is not a coward's path. Nonviolent demonstrators must face anger, violent responses, beatings, jailing and worse, and be disciplined enough not to respond in kind. For the Palestinians, non-violence may be the only road to statehood now. It would demonstrate the nobility of your people and the justice of your cause.” If we were just thirteen colonies, without cutting a great swath in the world, I could preach Jesse Jackson's advice to you. If we were just an ordinary people, I © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 5 would know what to say to you. But, we're not. We're the world's one super power. We're the greatest nation on earth in terms of our military might. We can act unilaterally. We can force our will. We can devastate any nation we choose to. We are limited somewhat by world opinion, of course, but not by what we can do, if we would do it. We use the Bible often in our political rhetoric, but won't you have to grant me that most of that appeal to God and the scriptures is simply that - political rhetoric? And isn't it ironic that those who pledge the greatest allegiance to the Bible are the very people who are marked by a militant spirit, by some kind of sense that this nation is God's chosen vessel for the evangelization of the world and, therefore, we can do anything in God's name for God's cause because it is bringing in God's kingdom? Somehow or other, the game has changed on us. Even as recently as World War II, a great evil could be confronted and dealt with. But, the game has changed. The enemy has become almost invisible and the ability to attack insidious, and our most visible and powerful weapon systems are impotent against the crisis we face today. If we were just an ordinary people, I would recommend the way of Jesus. But, it's really foolish preacher talk to recommend that way to the most powerful nation on earth for, in spite of the fact that we claim the scriptures as the source, the vision of our Western civilization, we know there are limits. And so, what do we say to ourselves as this great nation that we are? I really believe in the American people. I believe in the goodness of the American people. I believe, if you scratch the surface of the average American, you will find a good heart and a good intention and a desire for peace and well-being. But, we get all caught up in empire. We get all caught up in our economic prerogatives. We get all caught up in the privileges of being number one, and when you are on the top of the heap, why in the world would you give your life away? When you are ruling the world, why would you yield up your authority and your power? If you are the United States of America, the last thing in the world you want to do, if you're smart, is tangle with Jesus, because it just does not make sense. It cuts against the grain of our animal nature. And so, I don't know what to preach if I can't preach Jesus. Or, should I assume that there really is that goodness down beneath the surface of the vast majority of our country's people? Should I assume that if someone should rise up and suggest that what we really need is not the reorganization of our security system, because in all honesty, there is no security, that what we really need is not the enhancement of our defense budget, for a military response is a vain hope for victory, to paraphrase the Psalmist. Would I dare believe that if someone arose who dared to suggest that what we really need is a new national vision and a new national purpose, that the people might follow? To my knowledge, what we did after the Second World War was unprecedented, and the nations of Germany and Japan were re-created as strong and vital and © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 6 healthy societies, because, in a sense, we loved the enemy. What would happen today if, rather than declaring our independence, we acknowledged our interdependence with all earth children? And rather than declaring the superiority of our way of life, of our religious perspective, we acknowledged that all peoples and traditions have their identity and their pride, and if we invited all together to sit down at the table in order that we might understand one another's traditions and discover the sources of violence and injustice that are there, in order that in all traditions we might come to see that, at base, all of them point to God as the source of life, of humane existence. What would happen if, rather than mounting our power and asserting our rights, we really followed 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 Independence Day Sunday, Pentecost VII Scripture Text Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 33:10-17, Matthew 5:38-48 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-0-20020707 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-07 Title A name given to the resource The Revolution Then and Now 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 7, 2002 entitled "The Revolution Then and Now", on the occasion of Independence Day Sunday, Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 33:10-17, Matthew 5:38-48. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Global Community Non-violence Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/222c938da8b3510bcd81a5c7b02445fa.mp3 faf4cd3d6032a9aa6279d032f24a5d6d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/27ef5ad37d49e44819bfaf33471d6481.pdf 3583d73333b0d75e2c2067227f411eff PDF Text Text Companions: The Mark of Community Scripture: John 21:9-14 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan June 30, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon At the invitation of Jesus, "Come and have breakfast," the disciples gather around him for a breakfast of bread and fish on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. That story is in the 21st chapter of John, which we are told is an addendum to the Gospel that was the last to be written. Those who study the scriptures tell us this addendum was probably about the issue of leadership in the early Church between Peter and the beloved disciple. However that may be, it is also felt that this addendum to the latest Gospel reflects some very early Galilean tradition. Jesus is purported to meet the disciples after the resurrection in Galilee, but there is no other account of a meal with the disciples than this, and this seems to be rather awkwardly melded together with the appearance to Peter, a fishing story. But I'm not really interested this morning at analysis of the passage from that critical standpoint, but rather to see in the midst of that chapter this delightful picture of Jesus on the seashore having prepared breakfast for that group of his disciples, inviting them, "Come and have breakfast," and in the midst of that breakfast meal, they recognize him. As he stood on the seashore and asked them how they had done during the night, they had to say it had been a fruitless night. So he gave them one more instruction, one more cast, and they had this miraculous catch of fish, and they had a sense, could it be? Was it really he? But, they dared not ask. However, in the breaking of bread and the sharing of a meal, their eyes were opened and they knew it was the presence of the risen one. Very much like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, joined by the third, didn't know who he was until they sat at table and he broke bread and their eyes were opened and their hearts burned within them, and they said, "It's the Lord." They experienced the presence of the crucified one and their exclamation, their profession of faith was that the story is not ended, he lives. Jesus lives. And so, we have in this little scene the evocation of the hints of the Eucharist feast that was to become the central sacramental act of the Christian Church. This is not surprising, because Jesus was always breaking bread. Jesus was always at table with someone. In fact, we're told that the open table was the very mark of Jesus' ministry, a table that was open to all, that excluded none, a table where so © Grand Valley State University �Companions: The Mark of Community Richard A. Rhem Page 2 many wonderful things happen in this life. Where there was breakfast or lunch or dinner, it seemed that he did his best work, gathered his community and nurtured that community around the table breaking bread. On the night in which he was betrayed, he gathered with his disciples, whether in an official Passover supper or not, it was, indeed, a momentous last supper. And so, it is not surprising that they had gone back to Galilee, Peter for example. What do you do when you are afraid? When you are disappointed? When you are confused? You go back home. And Peter went back fishing, for what do you do when your world falls apart? You reach out for that which is familiar and you return to the routine. And then, in that setting, in Galilee, after fishing all night, a seaside breakfast and their eyes are opened and they recognize him. Early Christian iconography indicates that the meal of bread and fish was more predominant than the meal of bread and wine. And so, here we have in John's addendum this 21st chapter, a little scene, a breakfast scene of bread and fish which was the place of recognition where their eyes were opened and that translated then into the life of the church into what we have just experienced. It is a shared meal ritualized, to be sure, routinized, to be sure, how else can we do it in an assembly like this? But, the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist has been that central sacramental act in which we have recognized the presence of the Lord. In the history of the Church, that meal became the chief means of explaining the meaning of the death of Christ. We know that history. If you happen to be from a Roman Catholic background, the word transubstantiation may ring a bell with you, for the priest duly ordained has an indelible grace by which he is able to perform the miracle at the table, changing the bread into the body and the wine into the blood. Well, at the time of the Reformation in the 161h century, Martin Luther said, "No, I don't think so. Rather, the word is consubstantiation. Not substance transposed into another, but a substance now surrounding the bread and the cup, over and above and around." And John Calvin said, "Well, Martin Luther, not really. How about through the Holy Spirit? Spiritual partaking of the bread and the cup." And then, of course, there is the Free Church tradition. Those in the sacramental tradition sort of look down their noses at the Free Church, saying, "Well, they have only empty signs, you know. It's just simply a memorial feast." Well, you can see what the Church has done in its splitting of hairs, so to speak, in trying to understand what actually happens in that supper. But, the main central meaning of the church's explanation was that, somehow or other, that supper was a representation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ whereby our sin was removed and we were reconciled to God. That is the tradition, and that is where most of us began, at least, in experiencing the supper, and for many of you, I suppose, the partaking even this morning would mean "I am forgiven, I have peace with God," and that is wonderful and beautiful, and I don't want to take that away. But, I do want to suggest even another possibility alongside of that. I don't think it is a new © Grand Valley State University �Companions: The Mark of Community Richard A. Rhem Page 3 insight. I think it may well reflect the very earliest experience of those disciples and that early Jesus community. For, as I said, they were always at meal with Jesus, and sharing those moments where bread was broken, where the blessing was said, and where they, in fellowship, came to know each other in intimacy, in that experience, they were experiencing community. And so, I like Dominic Crossan's suggestion that Easter wasn't all crammed into one day or one week or even forty days, but rather, that Easter continued to happen. Easter continued to happen wherever those who had been with Jesus and lived with him and had experienced him broke bread with one another and looked each other in the eye and said, "O my God! He's here. The crucified one lives. Jesus is with us still." The presence of God experienced in the breaking of bread was the confirmation of the fact that the story didn't end on the cross, but there was something more, that ongoing presence of the holy and the sacred in the midst of the community of those who broke bread together. The Gospel of John is preeminently the Gospel of incarnation. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld him." Or, in the letter of John, "No one has seen God, but the one who dwells in love, God dwells in that one." The letter that begins, "The word of life that our hands have handled, our eyes have looked upon," the tangibility of the love of God in the flesh of Jesus - that was the heart of John's Gospel. The word became flesh and, if you hear it, what the gospel is saying is that God is revealed in the human, that the human being becomes the mirror, the reflector, the container of God. Jesus, in this Gospel, in response to the request, "Show us the father and we will be satisfied," says "If you have seen me, you have seen the father." Now, once again, the tendency of the Church has been to take that, isolate that, elevate that, make that a once-for-all preeminent, supreme revelation of God to which we always hark back. But, if we could hear the Gospel, we would hear the message as being that God is revealed in the human, and that means in the flesh of Jesus, and it means in your flesh and in my flesh – that the revelation of God is revealed in the humanity of those who are God's creatures. Incarnation was not once for all. Revelatory luminosity did not nest in one alone. In Jesus we saw it first. In Jesus, they saw it clearly. In Jesus, they said, "O my God!" And he was crucified. And they gathered together here and there, now and again, in this grouping and that grouping. And as they sat at table and they blessed and broke the bread, suddenly they knew in the midst of them who he was. It is in the breaking of bread that God is present. It is in the sharing of a meal that God is experienced, tangibly. It is in looking into the eyes of another and feeling melded to the soul of another and coming into the intimacy of communion that God is experienced. Companions - that is what we are. That is the mark of community. The word companion comes from the Latin prefix con, with, and panis, bread. The word © Grand Valley State University �Companions: The Mark of Community Richard A. Rhem Page 4 companion means with bread. A companion is one with whom one shares a meal, with whom one breaks bread, because to break bread with another is to enter into a dimension of intimacy, and that intimate relationship of sharing a meal is a locus of the revelation of God, of the experience of God. I really believe that is what those post-resurrection stories are trying to tell us - that it was in the continuing gathering of those who had been with him and loved him that they experienced him in the action that had marked him and their relationship with him, at table in fellowship. It is something to experience – in a ritualized service like this. In 1990, when we changed our format from passing plates down the rows to coming forward, I for the first time experienced the wonder of a Eucharist feast, because I have had the privilege of taking the bread and catching the eye, and in a moment of intimacy, being able to say "The body of Christ." I'll tell you that is high drama. That is a sacred moment, a beautiful experience, because it is in that moment that God is present in the body of Christ represented in the bread. But it is not the bread. The Church has had such arguments about what happens to the bread or what happens to the wine. It's not about bread and wine. It's about soul to soul, eye to eye, person to person. It’s about companions who break bread and who in a community of love, time and again, say, "O my God!" And there's a feast to follow, and the potential for God to be experienced in this ritual is no greater than the possibility of God being experienced in the courtyard. I hate to admit that because next year Bob's going to say, "Well then, why don't we just dispense with worship?" And I love worship. As much as I love to eat, I love worship more. But, it's the same thing if I am true to my principle - it's when you're gathered at table, when there is communion, when soul meets soul and eye meets eye, when there is love and grace, where there is forgiveness and understanding and awareness and attention - there God is present. There God is revealed; there God is known; they recognized him. In other words, to re-cognize, cognizance, knowing, re-cognizance, to know again, to know as the one as the same as before, to become aware again of what you knew before. The one you knew you want to see in Galilee. The one you knew, you recognize, your eyes are open, you say, "Oh, oh, oh, aah! That’s it! Jesus lives. God is present. All is not lost. All will be well." And so, in a few moments around those tables, if you take a moment and don't immediately dig into the roast pork or the sweet corn, but if you take a moment to look at those around the table, a moment of recognition, a moment of loving embrace where souls meet souls and the community of God's people, God is there. God will be there. You will be awash with the presence of God. Bread, wine, fish, sweet corn, pig roast - the means is indifferent. It is the relationship. It is the community. God in the presence. Sometime ago I made a hospital visit and the person I was visiting had a visitor, a person I had known for a long time a long time ago, but hadn't seen for a long © Grand Valley State University �Companions: The Mark of Community Richard A. Rhem Page 5 time, and he had not seen me. As I came into the room, he became somewhat startled, and he said, "Oh, oh, I haven't seen you for a long time. You've put on a lot of weight." And I said to him, "Yes, that's true, and thank you for mentioning it." You know, some things are better left unsaid because all of us who fit the national profile of being overweight know it, and we really know what we should be doing about it, but we all have our rationalizations, too, and I have mine, and it's simply the nature of my life in ministry. I'm very serious, it’s the nature of my life in ministry. Somebody is always saying to me, as Jesus did, "Come and have breakfast" or lunch or dinner. My whole life is a life of companionship, companionship with myriads of people with all sorts of conditions, wonderful people, wonderful moments of breaking bread and of being aware of one another and being in conversation, being in the intimacy of human connection. I suppose it's not just the bread. It's probably what I wash it down with, but besides that, it isn't easy to stay trim when you are a companion of so many wonderful people But, I'm deadly serious. You hear me speak often of my Tuesday pilgrimage to Grand Rapids where in a little corner of Duba's bar there is a table set and a band of brothers meets and when we are all assembled, we lift our glasses and our host says, not infrequently with a trembling voice, "To the wonder, miracle, glory and joy of life." I want you to know that God is present and that place is awash with the holy and the sacred. That ritual, that moment, that human community - what can you say but, "O God!" © 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 VI Scripture Text John 21:12 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-0-20020630 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-06-30 Title A name given to the resource Companions: The Mark of Community 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 30, 2002 entitled "Companions: The Mark of Community", on the occasion of Pentecost VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 21:12. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives God experienced in Community Incarnation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5827e37aa50ce9f71c9526ff99d49754.mp3 088f9351edf9757d6069d78292b7d1ea https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/431aa956a5c731992a92af0843138bf9.pdf 3aac182e9a717ad4cc7a2a5aa0096c60 PDF Text Text God, Freud and Fathers Fathers’ Day Scripture: Psalm 103; Luke 11:1-13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan June 16, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon A Reading From the Present: ... I know that my own world was defined by a polarity between a happy but somewhat impractical father and a wise, no-nonsense mother. It seems logical to me that I should see the cosmos in much the same terms. There's a wise, no-nonsense, loving feminine side to it and an impulsive, creative masculine side to it. My ideal of a whole, wholesome human being is one who combines both, whose maleness is tempered with wise femininity, or whose femaleness is balanced by a certain male impulsiveness. It doesn't take an advanced degree in philosophy or theology to note that people's ideas of God more or less tell you nothing about deity, but a good deal about the sort of parents they've had. It is an article of faith that we are made in the image and likeness of God, but in whose image and likeness do we form our ideas of deity? Most of us, all unconsciously, pattern the image after our mothers and fathers. If our parents were loving and understanding, we tend to see God as a benevolent provider. If our parents were strict or distant, we tend to see God as an aloof disciplinarian. All theology in the world, whether administered in Sunday School or at our parents' knees, won't undo the sense of Godhood that we unconsciously develop from being around our parents. John Allen's Journal, Vol. 1, No. 39, 6-13-90 That, too, is a word of the Lord. Well, it is Fathers' Day. As I was thinking about Fathers' Day and thinking about fatherhood in terms of God and human relationships and the family, I was reminded of Freud, the psychoanalyst and great scholar, who has put his imprint on all psychological understanding subsequent to his own life and scholarship, although certainly there have been those who have come along to correct him here or there or challenge him here or there. It was the conviction of Sigmund © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 2 Freud that religion's origin rests in the helplessness of the human being, that we come into this world helpless infants, totally dependent, and there is an initial attachment and bonding with the mother who is the provider of all things necessary. Eventually that relationship bonds also with the father who becomes the strong protector figure. It was Freud's conviction that human religion can be explained in terms of human impotency and the vulnerability, the helplessness and the fiercesomeness of the human experience that cries out for comfort and support and protection and security. Freud was an atheist but, I think, an atheist in terms of traditional, orthodox theism. He was, he said in his own words, "a godless Jew," and yet he was fascinated by religion and he continued to think about it, and particularly in the last decade of his life he was almost exclusively concerned with the nature of religion. He never changed his mind about his conviction as to religion's origin rooted in human helplessness. And he saw the religious structures, the religious forms and institutions that we have created as human beings, he saw that all as wish fulfillment. The deep-seated wish that things were safe and secure, the deepseated wish that there would be some buffer against the fate, against the vicissitudes of life, against life's terrible vulnerability and, especially, assuaging of the painful thought of death. And so, in the creation of, in his case, Judaism, or Christianity, Western religion particularly, there was the projection of the strong father figure, that primal figure who was the security and the final arbiter of all things, so that finally life would be reconciled in all of its complexity, and ultimate justice would prevail, extending existence into another life. Freud has not been universally followed, by any means. Nonetheless, his was an honest wrestling with the nature of religion. He also dealt in another whole dimension of his thinking which I am not able to go into, nonetheless, in his recognition of the conflict between the human being and that father figure. The one who provides comfort and security is also the one who causes resistance because of the control and the domination. And so, that conflict intrinsic to the human being, the conflict of a helpless and impotent being wanting safety and security, finding it in this primal figure of the father who is projected on the screen of reality and called God, but a God, then, who is also controlling and almighty, against whom we resist and revolt. So, the love-hate relationship, the desire for the affection and the affirmation of the father, and yet the resistance to the control and the domination of the father - all of that Freud saw in the human being's religious struggle. As I said, Freud hasn't been followed on that altogether by any means, and he has been challenged seriously by other voices. But, the one thing that he did bring out which, frankly, I have come to conclude and I have shared with you in one way or another many times is that he is right in the fact that religion is a human product, a human imaginative creative construct. That religion didn't fall out of heaven, that it is not the consequence of some revelation of God which through the Holy Spirit was enscripturated in a book so that what we have in our Christian faith is © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 3 a divine religion authored by God. No, for all human religion is human religion. It is creative, it is imaginative, it is a human construct, and it is put together in order to meet the deep exigencies of our human situation. It is creative in order to enable us to live in some kind of serenity and tranquility in the very vulnerable position in which we find ourselves. People create religion. The religion that we create is either good or not so good. It serves our deep-seated needs and desires, or it doesn't, and what we do, we do here, understanding that. For example, the baptismal service is a beautiful service with deep meaning, the sacramental moment in which we consciously are aware of the gift of life, the gift of a child, and of the necessity for nurture and for care, and all of that which goes into it. Likewise, the Eucharist and all of the sacraments of the Church, all of the things that we do, the vestments, everything about us. These are the things that we have created over centuries which convey meaning that enable us in an observance to bring us into the conscious awareness of the mystery that sustains us. The only difference I would have with Freud is that he, based on Feuerbach and the projection theory of religion, says that all religion arises here in human need and is projected outward and there is nobody "out there." The only difference I would say is that that human need and that sense of vulnerability and that desire for security and comfort and some meaning in this miasma of human experience is a response. It is not the initiatory action of the human being, but it is the creative response of the human being to the mystery and the reality of our human situation. Freud set us on the track of all of that kind of thinking and he was in line with what was going on in his own time, in Feuerbach and Karl Marx and eventually in Nietzsche. All of that development of 19th century atheism was a reaction over against that old conception of theism, of a deity "out there" in control, pulling strings, pushing the gears of the universe. As the whole scientific method took hold after a couple of centuries, and historical consciousness came to being, the whole faith structure was examined with critical rationality – the rule of the day– to where the human dimension of religion was exposed and came to be understood. Now, I say it came to be understood. It still is not understood in the church at large. This time of the year I always go into a severe depression because, sick person that I am, I still read the newspaper about the accounts of what is going on in the respective denominations, and, if you once see religion as a human creative, imaginative construct, then you read these grand proclamations of the respective synods of the church - "God's will, God's word, God said ... God said yes, God said no. God said women should be in the clergy. God said women should not be in authority over clergy people. God said this, God said that”– it is so ridiculous. I don't know how I lived in that house as long as I did. So we still, in the church at large, have not faced up to the kind of insights that surfaced with © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Feuerbach and Freud. But, on this Fathers' Day, I want to say that the possibilities for us are better than ever they have been for the recognition of the humanity of fathers, of the whole being of the male which does not exclude the female. In the church today, that struggle is still going on. In fact, to my despair, it is in the church where these insights are resisted, and what it is is a threat to authority, of course, by male clergy all masked by faithfulness to the Bible as the word of God, all of that. It is so distressing. But, we could move beyond it and we have moved beyond it here, thank God. We have come to see, as the little piece I read a moment ago, that the human being is not biologically determined according to cultural stereotypes, that all of us bear within ourselves the male and the female, and that it is not the cultural stereotype that says the male is this and the female is that by which we have to live. We can break free of that. We can get beyond that, so that there is not a pre-described or a preset determination of what is a man and what is a woman and what is the role of the one and what is the role of the other. We are at a time when we, I think, with critical rationality and insight that we have from all of the sciences, can see that there is such a thing as maleness and femaleness and that they are not destined biologically as ultimate absolutes. Rather, it is a cultural determination as to how the genders mix and how they can proceed in the execution of life in all of its dimensions, once again, in the church, so that the role of man or woman in the church is indifferent. There is not a reason in the world why there should be any question about whether or not a man or a woman is qualified for leadership in the community of the people of God. On the other hand, the good news for men is that while the feminist movement has brought all of this to our consciousness and has refused to go along with those deeply ingrained cultural stereotypes, it has allowed also the liberation of the male, so that the male no longer in order to be male, in order to be a man, has to act out some kind of macho role, one in control, dominating and authoritative. That in the mutuality of male and female there can be the adjustment that fits any particular pairing which is a wonderfully freeing insight, so that no longer do we have to operate on the basis of what culture or society at any particular time has determined is the role of the one or the other. The Bible is a book that comes from a patriarchal society so that you can't go to the Bible to solve questions of gender equality or the mutuality of male and female. It just isn't in here. And yet, there is within our tradition, wonderful treasures that can be retrieved, and I read one of the most beautiful ones this morning. Psalm 103, in the eighth verse, speaks about God being merciful and gracious, and the Hebrew root of the word merciful is the same root for the word womb, and what the text is literally saying, by way of the Hebrew poet in Israel who centuries ago had come to an insight that that mystery which is the mystery of life is womb-like. The word gracious has as its Hebrew root the word that © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 5 describes the wailing of a woman for her young that has been removed through weaning, so that in the Psalm 103, eighth verse, you have two powerful feminine images for God - a womb and the wailing of the woman for her young, that maternal yearning. And then in the 13th verse we have "God is like a father, a father who pities his children, a father who understands us fully, God who knows our frame, who remembers that we are dust." It is the most beautiful image, an image of God full of compassion, full of understanding who says, in effect, it's okay to be human. In all of your humanness, you are accepted. In all of the ambiguity of your being, in all of the ambivalence of your person, in all of the light and shadow of who you are, in your masculinity and your femininity and all points in-between, God knows your frame and God is merciful and compassionate, like a father. It's not exactly the father of Freud where there is no ambiguity there. This is a God of whom the Psalmist can write in powerful feminine terms and then speak of God as father, merciful, gracious, compassionate. Of course, out of that Hebrew tradition comes Jesus, and the New Testament scholar, Edward Schillebeeckx says that the key to the insight of Jesus in his relationship to God was his use of the word Abba as the form of address. Abba, father. In the New Testament it says, "Abba, father," but father is a translation of Abba. Abba is more intimate than father. It is the most intimate address of a child to a parent, to a father, Abba. Jesus had that sense of intimacy in relationship to God. And he lived in that kind of spirit, obviously, because one day they said to him, "Teach us to pray." He must have lived in a kind of transcendent atmosphere such that they said it's contagious, teach us. And so, he said, "When you pray, say 'Father...'" In our own cultural situation this has become such a problem. The feminist movement which I affirm totally has necessarily had to be aggressive and abrasive sometimes in forcing us to face the language problem. And so, in a little bit we will sing "Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost," in the Doxology, and that is a compromise. That is an acknowledgment on our part that Father, according to Freud, has been a problem for many, that that controlling, dominating figure has been a block to some in their attempt to have an intimate relationship with God. So, we will sing Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. It doesn't do it. I don't know how to do it any better, but it doesn't do it. Creator is not Father. We could better say Father-Mother. We could better say to you, "Say Father-Mother," whichever feels good to you. Maybe we could say Father-Mother real quick. And anybody that has a problem with that is not reacting rationally, they are reacting emotionally. Of course, in all this stuff we react emotionally because we play these cultural linguistic games and we have our identity all tied up with certain ways to do it, certain words. Language is so terribly important. Language is so important that we have to deal with language, and so we sing Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 6 Now I know, I watch some of you. You've never been willing to do it and you keep saying Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Well, go ahead. Bless you. But, some of you might as well say Mother, Christ and Holy Ghost. What I am saying is that we have had enough time and enough intelligence to begin to be reasonable about these things and to be able to go back to the scripture and, instead of taking a couple of texts from St. Paul in some kind of ridiculous argument that God is male and Jesus was male and therefore it is only male authority in the Church and in the home, the father. This is a strong strain in fundamentalist culture in our day. The strong headship of the father in the home. It's ridiculous. We need strength and authority and compassion and love in the home by fathers and mothers, and this idea that somehow or other God has appointed the male to be a dominant authority figure just doesn't figure. On this Fathers' Day, I want to say, "Fathers, you don't have to be so tough anymore. You can be free from that cultural stereotype that says you need to be in charge and control, and, consequently, you mothers will have to fill in the slack. Of course, that's what's been going on all of the time. It has just been a charade. We know that. Brian Wren, the poet and hymn writer, has written a book about language and God. It's a very good book, too, and he wrote this poem: Gallery: A Song for Boys and Men: Can a Man Be Kind and Caring? Can a man be kind and caring? Jesus was. Can a man who's kind and caring be adventuresome and daring, bravely doing right, walking in the light? Jesus did, and so I can: I will be a Jesus man. Can a man be sad with crying? Jesus was. Can a man who's sad with crying, shed his tears, yet keep on trying, loving to the end, enemy and friend? Jesus did, and so I can: I will be a Jesus man. Can a man be hurt and broken? Jesus was. Can a man who's hurt and broken show his friends how God has spoken, giving to us then, power to start again? Jesus did, and so I can: I will be a Jesus man. © Grand Valley State University �God, Freud and Fathers Richard A. Rhem Page 7 From What Language Shall I Borrow? God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology, Brian Wren, 1989) If more of us men would be Jesus men, the feminist movement would evaporate in a moment. There would be no need for it. © 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 Fathers' Day, Pentecost IV Scripture Text Psalm 103, Luke 11:1-13 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-0-20020616 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-06-16 Title A name given to the resource God, Freud and Fathers 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 16, 2002 entitled "God, Freud and Fathers", on the occasion of Fathers' Day, Pentecost IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 103, Luke 11:1-13. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Compassionate God Religion as a Human Construct https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0f59327ffafa99aa1127d603f580873f.mp3 a6c6fba443f68a469fd784549b224571 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6d8ae6467bd6746bb1eea1a0783747a8.pdf 2c7b9a49a1092e6a9b94fb4c31d72c4a PDF Text Text The Art of Worship A Celebration of the Arts Scripture: Psalm 148; Revelation 4 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan June 9, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon Some weeks ago when I knew we were going to have some especially beautiful artistic expressions in this service, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect a bit on an experience such as this where we are blessed, where we are exposed to beautiful artistic expression and to think about the art of worship. As I did that more particularly to the immediate preparation, I recognized that there is an art of worship in terms of the execution of the flow and the movement of it all. There is also the art in the worship, the concrete expressions which are the artistic gifts to the community. And so, for a few moments, think with me about the experience that we are having together about art and worship, and the art of worship. I have to give you just a brief autobiographical sketch and that is that I was an absolute cultural barbarian in my youth. Out of a very wonderful and devout home that was pious and solid and full of love and grace such that I could not wish anything else, there was a total vacuum in terms of artistic exposure. No sense of the classical in art at all. And my father was a very serious and devout elder in the church in which I grew up, a very solid, stolid, provincial, parochial church with a Dutch ethnic flavor, of good peasant stock, by and large. To my father, being a serious elder, the finest sermon was the longest sermon on the shortest text, and I will reveal to you my own sickness as a child because I used to take a little notebook along so that at Sunday dinner I could render the theme, the text, and the three points of the sermon. There were always, of course, three points. The sermon, point one, point two, point three, and the application. I always embarrassed my older sisters by being able to whip it all off, but it was three hymns, two prayers, and a sermon. I even remember as a child some grumbling when the uppity organist (I've never seen one, but they can be that, I'm told) offered some Bach in place of the old favorite hymns. After all, if the old hymns were good enough for Jesus, they were good enough for us, too. So, that is the environment out of which I came. Now, let me tell you about three experiences I had. One was about thirty-five years ago in Pittsburgh, an overnight during which I wandered downtown © Grand Valley State University �The Art of Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 2 Pittsburgh into a cathedral. I don't know what it was, Episcopal or Catholic, but it was a magnificent space. The sun was setting and the light was filtering through stained glass and the high vaulted arches, and it was a moment for me, I'm telling you about it thirty-five years later, it was the first time that I ever became aware that beauty could be the vehicle of the experience of the transcendent. It was a marked moment in my life. I didn't understand it then, but I experienced it then. It may have been because the church at which I was a pastor at the time had the ugliest sanctuary in North America. It had a flat ceiling and it was so big and when they needed more seats, they added chunk, and in order to hold up the roof, they put two metal poles in the middle of the aisle. They called them Aaron and Herr, because they upheld the arms of Moses as he was praying. It was an absolutely ugly place that was broader than it was deep, and you really had to be a good preacher to make it in that place, I'll tell you. Out of that experience I go to Pittsburgh and I have this Epiphany moment. Some years later I was at McCormick Seminary at a seminar on the Apostles Creed and the great Lutheran theologian, Joseph Sittler said, "You know, you Presbyterian Reformed types always come at it through the head, the intellect, whereas the Catholic tradition comes at it through the senses, so that there is an intuitive grasping of the present reality of God. Smell and sight and touch - all of that which is the other path to God, and perhaps it is really the only path to God because God will not be known or experienced through rational deliberation. The mind simply breaks down at the point of the experience of God, at the holy and the sacred." Well, light bulbs went on in my head. I who had been bred on the Heidelberg Catechism that says that God will not have God's people taught through stained glass windows with images and dumb idols, but rather by the lively preaching of the word, suddenly saw that there was no need to choose between the lively preaching of the word and all of the magnificence of that Catholic tradition which is so rich in its artistic and aesthetic dimension. Then, in Leiden, the Netherlands a few years after that, I was wandering alone in the city where I had spent four years, and I wandered into the Hooglandse Kerk, a great old church that had been taken over by the Reformers in the sixteenth century from the Catholic tradition, and they scrubbed it clean of every sign of Catholic idolatry. And they had recently redone the church. There were clear glass windows, whitewashed walls, stone floor, and on a huge pillar hung a pulpit which screamed out of the Reformed tradition that it's the sermon, Baby! Around that pulpit there were folding chairs and it was sterile and the starkness of the sterility struck me, and I walked up the street and went into the one Catholic church in Leiden and felt like I was entering a warm womb. There with muted light and candles flickering and the chancel regaled with brass and gold and flowers, marble and granite - all of that inviting me in, embracing me, as it were, and the contrasting experience two blocks away reminded me of my Pittsburgh experience which I remembered sharply but had not reflected upon. But the © Grand Valley State University �The Art of Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 3 McCormick Seminary experience had been cause to reflect upon. Now with understanding I allowed myself to be invited in to that sacred and holy presence that was replete with such beautiful artistic expression. What I learned and what my experience has suggested to me is that the aesthetic is the vehicle for the experience of the holy. That beauty is the wing upon which the soul sours into the presence of God in such a way that no rational discourse can ever break the soul, because the presence of God is that which hits us at the subconscious level. It hits us in the depths of the soul. It is not a mind thing and it is not a head trip, for it blows the mind, the sacred and the Holy. Beauty and artistic expression is that which invites us into that experience. As I was thinking about these things, I was reminded of an article somebody gave me some months ago, and I had not thought about it in terms of what I am talking about this morning at all, but it is the story about new vestments being introduced to St. Mary the Virgin's, an Episcopal Church on 46th Street in New York City, a half block from Times Square. They say of this church – known as "Smoky Mary's" for its liberal use of incense, the church officially described as Anglo-Catholic – that it is about as close to Rome as a Protestant church can get. Its service is intoxicatingly ornate and draws a wildly diverse congregation of New Yorkers, black and white and everything else, uptown, downtown, out of town. It goes on to talk about a young man, Patrick Bowlin, who was a dressmaker, and who captured this vocation of making vestments and is totally committed to it and delighting in it. He made these vestments at Smoky Mary's. Frank Griswold, the head Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and two deacons stand regaled in absolutely magnificent vestments, gold and yellow silk, and on and on, but the fascinating thing to me as the story went on talking about vestments in terms of that about which we are talking today, one person is quoted as saying that it represents a real return to what we call the sacramentals, and he says the bare-bones, the Bible kind of thing, is not feeding the senses, so what you see is the church trying to appeal to the senses in the best sense of the word. They realize that liturgy and vestments are a way to inflame the senses, and these make another path to God. I thought, that is exactly what I am trying to say. A worship filled with artistic expression, with appointments, space, with care given to every detail, and then to inflame the senses in order that, through inflamed senses, we might find a path to God, for I am convinced that it is the aesthetic dimension that can best introduce us to the presence of God. It is a tricky area. There are diverse people and diverse cultures and diverse religious traditions, and we are talking about style and taste, and there can be a lot of arguments about this, but I want to give a word for the kind of experience that we have cultivated here over the years and continue to cultivate. Not that it is the only way. When I watch late-night TV, I see what Harvey Cox says in his book, © Grand Valley State University �The Art of Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Fire From Heaven, that Pentecostalism is sweeping the globe and when I see hands raised and eyes glazed over, people in another dimension, I have to admit that that is so foreign to me, yet I don't want to denigrate it, although I do feel somewhat like the story of the gentleman who was about three rows from the back who said, "Amen!" as the preacher was speaking. Five minutes later, another "Amen!" a little louder, and the usher came up and tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Sir," and the man said, "I've got religion!" The usher said, "You didn't get it here." Now, not to denigrate it, but to acknowledge a wide spectrum of opinion and taste and style. Nonetheless, I want to say that the aesthetic dimension can be that vehicle, that means by which the soul is lifted into the presence of God, and again, more than the intellectual discourse of the pulpit, it is the being "washed over" by that beauty, that beautiful expression in any one of its forms that allows us almost subconsciously to experience the holy and the sacred and God. Dorothee Solle, a German theologian, activist, has written a book recently about mysticism and her own quest, and she said, "I have two women friends who recently left for the Catholic Church and I don't approve of that. I don't believe anyway in these divisions among churches and why would they go to the Roman Catholic Church that says no to women, no to humane sexuality and no to intellectual freedom?” Then she says that, in the liturgy of the Catholic Church, they found God, and isn't that what we all are seeking, finally, the kind of experience that would leave us, on occasion, limp, the kind of experience that would enable us to go out, perhaps not making any rational statement about the experience, but just that something had washed over us that had renewed and restored us. I don't know, I don't want to say this in opposition to intelligent and mindful religion. The best statement of it – I have it in the insert for you; you can read it when you go home – by John Knox, the English theologian in his little Christology, where he says that symbols can lose their power sometimes because the symbol no longer grasps us with its truth claim; the truth no longer resonates in us. Then he says the heart cannot long rest in what the mind finds false. But, he goes on to say, "I'm not setting the mind and the heart over against each other, but the mind in its quest comes finally to the experience that blows the mind." It is not as though it is a bypass of the mind or the understanding. What we do here is not without intelligible design. It is just that what we are seeking here must move us beyond our mind's limits so that the mind is expanded and stretched, literally, until our minds are blown with the glory and the presence of God, and that kind of worship is more than simply fulfilling the Sunday obligation. That becomes something for which one hungers and thirsts. You can test it by whether or not in the experience of it there is a sense of human wholeness and humane existence that lodges in your soul and whether going out you are marked by the fruit of the Spirit which is love and joy © Grand Valley State University �The Art of Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 5 and peace and longsuffering and gentleness and patience and kindness. As we come together, this assembly demands artful worship full of beautiful art in order that our soul may have wings to soar into the presence where the angels chant, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty! Heaven and earth are full of your glory." © 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 III Scripture Text Psalm 148, Revelation 4 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020609 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-06-09 Title A name given to the resource The Art of Worship 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 9, 2002 entitled "The Art of Worship", on the occasion of Pentecost III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 148, Revelation 4. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Experience of the sacred Worship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c91becd94eb7c5201e4ebaeb4ec332a3.mp3 fdef8a22e1e5b03f29d060063f63a15e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d85eb70797e8781dcc2ad21441ad1215.pdf 819e20daffac505eca7120eb6021bb1b PDF Text Text The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Memorial Day Weekend Trinity Sunday Scripture: Jeremiah 9:17-24; Acts 7:51-60; John 14:15-20 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan May 26, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon On the calendar of the Church, this is Trinity Sunday, always the Sunday after Pentecost. After going through the cycle of the life of Christ and celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Church has paused to take in its image of God - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. On the calendar of the nation, this is Memorial Day, the day in which we remember those who have paid the supreme sacrifice in order to preserve the freedoms and the liberties that we enjoy as a people. On this Trinity Sunday, which is also Memorial Day weekend, I want to suggest to you that the liberty and the freedom and the blessings that have endured in us as a people are rooted in the Triune God, that the vision and the values that have flowered and blossomed into this marvelous civilizational opportunity that is ours is not an accident, but a consequence of the vision and values that are rooted in God. Not accidental. To try to combine these themes this morning, let me suggest that the Trinity has become simply a dogma for us. It is a code word; it is that which marks the Christian tradition, a doctrine, and is largely incomprehensible to the vast majority of Christian people, incomprehensible because it was forged in language and philosophical conceptuality that we no longer share. It is no longer meaningful to us, and so, what we do is repeat the formula and, as I said, it has become a code word. It is a symbol for the God that Christians imagine. But it is hardly understood in the terms in which it was originally forged. And yet, the forging of it was very important because, through that very dogmatic structure down through the centuries, we have preserved that initial vision, that vision of God, the God revealed in Jesus and experienced in the ongoing presence of the Spirit. As a matter of fact, all religious experience is Trinitarian in form, for we cannot understand God or comprehend God. God is a Mystery, but that Mystery takes on a face. It takes on a form or a shape now and then, here and there, a shape, a face. Moses, perhaps, killing an Egyptian, seeing the abuse of his own people, fleeing into the wilderness, struggling, wrestling with the nature of the human condition, © Grand Valley State University �The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Richard A. Rhem Page 2 confronting a bush that burns and is not consumed, hears the voice of God and goes to lead the people of Israel out of bondage and into freedom. Moses becomes a founding figure, and the Exodus becomes a founding story, and a people, a community is shaped and a tradition is formed. And out of that tradition comes the Jew, Jesus, whom, encountered, caused those who knew him to say, "My God, this is indeed the embodiment of God. This is the face of God. In this one's face we see the heart of God." He was crucified, but they said, “You know, he lives. He is with us still - in the Spirit." And so, John, writing his Gospel some six decades after the event itself, trying to give expression to it, stammers and stutters when he says, "I am in the Father and the Father in me, and you in me and I in you..." This kind of religious gobbledygook - what does it mean, after all? Can you make any sense of it? Hardly, I think. Yet, one certainly gets the feel for what John was trying to say. He has Jesus speaking about the Father and he says, "I'll talk to the Father and have him send you another advocate, a helper, the Spirit of truth that will be with you." And then two lines later, he says, "I am coming to you. I won't leave you orphan, I am coming to you." Well, is the Spirit coming or is Jesus coming? I suppose that is what was being pointed at. The reality behind it was an ongoing experience of the presence of the Mystery that had taken concrete shape - whether in Israel as Torah or in the Christian movement as the continuing presence of the Risen Lord rooted in Israel, finding embodiment in Jesus, articulated in the Trinitarian dogma. All religious experience is that way - there is a Mystery, there is a concretion, and there is a personal experience, or presence. Stephen, having encountered Jesus, seeing God in Jesus, giving witness to his faith, enraging those who were listening, is set upon, and he has a vision to which he gives witness. The heavens open, the throne of God, the brightness, the glory, and Jesus ... Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, dying in the manner of Jesus with forgiveness on his lips. All religious experience is Trinitarian in form - a Mystery finds concretion and continues to be experienced as a personal spiritual reality, and, as a matter of fact, the history doesn't matter much once you "get it." I laughed a year or so ago when I heard on the radio about a Jewish rabbi in California who suggested to the Jewish community that there wasn't a shred of historical evidence for the Exodus. Well, they got as angry with him as some people have gotten with me. Misery likes company. I enjoyed that. But, as a matter of fact, what difference does it make if the values of human freedom and dignity that came to expression in the Exodus, if the understanding of God as the © Grand Valley State University �The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Richard A. Rhem Page 3 God who grounds human dignity and freedom, if that is grasped, if that is understood? It doesn't really matter if there was a Red Sea or not, or if the Sea of Reeds parted or not. And if what came to expression in Jesus, if what was embodied in Jesus is once grasped and one is grasped by it, then, if you're interested and curious you can ask about the historical Jesus, but as the philosopher Santayana said, when we have to do with poets and saints and heroes, that which comes to expression in them is a grace and a beauty and a truth that flows through them. They are the channels of it, they are not the source of it. They are simply the channels of it. And that which comes to expression through them, the truth, the beauty, the grace, is the thing in itself, and the historical data becomes as insignificant as William Shakespeare to the marvel of the drama, the plays which he offered, for you don't experience "Romeo and Juliet" or "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" and wonder about 0l' Will, for it is the truth, the aesthetic experience, it is that which moves us in the depths of which Shakespeare was but the channel, the container, as it were. So, on this Trinity Sunday, all religious experience is Trinitarian. I performed a wedding for a Jewish young lady yesterday, and in a prior interview of the bridal couple, she asked, "Do we need references to the Trinity?" I said, "No, God's enough." "But," I said, "as a matter of fact, your religious experience is Trinitarian," and it took her aback a little bit. But I think I convinced her, because that is the nature of religious experience. It is Trinitarian, because the deep mystery of God, the ground, the source, the creative center of all that is – for, after all, we didn't create ourselves, this cosmic process, this amazing venture of which we are a part, whatever its source, whatever its ground, whatever the creative process, whatever the creative interaction that moves it on – that Ultimate Mystery we call God. That God takes on a shape or a form or a face and continues to be experienced as an immediate spiritual reality, and that is the truth of the Trinitarian nature of religious experience. In Israel, it was all rooted for us, but it came to sharp focus in the face of Jesus, and continues to be experienced in the power of the Spirit. Thus, this Trinity Sunday we celebrate God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. That, for us, is a statement of our faith and I am suggesting that that is the root of our vision and our values. It is that which has shaped Western civilization. I think I can say that, without fear of contradiction, Western civilization is rooted in that kind of vision and those values that emanate from Hebrew prophets, from Jesus, from the articulation of the Nicene Creed, that creed that gives expression to the experience of Jesus who was the embodiment of the God of Israel. Look where it has gotten us. On this Memorial Day weekend we celebrate Western civilization in all of the awesome wonder that it is, all of the blessings that we have received, those blessings of political democracy, human freedom, the rule of law, pluralism - all of the wonder and all of the blessing of being a part of this Western civilizational grouping in this United States of America, which has blossomed and flourished, this society that was founded at the time when © Grand Valley State University �The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Richard A. Rhem Page 4 authoritarianisms of every sort were being thrown off. Although Western civilization is not synonymous with the separation of Church and State, that is the manifestation in this nation, and I would advocate that greatly, because any kind of religious authoritarian claim on a people, on a human spirit, tends to stunt and to stifle. But we have been free, free to dream, free to create, free to organize, to assemble, to worship. It is a magnificent vision, with marvelous values rooted in God, the God of Israel who took on human flesh in Jesus, who continues with us in the power and the presence of the Spirit. We are at the peak of our power. We have power to act unilaterally in the world. We have power to impose our will and to have our way. We are the mightiest nation on earth at this time, unchallenged by that which would take second place, and we are afraid. We are afraid because we have been faced with the reality of the fact that might and power cannot secure us, that billions spent in military armaments, that borders guarded and walls raised high cannot make us safe. We have become as a civilizational grouping and as a nation challenged by Islamic civilization in a clash of civilizations, not simply Islam as a religion, but thinking now in terms of those great civilizational groupings, we have been challenged and we are challenged. We have found that there is no safety in our might and our power, in our position or our prestige. Bernard Lewis, who teaches at Princeton and is purported to be the foremost authority on the Islamic culture, has written a book, What Went Wrong? It was published just months before 9/11. He does not blame the West or America for the situation of the Islamic civilizational grouping. He does not blame Israel. He gives a very careful, historically accurate analysis of the Islamic civilizational group at this time, and he concludes his study by saying, "If the peoples of the Middle East continue on their present path, the suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region." This was written months before 9/11. 'The suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region." There will be no escape from a downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, poverty and oppression culminating sooner or later in yet another alien domination. The suicide bomber, a metaphor for a whole civilization. Here we are at the peak of our power, with all of our might, and we are afraid, because we have learned the limits of securing our self in such a situation. Last week in our Perspectives discussion following the service, Tom Wright suggested that we are empire, and he said, "I hope that you will not have to learn the lesson that the British Empire learned after the 19th century's domination." Someone listening heard him say that we were evil empire. He did not say we were evil empire, he said simply we are empire. That really cannot be disputed. We are the dominant power in the world, and any power so dominate that it can impose its will and act unilaterally is empire. And an empire need not be evil. An empire need only to operate as an empire in order to create the kind of alienation © Grand Valley State University �The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Richard A. Rhem Page 5 that we have in our world today. The only possibility of resistance to empire is that revolt from weakness of which the suicide bomber is a metaphor. So, in this Memorial Day weekend, when our vision and our values rooted in the Triune God are under siege, how will we respond? It is a very complex situation, dear friends. You see, the vision and the values that we claim, that we hold, that have flowered so fruitfully in our midst are the vision and values that have emanated from below, from Israel. On the world scene, nothing. From Jesus, a Jew, crucified. We call ourselves in the West "Christian." That is our religious tradition. But, that which was embodied in humility, indeed, humiliation, poverty and alienation has flowered and blossomed until it is the professed creed of the mightiest nation on earth. It is one thing if you're wealthy. It is one thing if you are in poverty to suggest redistribution of wealth. It is one thing if you are small and without strength to suggest the sharing of power. It is one thing if you have no say to seek your place at the table and to claim that everyone should have a voice. But, what do you do when you rule the world and claim to be shaped, indeed, to have been shaped by the vision and the values of the God reflected in the face of Jesus? It is a very, very complex situation that we face. For, those who are poor and alienated and destitute and hopeless are not intrinsically virtuous. And we are not villains. But we are altogether human and the issue involves politics and economics, but finally it is not a political matter nor an economic matter. It is a moral question. What do you do if you follow Jesus? If you value the kingdom of God, the realm where God rules, what do you do when you are top dog? Or, is it top gun? How do you act? How do you respond? How do you address the wounds and the bleeding and the bruisedness of the human family? We can continue to be strong and mighty and as vigilant as possible, as long as possible. But empires rise and fall and the West will be no exception. Or, we might try some radical thing that has never been tried before - that is, from a position of strength with an authentic humility, asking what the moral solution to the ache of the world might be. And how we in our power, our might, our resource, might begin to make a difference that would drain off the hate and the resentment and begin to reconcile the alien nations, if indeed it might be possible to move toward human community. It is one thing when Jeremiah, simply a preacher in the midst of little Judah, speaks as the mouthpiece of God saying, "Let not the powerful trust in their power, nor the wealthy in their riches, but let them delight in this - that they know me, the God of steadfast love who delights in justice and in righteousness." It is one thing for Jeremiah in Judah. But, what if it were not some poor preacher, but some eminent figure who could capture the fascination of his people, this people, I believe, who are of good heart, far better than the system that they have put in place? What would it be if someone might rise to say, "It is time for us, from the peak of our power, to begin to take seriously the Triune God © Grand Valley State University �The Root of Vision and Values to Die For Richard A. Rhem Page 6 revealed in Jesus, that ultimate Mystery?" Oh, we speak about God, I know. We know so much about God. We are so confident and so familiar about God. It doesn't matter if you call it God. What we are talking about is that which is Ultimate. What I am asking is that which goes against the grain. But it is the grain of the universe, by God. © 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 Trinity Sunday, Memorial Day Weekend, Pentecost I Scripture Text Jeremiah 9:24 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-0-20020526 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-05-26 Title A name given to the resource The Root of Vision and Values To Die For Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 26, 2002 entitled "The Root of Vision and Values To Die For", on the occasion of Trinity Sunday, Memorial Day Weekend, Pentecost I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 9:24. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Embodiment Experience of the sacred Mystery Trinity https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/385cb28e46d27358f61bcce7985c22ac.mp3 c2885325e59b4c63e3c1e1dc2b299727 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fa38780b05fbe989a47b250b92dbfa02.pdf bdd945a7ca77fff6d5413ea73c7c6606 PDF Text Text What’s the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O’Donnell? Recognition of Colette Volkema DeNooyer Scripture: I Corinthians 13; Matthew 18:10-14, 19:13-16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan May 12, 2002, Eastertide VII Transcription of the spoken sermon Thirteen years ago when Colette joined the team, she used to chastise me a bit for the prosaic nature of the titles of my sermons, lacking all creativity and invitation, so I thought that, on this the day on which we honor her ministry as she lays it down, I should extend myself in finding an interesting title. After the long service last week, someone came up to me in the courtyard and said, "Dick, I'm going to cancel," and I thought, "Oh, no, I've lost another one." But, he said, "I'm going to cancel my trip up north because of the sermon title next week." Actually, the sermon title doesn't have anything to do with Colette. As a matter of fact, it flashed into my mind in a moment's time before this day was ever set as the day to honor her. It flashed into my mind in a moment, and I knew I had my Mother's Day sermon, and I even contemplated, when we determined this to be the day we should honor Colette, if I should change the sermon. But, on more reflection, I thought, "No, I think it fits." "What’s the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell?" Rosie O'Donnell, the talk show host on television, comedienne. I have never seen one of her programs; I know very little about her. My research assistant, Char Zoet, at the library, dug up all kinds of interesting information which saved me, having already proclaimed my determination to speak about Rosie O'Donnell. But, on one of those times that I moved from my loft through the bedroom and into the bathroom, which I do on occasion while Nancy is watching television (I say to her, "Are the Red Wings ahead," or "Are the Pistons winning?" or whatever, and then I retreat again to Jesus and the loft), but, on this particular evening, Diane Sawyer was interviewing Rosie O'Donnell, and I paused long enough to realize that I must sit down and listen, and I was deeply moved. I was touched, because I saw embodied the kind of love and grace that I wish were always the hallmark of the Christian community, for Rosie O'Donnell, in her interview with Diane Sawyer, was coming out of the closet and declaring herself to be gay, not in order that she might tell the whole world of her sexual orientation because she says, "It was never really a very big deal for me," but, she came out of the closet and on national television wanted to be known as a gay parent, and the reason she © Grand Valley State University �What’s a Holy Father To Do with a Mother Like… Richard A. Rhem Page 2 wanted to be known as a gay parent was that she has entered a crusade, a crusade that would help people to understand that to be a parent, to be a good parent, has nothing to do with one's sexual orientation. It happened that Rosie O'Donnell, who has adopted three children of her own, became aware of a situation in Florida where a family was being threatened by the Florida agencies that were going to take away a young man who had been with this couple for ten years. The couple has gathered together a family, five children, black and white, all five of them HIV positive. Diane Sawyer interviewed the children. They were well groomed and well spoken and obviously a tight family unit who gave every evidence of being very, very normal, and very much in love with their family, and with their two gay men parents. When Rosie learned that Bert, who had been with them for ten years, might be taken away because, in Florida, if you're gay, you cannot adopt, she went into the trenches, and she determined herself to say, "Look, I'm gay. I'm a gay parent, and I'm a good parent, and I care about children, and to discriminate against gay people as parents is to deny the hundreds of thousands of children who have no parents or home to call their own." Rosie one day saw the story of Amanda on television, a little five-year-old who had been raped and beaten. Through a long story to which I cannot go, she finally found this little girl in a home with twenty others from five to seventeen. She related to all of them, took a picture of each one, but finally was able to get aside with Amanda, giving her a Beanie Bunny, and then Amanda looked at her affectionately and asked, "What's your name?' Rosie said, "Roseann." Amanda said, "Amanda." As she went to leave, Rosie couldn't quite let her go, and so she said, "I have a gift for you," and Amanda lifted up her Beanie Bunny and said, "You have already given me a gift," and Rosie reached into her pocket and brought out a polished stone on which was inscribed, "Love." She said to Amanda, "Every time you see this stone, know that I love you and there are a lot of people that love you and care for you." What's the Holy Father to do with a mother like Rosie O'Donnell? I use the Holy Father, of course, only as a symbol of the Church. The poor man has enough on his plate at this time without having to deal with Rosie O'Donnell. But I use him as a symbol for the Church at large which finds it so hard to learn the lesson of the Apostle Paul who said that love is finally all that matters, and all that lasts eternally. As I thought of the love embodied in Rosie and her care and her compassion for children, it is a love unlike the saccharin, sweet, sentimentality of a Hallmark card, but it is the love that gets involved and engaged. It is the love whose passion is committed to justice and to the well-being of others, and in Rosie's case, to the well-being of children. I thought what better model on Mother's Day than to say, really, all that matters is love. That kind of love. And the reason I thought it would apply to Colette, as well, is because she was an "abused child." She had to go to Sunday School and © Grand Valley State University �What’s a Holy Father To Do with a Mother Like… Richard A. Rhem Page 3 Catechism, and like most of us, she suffered through that and she pledged to herself that she would do something better for her children. And so she created the Worship Center. She created all of the stories, the curriculum, and she perfected the method, and she blessed her children and the children of us all, and the children of hundreds of congregations scattered about whose leaders she has trained. It was because of her passion for children, her love for children that she gave of herself, her energy, her mind and her heart to the creation of this marvelous program which, although she lays down the mantle, will go on to continue to bless our children and our children's children, I trust. And then there was another reason … It is because beyond her skills as a Christian educator, Colette went on to further her education, to gain her ordination, and in our midst she has become a preacher extraordinaire, and she has preached intelligently and passionately and she has not backed away from being a prophetic voice in our midst. In the midst of the team, as well, she has spearheaded a programmatic dimension of this ministry, for example, with Peter Theune, inaugurating our ministry to people with homosexual orientation, leading to the ongoing program of the Circle of Friends and the creation here of a community that has lost its fear and, in love, has been able to embrace all people, so that we have the marvelous experience of seeing love literally melt barriers and build marvelous relationships in a community that has been able to move beyond bias and prejudice and fear and alienation and become, perhaps, just a little bit, the embodiment of what a Rosie O'Donnell is on the broader screen of the world today. And so, Colette has been creator of Worship Center, prophetic voice, but I suppose, finally, the storyteller with the children gathered 'round her, and the image with which we will always hold her is that marvelous image in the Gospel of Jesus who, when the disciples tried to push away the mothers with their children, Jesus said, "Let them come, for to such belongs the kingdom," and he took them on his lap and he blessed them. What's the Holy Father to do with a mother like Rosie O'Donnell? I don't really know, but this somewhat less than holy father would say, "Bless you, Rosie. Bless you, Colette. Thank God for you both." © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Mothers' Day, Eastertide VI Series Affirmation of ministry of Colette Volkema de Nooyer Scripture Text Matthew 19:14, I Corinthians 13:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020512 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-05-12 Title A name given to the resource What's the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 12, 2002 entitled "What's the Holy Father To Do With a Mother Like Rosie O'Donnell?", as part of the series "Affirmation of ministry of Colette Volkema de Nooyer", on the occasion of Mothers' Day, Eastertide VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 19:14, I Corinthians 13:13. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Empathy https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b6756f350c901602087936752f9ed00d.mp3 0be3395a052ea10dc37fe51409a36d59 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8c372f4b0a79fb260f517435ad75431b.pdf ec41033a47e9056c5f4e16799018ab55 PDF Text Text You Need Never Walk Alone Confirmation Sunday Scripture: I Corinthians 11:17-26; John 21:9-14 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan May 5, 2002, Eastertide VI Transcription of the spoken sermon Last week I suggested to you that I would hope that you are living your truth. The question was, "Whose Truth Are You Living? and I said I would hope you could answer me, "My truth." And yet, I am aware of the fact that, for most of us, life moves along. There is enough to detract us, enough to keep us occupied, and not many of us without some stimulus, pause long to ask ourselves the serious and ultimate questions of life: "Why is there something rather than nothing? Is this all there is? What does it all mean?" But life does have a way of catching up with us, and I have a theory that most of us don't probe those deep questions or think about them a great deal until life does catch up with us, and then some peak experience perhaps, or some diagnosis filled with terror, or crisis, causes us to ask, "What does it all mean?" The whys and the wherefores of our human existence remain, even for the most reflective life, a mystery and a question. I said last week I hope that you have moved to a point where you can say, "I'm living by a vision, by an insight, by an intuition that resonates with my own being. I have a sense of living my truth." But, I also indicated that one does not come to that in a vacuum. There is a tradition into which we are born. There is, for most of us, an orthodoxy of one sort or another in which we are schooled. Some of us who are older have been thoroughly schooled in it, and that tradition serves a purpose. It does become a scaffolding or the ladder by which we scale the various questions and issues of life to the point at which we can come to claim our own truth. On Confirmation Sunday we recognize that, as a community of faith, we do take seriously the traditioning that enables one finally to fly on one's own. At Christ Community we take that traditioning very seriously. We have our eighth grade class, some 20 strong at the 10 o'clock service, who will be given their candle. Here at Christ Community, at Baptism, as you know, we give to the parents a candle at the point of the infant's baptism with the suggestion that they light that candle on the anniversary of the baptism in order that they might tell their child about the story of their baptism and its meaning. But on Confirmation Sunday, we give our young people their own candle, and by means of that ritual, © Grand Valley State University �You Need Never Walk Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 2 symbolically, we are saying, "We have done what we could do, but now it is up to you to guard the flame of your faith and to keep it burning." In the hymn that we just sang there is that phrase, "When you go out where demons dwell." What parent has not been through the scary experience of launching a child, knowing that, finally, they have to go out on their own and the individuation process is such that we cannot guard them and keep them? We have to turn them loose. And so, symbolically in the Church, in this community, at least, that is what we are saying today. "Here is your candle. We have done what we could do." I think we do it well here, and Colette brought to us the Worship Center which is a nurture program for children, I believe, second to none, a program which has beautifully appointed space with great intentionality and a highly trained and dedicated team of teachers, ministers, celebrants. Colette has written the curriculum which we use here for three-year-olds through fifth graders, and Mary Ackerson has written it for the next three grades. I don't think any other congregations could boast that the curriculum that the children and youth are exposed to is as reflective of the understanding, the insight, the spirit, and the posture of the larger community. This is not something you go out and buy in some bookstore warehouse. This is not some commercially produced product that has to appeal across the spectrum of theological positions. This is a curriculum that nurtures our children in the finest and deepest insights and the spirit of this community. Perhaps most important, beyond all of that, is that intentional greeting of the child and in every way possible at every opportunity possible, to say to the child "God loves you. You are loved of God, and one day God will call you to be God's servant, helper in this world," that continuing positive regard that saturates our children as they go through. And we share the stories; we share the biblical stories told in wonderfully creative fashion, and the way of Jesus, the stories of Jesus, going through the life of Jesus as we in this setting go through the Christian Year. The children are invited to hear the story with the question, "I wonder," and that question or that questioning, wondering mode is followed through consistently into their adolescent years, so that our children are engaged, their imaginations are engaged, their minds are engaged. They are welcomed into the story and then invited to wonder about it. One has to be an old fossil like me who had it all the other way to appreciate the difference that that makes. For example, what is the catechism method? The catechism method is a method of questions. Well, you might say, that's just like the Worship Center, just like our youth classes, raising questions. But, there is this difference: In the catechism method, you are given the answers and you memorize the answers. I don't mean to demean that or denigrate that. After all, it has worked for generations. And certainly some of us who were persecuted thus had the lines of that tradition deeply, indelibly written on our being, and that is precisely why, for some of us, it has been so difficult to learn to fly, because we have earned with us the baggage that was loaded on us in the most caring and © Grand Valley State University �You Need Never Walk Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 3 loving fashion by those with the best of intentions. But, you do see the difference. Are you invited to wonder? Or, is the question raised to which you are given the answer to memorize? You can do that whole thing without thinking about it at all. You can go through that whole procedure without once asking, "But is it true? What does it really mean?" So, what I am saying this morning is that we have been serious about bringing our children and our youth to a point at which they have had a sense of being a part of a tradition, a thought-ful tradition, a tradition that has a point of view, an understanding, and I think, frankly, we have done it very, very well. I can say that without anything about myself because it is done totally apart from me. But I have never in all these years of my ministry known it to be done as well as it has been done here in the last dozen years. Today we say to our confirmands, "You have a candle now to nurture on your own. We have done our best to give you a sense, an identity, of who the community is in light of the larger tradition, and now you are prepared to find your way." What I really want to say to them, and I think that it has meaning for all of us, regardless of whether we stand to get our candle today or not, is that, "Although you're on your own and I hope you find your own truth, you need never walk alone." That's quite something other. You need never walk alone, because you belong, because you are a part of a family, because you are a part of a community. I think that is so terribly important. If we have done our job right, then those whom we launch will always feel some kind of a spiritual bond here. Ryan and Michelle Boeve will bring their newest child from Sarasota, Florida, to be baptized here. I don't know if you were here a year or so ago when Jim VanEenenaam brought his latest baby back and Peter Theune spoke then, talking about the miles and the geography, from California to Spring Lake Children's Moment here, and the reasons one would come back in order to celebrate that sacrament here. That sacrament of initiation brings one into a family and a community and one belongs, and in everything that we do, we try to say that. And where it is said and received successfully, there is a bond that is never broken. There is a community here and a family here and no matter how far you go, or wherever your journey takes you, you do belong. There is a rootedness here and an affectional bond, and a community of people who care and embrace. I think that is terribly important. I read the passages I did this morning because they are about the Eucharist, and in a few moments we will celebrate our Lord's Supper, or the Eucharistic Feast, and that meal is a sign of community, of family. Where is a family gathered best? Around the table. Where do the best things happen in a family? The family meal. And Jesus' ministry – There have been those who have looked at it all, and said, “You know, the very heart of his ministry and his life was that open table fellowship," and the point of it was that everyone was welcome to come, that there were no outsiders, the open table, a sign of the inclusion of the grace of God that was embodied in Jesus. That was his way. That was that which marked him. That was that which set him off from the religious establishment. That was one of © Grand Valley State University �You Need Never Walk Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 4 the factors, of course, that got him crucified. But, during the days of his ministry, he was constantly at table, breaking bread. We know the story of the Last Supper, or maybe it was a Passover meal. It was Passover time. The Gospels differ as to whether it was on the time of Passover or the day before, but it doesn't matter. He had a Last Supper, in any case, which was consistent with the practice of all of the days of his ministry, and it is that meal that we will remember in a few moments. But, it didn't stop there, for we have in Luke two instances of Jesus at table in resurrection appearances - the road to Emmaus and the story immediately following, when he was with the disciples. And then the little story in the 21st chapter of John's Gospel, which the scholars say was tacked on to the Gospel; it probably was not a part of the original. What that 21st chapter was about was who had authority in the leadership of the new community. I'm not interested in that, but I think it's a rather delightful picture to see the disciples back at their trade again, out fishing, Jesus on the shore saying, "Lads, have you caught any fish? Come and have breakfast." This was consistent with the whole pattern of his ministry that he took bread and fish and they had a meal which certainly had to be reflective of the meals they have had before, and of the Passover meal that he shared on the evening of his betrayal, and of course, in that early community some decades after his death and resurrection, as John was writing, it was reflective of that Eucharistic theme which was the meal that marked the family. It was not just an ordinary meal. It was a meal in which everyone was invited and everyone came on the same basis. That is why Paul scolds the Corinthians in the passage I read. He says, "Some of you, you 'haves' come and have a big feast, and the 'have nots' don't have anything." We know from the social context of the time, they were dirt poor. And so, there was a division within that early community in Corinth. There were those who had plenty who, with insensitivity, humiliated those who had nothing. Paul said, "You are not discerning the body of Christ. You are not eating and drinking worthily." You know what that meant to me when I was a kid and the communion service was held? It meant that some people were coming to the table without sin confessed. If you were raised a Scottish Presbyterian, you would have been introduced in a former century to the practice of "fencing the table." You get the image? Fencing the table was a preparatory service in which the congregation was confronted with all of the potential sin in their life, called to confess and to get right with one another, to come to the table with everything cleared, the accounts all cleared. That's what the preparatory service was about. As a child, I remember a wonderful pastor of my childhood who preached a great sermon, a preparatory sermon from the verse in the Psalm, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, he will not hear me," and if you don't think we went out of there in fear and trembling ... The sacrament was so holy that you couldn't approach it unless your hands were clean and your heart was pure. © Grand Valley State University �You Need Never Walk Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 5 Now, I don't know what Paul would have said about that. He probably would have said, "Well, that's a good idea." But, might he not have said the same thing he said to the Corinthians for another reason? Why are you making distinctions? Why are you making this a table of particularity rather than a table of universal access? Because, who is righteous? Who is ready to come to this table, standing in one's own righteousness? At Carl Juhl's funeral a little over a week ago, I was moved sitting here as Bob Kleinheksel was the Celebrant and he gave the invitation to the table. An invitation to the table at a funeral is always a delicate matter, because you have all sorts and conditions of humankind. You have rabid Baptists, serious Catholics, lapsed atheists, particularly when it's a Juhl funeral, what kind of mongrel folk will come? I was so moved at Bob who, I think in the inspiration of the moment, said, "Come to this table. Come, whoever you are. Come from wherever you are coming from. Come if you believe; come if you believe nothing; come if in this moment you want to experience solidarity with this family in this moment of grief and loss." We are so privileged, those of us who get to offer the bread and the cup. We get eye-to-eye and soul-to-soul contact. It is a moving experience. It is a table of the family, a table at which we belong, wherever we are in our journey, a table at which we belong. And so, you need never walk alone. Do you realize how radical that is? Do you realize what a far cry that is from institutional Christianity generally? Do you realize how risky that is? Do you realize how grace-full that is? How marvelously exciting that is? How beautifully it reflects Jesus? You belong here and wherever you go, you can always come home here, and the table will always be set. You need never walk alone. © 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 Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide V Scripture Text I Corinthians 11:17-26, John 21:9-14 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-0-20020505 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-05-05 Title A name given to the resource You Need Never Walk Alone Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 5, 2002 entitled "You Need Never Walk Alone", on the occasion of Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Corinthians 11:17-26, John 21:9-14. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f142ce0c49cf11ec3397789f207754c2.mp3 3e838d2c5ed35dd3e1ae43db9bbb76e1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/faa2ff819626dc6961d94d97b38d90ac.pdf 38f85dfca1a2eed1b486890f39d2bdd3 PDF Text Text Whose Truth Are You Living? Eastertide V Scripture: Philippians 3:4-11; 4:10-14; Matthew 28:1-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan April 28, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon On Easter I gave you the analogy of the caterpillar and the butterfly, the butterfly, of course, the prime symbol for Easter and for resurrection. I mentioned that the caterpillar takes from the egg certain cells and those cells have within them the blueprint for the legs and the wings of the butterfly, and at a certain point in the development of the caterpillar, those cells begin to create disks within the creature which are perceived by the immune system of that creature as being alien and foreign and therefore are attacked, but eventually they overcome. The zoologist calls those cells imaginal cells, a wonderful name, imaginal cells. They imagine within themselves what that caterpillar can become, and when they finally overcome the resistance of the immune system, the caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly that, in all of its beauty, flies away in freedom. That analogy, of course, is received on Easter Sunday as an analogy of that transformation that occurs at the point of our death. Certainly it is a beautiful analogy for that possibility, that transformation about which I remain agnostic, because who knows what kind of transformation that might be? This morning I want to point out what I really intended to point out but probably didn't have the time or didn't have the presence of mind to do, and that is that as the Easter message title was "Just Imagine the Real Miracle of Easter," I want to point out that that analogy is apropos, as well, for the possibility in our present existence to come to new insight, to come to transforming understanding, to come to a new way of being, to be given the gift of eyes to see and ears to hear, and to see the same things we've always seen, only to see them in a new way such that it is transformative of our life and of our being. So, I raise the question this morning in order to get at that - "Whose Truth Are You Living?" An intentional question - whose truth are you living? Not "Whose Truth Do You Believe?" but whose truth are you living? In other words, what is the vision that has informed your life? What is at the center of your passion, what creates the life map, the sense of orientation for your ordinary days and for those crisis periods that come now and again? What is that at the center, the core of your being? Whose truth are you living? © Grand Valley State University �Whose Truth Are You Living? Richard A. Rhem Page 2 That question is a question intended to illicit an answer from you which, if I were so lucky, would be "my truth." Whose truth are you living? Tell me you're living your truth. Perhaps that seems a bit presumptuous. Maybe that even feels arrogant to you. Live my truth? My truth? Who am I, after all? My truth? I'm a part of a long tradition. Perhaps in answer to my question, rather than saying, "My truth," you might say, "I'm Christian," or "I'm Muslim." Or you might get more particular, you might say, "As a Christian, I'm Protestant." If you're really picky, you might say, "I'm a Lutheran or a Methodist or a Presbyterian." In other words, we define ourselves often in terms of a group with which we are affiliated. We gain our identity through that group-think which has formed and shaped us, the community of which we are a part, and if you would say to me this morning some answer like that, not "My truth," but "The Christian tradition," then I think you would be in good company, most likely with the vast majority of folk who would so define themselves in terms of some such community affiliation. I must say that is not all bad because if you would have answered me, "I live by my truth," you would only have come to your truth through one of the great traditions. Our truth does not emerge in a vacuum. We are shaped and formed, and that is why, in a community like this, we nurture our children and we shape our youth. We have a responsibility to pass on a tradition which has been a positive tradition, a positive power and shaping force in our lives. It has given us order. It has given us some sense of the meaning of life, of the direction of life. It has spoken to us of God and of humankind and of history and culture, and it has helped us to find our way in the passages of life. So, don't hear me denigrate the tradition and the respective traditions, and even the narrowing down of those traditions into creedal forms and confessional groups, for all of us, finally, will have to come in that way if we would come to our own personal place to stand to say, "I stand in my truth. This is my vision. I have seen something and I live by it and its illumination floods my life." Nonetheless, it is possible to move beyond that group identity to a personal vision which can be absolutely transforming and liberating, and maybe if I said it against its opposite, it will make some sense. Recently someone put in my hands a magazine called Islam, and this very nice glossy magazine had on the cover, "Discovering the Truth: What Islam Stands For," and when I went to the lead article, it gives some of the history of Mohammed. It was during one of those times in a cave that God sent his first revelation to Mohammed. Mohammed was now the final messenger of God and would be used to deliver the universal message to all humankind. The Archangel Gabriel came to Mohammed and commanded, "Read." Mohammed, terrified, replied, "I'm not a reader," for he could neither read nor write, as literacy where he lived was rare. The angel took hold of him, squeezed him with incredible force, released him and repeated the command, "Read." Mohammed repeated himself and once again the angel squeezed him until Mohammed thought he could bear it no longer. After the © Grand Valley State University �Whose Truth Are You Living? Richard A. Rhem Page 3 third time, Mohammed felt the intense ringing of bells and heard Gabriel recite the literal word of God, words so powerful that it felt like they were inscribed on his heart, "Read, in the name of your Lord who created you." He ran from the cave in terror, trying to escape the intense and frightening experience, but everywhere he looked on the horizon, he saw Gabriel. He could not escape, but he had already been chosen. Over a period of twenty-three years, the revelation continued to come. It is a magazine like Christianity Today or a house organ like The Banner of the Christian Reformed Church or The Church Herald of the Reformed Church. It is very nicely done and it presents the truth of Islam while it says "Discover the Truth: What Islam Stands For." And then it gives accounts like this and I was reminded as I read it of much Christian literature that assumes again, quite naturally, this is the truth. Gabriel did visit Mary, the virgin Mary. Do you believe that? If you believe that, do you believe this? If you believe this, then there is a revelation beyond what is here, a final revelation, a final testament. The respective religions claim to have the truth and so I say, "I'm a Muslim," or "I'm a Christian," then my truth is defined for me. There is a dogma, there is a teaching. It is all there in creedal expression and confessional statement, in ritual form. All of the accoutrements of the religious experience of the respective traditions, all of them assume a kind of literality about their truthfulness and its congruence with reality as it is. So, if you belong to such a group, you don't have to have your own truth. You could have group-think. Now, once again to set this over against what I want to get at this morning. I often have people say to me, "We don't believe that!" Oh, don't we? Who is we? We don't believe that, or we believe so and so. We do? As a group, as a community. Have we all thought it through? Have we all come to a personal appropriation of that community expression? Hardly. We find our identity in that group connection, just like we find our identity in the U.S. of A. or the Red Wings who won again last night. We get our identity out of that kind of group affiliation and we simply become a part of it, and I want to suggest to you this morning that there is the possibility of a transformation when one can move beyond that group-think, beyond that traditional statement, to one's own truth, to one's own vision. There is the possibility of finding one's being transformed here and now, coming to that epiphany saying, "Oh, I see!" To have eyes to see and ears to hear the same old thing in a brand new way, which can be transformative. Paul was such a person. You may say, "Oh, yes, Paul. Thank you very much, I'm not Paul. I'm never going to be knocked off my horse by a blinding light from heaven. I'm just ordinary. Don't push me too much." But, think of Paul. Of course, Paul was a religious genius. I think Paul was one of those special vessels, one whose epiphany becomes epiphanic for a whole community of people who probably more than Jesus is responsible for the shape of the Christian faith and Christian tradition. Paul, and I read his little © Grand Valley State University �Whose Truth Are You Living? Richard A. Rhem Page 4 autobiographical piece, was deeply traditioned. He had the right connections, the right parents, the right bloodlines, the right sacramental ritual discipline, the right affiliation in terms of Pharisee concern for the serious observance of the law, engaged and zealous, so he confesses, "I persecuted the Church." In terms of being responsible to that tradition that he had embraced, blameless. He sets all that forth because he says, "I set it all to the side, because of this transforming vision that I had." I simply lift Paul up as one who was so deeply traditioned, but by the grace of God was able to move out of the hedgerows and the binding narrowness of a strong tradition into a grand and glorious freedom that enabled him to soar. Paul experienced the transformation such that it knocked his socks off, and perhaps that is rare, but I hold him up as an example of what can happen and to make the point that all of that tradition, all of that structure, all of that ritual, all of those creedal statements and confessional expressions - all of it is the scaffolding through which and by which the building is erected. And all of it is good and all of it is valuable and all of it is of worth, because you can't erect the building from ground up without all of that paraphernalia, and neither can you come to your truth, to your personal vision, to that which you'd die for because it enables you to live. You cannot come to that, either, without the help and the aid of all of the agencies of the religious experience. All of those things are simply the means to the end of the vision of God that sets you free. That is the transforming thing of Paul. It was not a matter of Paul, the Jew, becoming a Christian. There wasn't even Christianity at the time. Paul was born a Jew and died a Jew as Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew. This was not a conversion from one religion to another. This was a conversion about the understanding of religion, that religion is not a burden to be borne, not a routine to be followed, an obligation to be executed, but religion, all of it, is to be entered into and practiced in order that we might be set free from religion, in order that we might play fast and loose with it, in order that we might live lightly with it, valuing it for what it is and continuing to make it available in order that it might continue to be the agent of nurture and formation, but then, to recognize that it can be shuck off in order that one can have wings to soar. A pastor is crazy to tell his people that. The philosopher George Santayana wrote this marvelous statement: Ultimate insights (now, that's what we are talking about) have a tendency to undermine the orthodox approaches by which they have been reached. Wow! Did you get that? Ultimate insights have a tendency to undermine the orthodox approaches by which they have been reached. The saint pulls his ladder up with him into his private heaven. I get the vision. I see it. I'm thankful for all of the accoutrements of that structure, the community that has brought me to the point where I can fly, and then I pull my ladder up into my private heaven and I don't tell you about it, because otherwise you might think you don't need me © Grand Valley State University �Whose Truth Are You Living? Richard A. Rhem Page 5 anymore. The community of the faithful on whose sturdy, dogmatic shoulders he has climbed must not be deprived of the means of following his example. In other words, I have to be very careful to talk to you about my truth and to suggest for you your truth, because it is the sturdy shoulders of the dogmatic formulas upon which I have climbed to my vision, and if I undermine the sturdy shoulders of the dogmatic tradition, how will you join me in your private heaven? Now, of course, I only do this because I can trust you with it. I only do this because you are a mature community. I only do this because somewhere there has to be a community that is honest about the fact that all religious practice is valuable and relative, important and non- essential, and all of it is for the end and the aim of a vision of God that transforms human life and allows community to be a community of peace and reconciliation. Some years ago, The Economist magazine had a special edition on God, and there was a statement in it which I never forgot. It went like this: The trouble with the world is that there are people who believe they understand God perfectly and they meet other people who think the same way, only differently. Is that a picture of our world today? While it is necessary, in the nurture and the formation of children and youth, and adults, to create the possibility for the probing of reality, of God, of grace, of meaning through structures that have stood the test of time, it is also high time that as a Church we get honest. I suppose part of it is all of this terrible struggle in the Catholic Church right now, and all of this language about the Holy Father and all of the folderol about the robes and braids and miters, and I see all of that and I think, "Religion institutionalized is a sickness." But, I don't know how else to create the possibility of you coming to your own truth unless we continue to think, probe, worship, engage in our ritual, and then trust that now and again, here and there, someone will say, "Ah, I see! I see! I see!" And one or two a year makes it all worthwhile © 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 Eastertide IV Scripture Text Philippians 3:4-11, 4:10-14, Matthew 28:1-10 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-0-20020428 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-04-28 Title A name given to the resource Whose Truth Are You Living? 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 28, 2002 entitled "Whose Truth Are You Living?", on the occasion of Eastertide IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Philippians 3:4-11, 4:10-14, Matthew 28:1-10. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Eastertide Transformation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/50168e138cc1508f284362f6ae3bd448.mp3 de7285d250ff91273ba5132e424eff69 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/57d8d4e08dd866182f5ee8f075fcd352.pdf 589c899886aa6c697c6d3eaa184a7e7b PDF Text Text Two Understandings – When Friends Disagree Eastertide II Scripture: Galatians 2:11-14; Luke 24:28-43 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan April 7, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon It must be obvious to everyone that this world needs to learn to engage in conversation and dialogue to be honest with each other and to listen to each other, in order that we might live in peace. Our world is breaking apart because we can't speak to each other or hear each other. I am using this occasion, the week after Easter, to think about the resurrection from two perspectives, because in May we are having two scholars come our way who differ on their understanding of the resurrection. And they are coming in order to stimulate conversation among the faith community of western Michigan, to be a model for a manner in which such conversation can take place. Marcus Borg, who has been here a couple of times and is a real friend of this congregation, will be joined by N. T. Wright, who is an excellent scholar and who happens to be a very good friend of Marcus. N. T. Wright is the Canon of Westminster Abbey. If you watch the funeral on Tuesday of the Queen Mum, I am wondering whether N. T. Wright may be a part of that, since he is the Canon of that great cathedral in London. They were in school together at Oxford and became friends, respecting each other, holding each other in high esteem, and yet differing in their perspectives. They become a good model for a way in which religious people can differ with one another and yet not break community, and converse with one another and seek to deepen the understanding one of another and to enhance that understanding. N. T. Wright is a rather traditional, evangelical scholar. He is an excellent scholar, but his position is traditional and evangelical, it is what probably you grew up with, what I grew up with, the kind of position that I preached for many, many years. Marcus Borg represents a position, an understanding of the resurrection or a biblical interpretation which takes into account the developments of modernity and critical studies of scripture. Anytime you have a difference in your understanding of the resurrection or any question, you can be sure it goes back to a difference in understanding of biblical interpretation. © Grand Valley State University �Two Understandings: When Friends Disagree Richard A. Rhem Page 2 The book that Marcus and Tom Wright wrote together, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, has chapters, each of them contributing a chapter, on, for example, The Resurrection, the Virgin Birth, Is Jesus God?, What Difference Does It Make?, and so forth. It is a very interesting dialogue they carry on between them. When I read N. T. Wright, I read my past. When I read Marcus Borg, I read someone who has taken account of the critical studies of scripture and the whole drift of the post- Enlightenment world that seeks to understand phenomena apart from the miraculous or the interventions of some supernatural incursion into this world. And so, obviously for me, I understand, I stand with Marcus Borg, but I respect N. T. Wright as probably as fine a spokesperson as one could have of that traditional point of view. Just to have them speaking together and expressing their differing perspectives brings before us a model of conversation and understanding that I think is very positive, for it is possible to differ with another without writing the other off or living in alienation and separation. We don't do that very well in the religious world. God knows we've not done that very well in the church. Congregations have been split; denominations have been formed over lesser differences than the differences between N. T. Wright and Marcus Borg on the resurrection. To hear them, to watch them, to observe them relating to one another, in this case, in the pages of this book, becomes a lesson, a model, for how we can engage one another and respect one another, learn from one another, and continue in relationship, even though we understand that we differ in our perspectives and in our interpretations. As I said, N. T. Wright has a traditional view of the resurrection. If you would read the chapter in the book, The Meaning of Jesus, that he writes on the resurrection, you would find him insisting on some kind of bodily physicality as a sign or as a mark of resurrection. He is a very bright man and he understands the issues clearly, and he is careful, and so he is careful to indicate that he is not talking about the resuscitation of a corpse, obviously. Nonetheless, he wants to insist on the necessity of the empty tomb; for N. T. Wright, if the tomb is not empty, there is no Easter. There has been no resurrection. Now, Marcus Borg, on the other hand, says the empty tomb is a matter of indifference. He doesn't care if it is empty or not. If the bones, the skeletal remains of Jesus should be found, through DNA tracing sometime, Marcus wouldn't care, because, for him, the resurrection is not about a corpse coming to life, but a life in God, a spiritual existence that is still experienced as a presence among those who knew Jesus and followed him. Marcus loves to go to what is also my favorite resurrection story, the Emmaus Road, two men journeying from Jerusalem on Easter. They are sad of heart because of the events of Good Friday, and they are joined by a stranger whom they do not recognize. As readers, we know that it is Jesus. He says, "Why are you sad of heart?" They say, "Well, where © Grand Valley State University �Two Understandings: When Friends Disagree Richard A. Rhem Page 3 have you been?" And then he begins to speak to them about the scriptures, to interpret the scriptural tradition that what has happened is exactly what would have been expected in the prophetic books, and so forth. They come to the village and it is getting toward evening, and he makes as though he would go on, and they say, "Come in to us," and so he comes into their home, he acts as the host, he blesses the bread and breaks it and gives it to them, and "poof," he is gone. But in the breaking of the bread, they recognize him, and they say, "Now that we think of it, did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us along the way?" It is a beautiful story, reminding us, of course, of the experience of the Eucharist. Luke is writing this Gospel story some 50 years after the events. There is a congregation, a community to whom he is writing, a community, obviously, that shares the Eucharist. What Luke is saying to them is that the presence of the living Lord is experienced in the community in the breaking of bread. The sacramental nature of the Church is the medium by which the risen Christ is experienced in the community. There is no body there. They don't recognize this person. Obviously, this isn't the corpse coming out of the grave. It is a symbolic metaphor. It is a beautiful, beautiful story. If only Luke would not have given us the next paragraph, because now they run back to Jerusalem and meet with the disciples and a few others on Easter night, and they say, "The Lord was made known to us," and they learn that Peter also had an experience, and now they are gathered there and "poof," there he is again. But, now N. T. Wright is smiling all over the place because now this risen one seems to want to underscore a certain physicality. Even though he came "poof” into the room, nonetheless, he says, "Handle me." And then he says, "Do you have anything to eat?" So now we are dealing with the kind of physicality that is other than that of the Emmaus Road story. Well, Marcus Borg would say that is a later edition that indicates a time when faith was being tested and there was a tendency to speak about a ghost-like existence, but lacking reality, and so there was a kind of concreteness that was shadowed forth in this story in order to say, "Look, this thing is real this substance here." Well, the biblical scholars can talk back and forth, and some of you are in one paragraph and some of you are in another, and that is perfectly all right. That is the way it should be. But, as a matter of fact, both Tom and Marcus would say that Easter is the originating event of the Church and that Easter, in its summary, is Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord, that the experience of Jesus post-crucifixion, the experience, whether it was in some kind of story, some kind of appearance such as Luke records here in Emmaus, or in Jerusalem, or whether, whatever it is, there was a community of people that gathered post-crucifixion that said, "Jesus lives." And believing that Jesus was alive, that Jesus had not simply died and was gone, they said Jesus was right. This was God's vindication of the way of Jesus, of the life of Jesus, of that which Jesus embodied, of that which came to expression in Jesus. © Grand Valley State University �Two Understandings: When Friends Disagree Richard A. Rhem Page 4 And so, what difference does it make whether the tomb is filled with the remains of Jesus, or the tomb is empty, If there is a community of people that are united in the fact that what was embodied in Jesus is a way of life and grace? I cited last week that paragraph about how the caterpillar is transformed into the butterfly. The caterpillar carried with it from the egg certain cells. The zoologist calls them imaginal cells. Imaginal. I love it. Those are the cells that have the blueprint of the butterfly. Those cells have the genes for legs and for wings, and that old caterpillar, scrounging around on the ground, suddenly finds something happening to its physical being that at first is attacked by the caterpillar's immune system as something foreign but, eventually the new take over and there emerges the butterfly, because that caterpillar was not made to crawl, but to fly. It was not made to be a fuzzy worm, but a multi-colored butterfly in the sky. Now, if the transformation takes place, what does it matter what the process is? If the reality is there, then what is the big deal about the historical details that surround it, for one a literal story of a body coming out of a tomb, for another, a spiritual transformation, but for both, a transforming presence that is a sign that in this cosmic journey of ours there is a bias toward life, creativity. If one comes to that conclusion, then one can allow that another may come by it in another way. Why start a new church? Why walk out on the sermon? Why begin a new denomination? Now I don't mean to say that distinctions are not important and differences cannot be significant. Paul, for example, a Jew who was convinced that the way of Jesus was dangerous, was undercutting the traditions of Israel and therefore had to be stamped out. Paul has an experience, a vision. He is blinded. He contemplates. He is turned around 180 degrees, and he becomes the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul who was on the way to stamp out the Way becomes the one who says in his transforming experience, “This must be God's move to include the nations, the Gentiles." Paul never became anything else than a Jew and Paul never rejected his Jewish religious faith. Paul was a Jew; Jesus was a Jew and they, understood the God of Israel to be the only God there was, but what Paul saw now was the possibility of all people coming into the relationship and the covenant community of this people of Israel. As Paul said, "You know what? They don't have to become Jews. The grace of God is sufficient. They can come directly to God without coming by way of Moses with circumcision and dietary laws and all of that. For Paul, that was a transforming experience. That was a total change of paradigm. It didn't have to be another religion. It was simply the same God of Israel embracing all by grace. Well, what about the rest of Jesus' Jewish disciples? What about Peter, for example? Well, Peter had an experience, too, at the house of Cornelius. He has a vision, "Go preach in Cornelius’ house, the Roman centurion." He is preaching and the Holy Spirit falls upon that house and he says, “O my God, now what?" Now, they got it, too, but Peter was not the man that Paul was, with all due © Grand Valley State University �Two Understandings: When Friends Disagree Richard A. Rhem Page 5 respect to the Roman Catholic Church. Paul saw through. Paul glimpsed grace. Paul saw something new. Peter granted it, but it wasn't the passion of his life. And so, now they are out in the mission field, out in Galatia, in the community that had started as a result of Paul's preaching, and these are Gentile people now. It is not kosher. The table is not kosher. That's okay with Peter. Peter intellectually knows the truth. It doesn't matter. It's a religious thing. Religious things don't matter. They're optional. You choose them, or they choose you, and you follow them and that is fine. But, they are not absolutes. It’s not as though a lightning bolt is going to hit you. And so, Peter has ham and buns in Galatia. But then, somebody comes from Mother Church in Jerusalem, some of James' people, and Peter sidles past the table with the ham and buns, and he moves over to the kosher table. Paul says, "Peter, you’re wrong. You're not wrong to stay kosher. Stay kosher, if that is your choice. But, don't eat one way one day and another way another day because the food is there. Have integrity and authenticity in your person. And so Paul confronts a friend, not about whether he is right or wrong, but about the consistency of behavior. And so, I believe, in the church, as well. It is not as though we need to agree on a lot of things, but the thing we need to be able to do in the community of faith is to talk about it and to move for integrity of understanding and action, so that where our perspectives differ, fine. That's okay. But, is there enough that unites us that is common that we can celebrate together so that we don't break community? If it is to be authentic community, then we are also able to confront issues and be honest one with another in order that it may be an authentic community, because you see, the human experience is the experience of being rooted in history and, therefore, marked by limited understanding. And that limited understanding means that there are no absolutes. There may be an absolute, but every human perspective is relative, and every human understanding is a partial and tentative understanding on the way, hopefully, to fuller understanding. And so it is in the church. Peter could have stayed Jewish. Israel is ongoing. Israel lives today. There would not have been any problem with Peter continuing his Jewish faith. Paul's point to him was don't equivocate between the two. Don't be hypocritical. Be honest in your faith and in your behavior. Friends can differ, and those differences can be argued and can be grounded and founded and legitimate. There is no one to say it is this way and no other way is possible. But, when we get an insight, as Paul did, when there is a breakthrough, we ought to be able to bring it to expression and talk about it. For example, western values in our world - can we talk about them? What about that which looms on the horizon, the possibility of civilizational clash? Are we able to express our values in the most articulate and persuasive way possible, without having to kill one another? © Grand Valley State University �Two Understandings: When Friends Disagree Richard A. Rhem Page 6 What about in the Church, for example? In the question of sexual orientation, we begin to understand some things. We understand things about the human creature. We understand the diversity of creation. We understand that this is not a matter of choice, but is a given. Then, what is the Church to do? To go on with its bias and its prejudice? Damning and separating people and cutting them out? Of course not. And if the Church does that as an institution, it has to be addressed. The point has to be made so we can be engaged in conversation and dialogue, not to break community, but in order to make community honest and authentic and open. There is no party line here and I value the diversity of understanding and perspective. Don't expect the pulpit to dot every i and cross every t and be able to embrace it all. I have a point of view and I have a responsibility to make it as clear as I can, and I will. But I promise you, as well, that I'll listen and we can continue to talk about these things together. If you'd like a shot at it, come on Wednesday night. We can have a good free-for-all about six weeks in a row with differing perspectives authored by two friends who come at it differently, but in the exchange, help all of us to come to a clearer understanding of where we are and why. God knows the world needs conversation, or we will kill each other. References: Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright. The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. © 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 Eastertide I Scripture Text Ecclesiastes 3:3-8, Galatians 2:11-14, Luke 24:28-42 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Marcus J. Borg, N.T. Wright. The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, 1999. 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-0-20020407 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-04-07 Title A name given to the resource Two Understanding When Friends Disagree 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 7, 2002 entitled "Two Understanding When Friends Disagree", on the occasion of Eastertide I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ecclesiastes 3:3-8, Galatians 2:11-14, Luke 24:28-42. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Eastertide Inclusivism Transformation