28 24 1045 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b68c40c3a6d092a43a7f4a6fd26fa2f9.mp3 9858126fbadf0754e18a2d570676c452 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d584cb5944a406c0aaa5a5e948f9c3f0.pdf 979fd549b9b8f8a08e0e6af3d610b65f PDF Text Text Suffering: Is It Punishment? From the Midweek Lenten series: Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering Job: 8:1-16; 21:7-27; 22:1-5; 23:1-10; 42:7-9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan March 10, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon The lesson from the scripture tonight is a collation of passages from the Book of Job. I am going to suggest that you take the bulletin home and read the entire text from your Bibles at home. But tonight, I invite you to listen as I read from a translation by Stephen Mitchell. His book, entitled The Book of Job, has an introduction and then a translation of the dialogues found in Job. It's very well done, and I hope to weave together these readings to make some things clearer. As we said last week the Book of Job has a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue and the epilogue, if they were put together, would make their own story. That story is a very ancient story from the region of Mesopotamia that dealt with a righteous sufferer who experienced terrible calamity and yet who was very patient, blessed God, and then had his fortunes restored. That old story, which would have been readily recognized by those who first heard or read the book of Job, became the occasion for the biblical writer to address the question of suffering. The author has inserted something new between the prologue and the epilogue – a Job much less compliant in the face of suffering. The main body of the biblical story consists of Job's complaint; the responses by his three friends, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar, and then a young man, Elihu; then finally, the whirlwind, the voice of God, the vision of God, and the resolution. The Job of the dialogues is not patient, but impatient, a rebel against heaven who cries against God, who calls God to account, who would bring God into court, who says, "You are unjust," and who maintains his integrity and his innocence throughout. I've selected some readings from Stephen Mitchell so that you get the flavor of these dialogues. It is impossible within the compass of a brief service like this to do justice to this book. But at least perhaps you will get the idea of what is going on in this drama. The dialogue is in three cycles. In the first cycle in the 8th chapter, Job’s second friend Bildad says, "…punishment means that wickedness has been done." Now that's the traditional way to understand suffering. That's orthodox religion. If © Grand Valley State University   �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   there is suffering it is because there has been sin. Suffering just doesn't happen "willy-nilly." It's punishment for what has been done wrong. Bildad says, How long will you go on ranting, filling our ears with trash? Does God make straightness crooked? Or turn truth upside down? Your children must have been evil. He punished them for their crimes. But if you are pure and righteous and pray to God for mercy, surely he will answer your prayers and will fill your greatest desires. Your past will seem like a trifle. So blessed will your future be. You have to think of those words of wisdom as being addressed to a man in intense suffering - on the garbage heap. That's why Job's friends have come to be called "miserable comforters." Then in the 21st chapter Job retorts, Your doctrines can't be right. If your doctrine were right the innocent would be blessed and the wicked would suffer. But as a matter of fact, when I look out on human society, it doesn't work that way. The wicked sometimes prosper." Here's the point of Job's speech: Why do the wicked prosper and live to a ripe old age? Their children stand beside them. Their grandchildren sit on their laps. Their houses are safe from dangers, secure from the wrath of God. Not one of their bulls is impotent. Not one of their cows miscarries. Their grandchildren run out to play, skipping about like lambs. Singing to drum and lyre. Dancing to the sound of the flute. They end their lives in prosperity and go to the grave in peace. Yet they tell God, 'Leave us alone. We can't be bothered about you. Why should we pray to God? What good will it do to serve you?' Is the lamp of the sinner snuffed out? Does misfortune knock at his door? Is he really driven like chafe, blown like straw in the wind? Is calamity saved for his children? Let him have his punishment now. Let his own eyes see disaster. Let him choke on the wrath of God. For what does he care about others when his own life comes to an end? One man dies serenely wrapped in safety and comfort, his thighs bulging with fat, the marrow moist in his bones. Another dies in despair, his life bitter on his tongue. Both men rot in the ground and maggots chew on them both. So says Job. Job's righteous and orthodox friends can hardly let him get away with that. And so Eliphaz, the Temanite, said, What use can man be to God? Even the wisest of men? Does God profit from your goodness or gain by your perfect conduct? Would he sentence you for your piety? Or punish you for your faith? Your guilt must be great indeed. Your crimes must be inconceivable. © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Job responds in an eloquent passage. If only, he cries, he could bring his case before God: Still my condition is desperate. His fist still beats on my skull. If only I knew where to meet Him, or could find my way to his court. I would argue my case before Him. Words would flow from my mouth. I would counter all his arguments and disprove his accusations. Would he try to overpower me? Or refuse to hear my defense? Surely he would listen to reason. I would surely win my case. For he knows that I am innocent. If he sifts me I will shine like gold. My feet have walked on his way and never strayed from his path. I have kept all of his commandments treasuring his words in my heart. And then the dialogues are over and we come to the epilogue. Here it is obvious that the purpose of this whole drama was to demonstrate that Job was right; that there isn't a connection between sin, punishment, and suffering. To bear that out I read simply this paragraph from the 42nd chapter: After he had spoken to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz, the Temanite: 'I am very angry at you and your two friends because you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. So take seven bowls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a sacrifice for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you and for his sake I will overlook your sin. For you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has.' So Eliphaz, the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar, the Naamathite went and did what God had commanded. And the Lord accepted Job's prayer. Our focus in these Lenten evenings is the mystery of human suffering. As we said last week there is some suffering that obviously is the result of our carelessness or the irresponsibility of some other, but there is a mystery of darkness and human suffering which has no explanation, and it has been a stumbling block for so many in terms of faith in God. That is the suffering of the innocent. Those who have a fundamental integrity of life, but yet it seems that life continues to dump on them. The greatest minds over the centuries have struggled with this problem and we know that there has never been a satisfactory, rational explanation. Surely we are not going to find one either. But my purpose in these Lenten evenings is a kind of preventive therapy so that if we are in the darkness we might find help. And if we are not in it, pray God, then preventive therapy so that, if we enter into it we might in the darkness find God to be our friend and not our enemy. I have been a pastor long enough to know that it is precisely in the darkness when one comes into intense suffering that one tends to accuse one’s self and condemn one’s self, to be filled with self-doubt. We are vulnerable to that kind of thing because none of us do it right all the time, and no one is as hard on us as we are on ourselves. There is seemingly something © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   endemic in human nature and broadcast in human society that seems to connect suffering with a punishment for sin. The stories of Job and Jesus I think will indicate that that is not a legitimate connection. Job cried out, "Unjust. Unfair!" in the midst of his pain. Jesus in darkness said, "My God, my God, why?" Thank God for those who in the darkness have uttered these expressions, which give us permission as well when we have no other word to say. Job's curses and blasphemies were the expressions of such intense pain that he could not hold it back. And so with us, there are those times when there seems to be absolutely no light, and no hope, and no future, and no reason, no rationale, just pain. At such times, as well, we may take the words of Job or Jesus to our lips and know that we are at least not isolated, but have company with those who have gone before us. To find God as our friend in suffering is so critically important, rather than to see God as the adversary. "Why is God doing this to me?" I am trying to approach the subject in this season by raising the honest questions that haunt us. Last week, "Suffering: Is There A Reason For It?" I said, "No." The kind of suffering we are taking about - that intense darkness – is such that there is no reason. The clichés trip off our tongues in reference to ourselves and sometimes painfully in reference to another when we say, "God has a reason for it." Don't ever say it! Don't ever say it! The Book of Job took on the whole orthodox understanding of things, the whole Old Testament tradition and said, "No. No. God doesn't have a reason for it." If God has a reason for it, it's not anything that you or I are ever going to be able to figure out. Tonight, just shifting the focus a little bit: "Is It Punishment?" All that I have already said would indicate that I give another firm "No." It is not punishment. God does not punish us like a parent who punishes a naughty child. I make the statement boldly. I hope it runs square in the face of everything you've ever believed in order to shake you up a little bit, and allow you to hear me. Allow me to say something to you tonight that may get you off from that if you would tend to fall into that so-typical human pattern. "Suffering: Is It Punishment?" "No." The three friends of Job said, "Yes." They sat with Job for seven days and didn't say a word. That's the best thing they did. But when Job said, "I am innocent. Why is this happening? God, you are unjust," they rushed to God's defense. They could sit in silence and identify with his darkness and his pain until he opened his mouth. But when he challenged the system of ideas, the doctrine, the insight that was traditional, that was orthodox. (Orthodox means the received opinion, the true, correct doctrine.) When Job in his pain blasphemed God and challenged that one-on-one relationship, that causal connection between sin and suffering, they had to rush to God's defense. Do you ever rush to God's defense? I used to rush to God's defense, when I was young, when I was growing up, when I was studying theology, when I was uptight and upright. When I was young I would rush to God's defense. I can remember a © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   time in my own life’s spiritual maturation when I realized that I didn't have to defend God, that God could take care of God's self quite well. But I used to do it. If you would make a statement that was contrary to correct doctrine, I would fault you. I would argue with you. I would defend the received tradition. If there was some piece of human experience that didn't fit into the biblical mold, I would deny the experience rather than check the mold. I was a defender of God. I remember it so clearly. I know now in retrospect (Thank God you didn't suggest it at the time, had you known me.) it was not that God needed to be defended, but that I needed to defend my little structure of things. I was defensive. I thought I was defending the honor of God. I thought I was defending the Word of God. Like Job's friends, that made them totally unable to enter into his pain. They couldn't even hear him. They couldn't allow his pain to penetrate into their depths, because his pain and his cries and his near blasphemy was so threatening to what they believed in their little box that they had to turn their back on the sufferer in order to preserve their structure. I said Sunday at the conclusion something that several of you have spoken about since then. One of you here even wrote me a beautiful card about it. The fact that we ought never to let our doctrine or our moral principles stand in the way of leading with our heart, of letting compassion flow through us. It’s not a bad insight actually. It was worth the price of the service - the entrance fee. The more I think about it, that's what happened to religion. Religion starts as an experience. It becomes solidified in a doctrine, and it becomes codified in a moral code. Then we lose the experience. We become disciples at second or third hand. We experience over here; now it’s a creed and a code. And the creed and the code shape us and make us prisoners, so that we can no longer identify with the experience. Job's friends had their doctrine right. God is not capricious. God is not unjust. If you are good, things will go well for you. If you are wicked, you will suffer. Job, you are suffering: Job, you are wicked. Job said, "No." They said, "Yes." As those three cycles took off they became more strident because when you are threatening a person’s doctrinal box or moral code, you are dealing very near the core of that person. We get very nervous when somebody is jangling our religious cage. They were defenders of God. I used to defend God, too. It was one of the great liberating moments of my life, it was like a burden rolled off my back when I woke up to the realization one day that God could take care of God's self. So, Job will not be silenced. They cannot confute him. He says to them, "I am innocent." He goes to the extreme at the tail end of his dialogue to take an oath, to call down terrible curses upon himself if he is not being true. And then also, in the one passage that I read, he says, "Your doctrine simply does not hold true in what you observe in human experience." Now he may overstate the prosperity of the wicked a little bit. Even the wicked don't get off as good as he described, but the Psalmist in Psalm 73 said the same thing. "Surely God is good to Israel, but as for me my feet had almost slipped when I observed the prosperity of the wicked." Some people seem careless, carefree. "Life is just a bowl of cherries," and they don't seem to have a care about God or anybody else. And they get by just fine, © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   thank you. It’s true. If we are honest there is no relationship between one’s outward circumstances and one’s piety or morality. Some bad people get it in the neck. And some good people get it in the neck. Job said, "Just look around you. If you could get your focus off your doctrine and moral code, and your concern to preserve all your little structures - if you would just open your eyes." That's what an orthodox person cannot do: cannot open his or her eyes. It’s too threatening. The system will be shattered by the unevenness of human experience. Well, the Book of Job was written in order to take on that whole traditional connection between sin and punishment and suffering. After the speeches are all over, there is this overpowering vision of God. Job has been saying, "God, you are unjust." And the vision shows Job how powerful God is. Job's issue is never addressed. There is simply this revelation. It is as though the God of the cosmos is saying, "Do you know anything at all about who I am and what I am about? Do you think I am tinkering around with those little petty things that concern you? Well, my goodness, I've got this whole cosmos in my hands. Where were you when creation first dawned? Where were you when I bound the creatures with chaos? And on and on. It’s marvelous poetry. It doesn't even address Job's question. Job never questioned the omnipotence of God. He was questioning the justice and mercy of God. God doesn't even address, doesn't even acknowledge his question because God is God after all. Job saw the revelation. You see, God did take Job seriously. God did get pushed into showing God's self and the experience of that revelation was so overpowering that Job said, "I repent in dust and ashes." But note this, he never said, "I repent and acknowledge that I indeed am lacking in innocence and integrity." No, no. He repented and recanted only to this extent: He said, "Well, you're right. How could I know the greatness and the grandeur that is God?" In the epilogue there is the vindication of Job. Not an answer. But God says to those "miserable comforters" with their orthodox doctrine and their legalistic morals, "You didn't speak truly of me as did my servant Job." Job spoke truly. Job spoke honestly. "You are all caught up in your little structures. You have pat answers. Clichés trip off your tongues. And you spoke falsely. My servant Job spoke truly. Take some oxen and some rams and go make a sacrifice and ask Job to pray for you." The point of the book is thus powerfully made that that old traditional connection that suffering is the punishment for sin is not true. Why is there suffering? It is not answered. But God is, and God unveiled God's self and vindicated the truthfulness of his servant Job. "The Mystery of Human Suffering: Is It Punishment?" No. And, therefore, we may never look at another and judge another and claim that their suffering is the punishment of God. One more thing we may never do. You'll do it. You'll do it in spite of this eloquent plea. You'll do it because it is second nature to do it. In all these three decades of pastoral ministry how many times haven't you said it to me? But, you may not say it! "Say what?" Say this: "Why is God doing this to © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is It Punishment? Richard A. Rhem Page 7   me?" Don't say it. God is not doing it to you. God is not your adversary. God is not your enemy in the darkness. God would be your friend. As we move from Job to Jesus we will see that trusting in the darkness is finally the last word. Reference: Stephen Mitchell. The Book of Job. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., Revised edition, 1987. © 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 Midweek Lent Series Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering Scripture Text Job 8:1-6, 21:7-26, 22:1-5, 23:1-10, 42,7-9 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Stephen Mitchell, The Book of Job, 1987 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-0-19930310 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-03-10 Title A name given to the resource Suffering: Is It Punishment? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 10, 1993 entitled "Suffering: Is It Punishment?", as part of the series "Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Job 8:1-6, 21:7-26, 22:1-5, 23:1-10, 42,7-9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Nature of God Orthodox Belief Sin Suffering https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d1d1dc2a10dff0a3d4fc9de79b6b0bd7.mp3 2cfea0bb5ee9b86b72936a28ea1365c7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9e6421440e06cdea38dcad56c2a47ff5.pdf e2e49263b553aca6f1d110084155c423 PDF Text Text God of the Abandoned From the series: The Faith Of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God Text: Mark 1:41 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent II, March 7, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. Mark 1:41 Religion is powerful stuff! Probably the most powerful phenomena in our human experience. It has the ability to galvanize whole communities of people into action. It has the power to solidify someone’s purpose and to lead one to heroic heights or to horrible deaths. Religion is powerful stuff! And it can be absolutely divine, or it can be utterly demonic. It may be too early to call, but the disaster at the World Trade Center may finally be traced to an Islamic Fundamentalist group. And, if that is to be the case, it is not a reflection on Islam, it is a reflection on religion in its fundamentalist manifestations, whether Muslim or Christian or Jewish. It was a week ago today that federal agents were making a move on the citadel in Waco, Texas, only to be gunned down and subsequently to have it in siege with an army of agents. An enclave led by a crazy, mad man, a religious leader, a man who claims for his authority the direct communication of God, who claims to be a son of God, a messiah, an anointed one. Religion is powerful stuff. In the events of the week past we see the manifestation of its power in that negative form. We are a part of society somewhere in the middle, I suppose, aren’t we? Christ Community, aren’t we rather decent average types? A little above average, you say. Decent and good people, reflective I suppose of kind of the mid-section of society at large. So that it is not difficult for us to look at those acts of violence and to write them off as dehumanizing, as contradicting everything that we believe that religion ought to do for one. We are able, in that extreme manifestation, to recognize it as the utilization of this tremendous power in a demonic way. But religion is a power phenomena, and those of us in the middle, able to recognize that, might be troubled and threatened by some other manifestation of religious leadership – for example, that which was exemplified by Jesus. How do you distinguish a religious leader who says he speaks in the name of God? How do you know? How do you judge? How do you discriminate? Not so hard over against the Muslim bomber or the Waco Wacko. © Grand Valley State University   �God of the Abandoned Richard A. Rhem Page 2   But how do you think Jesus would do? How do you think Jesus would do if he were a part of our community this morning? You see he made claims not so different from the man in Waco. And when you get religious leaders making radical claims on one side or the other, most of us in the middle grow rather uneasy, don’t we? I don’t suppose Jesus would last a lot longer in our society today than he did then, because we can never forget that those whom he threatened were folks like us. They were that kind of middle slice of society. They were decent, serious, devout and sincere and, in most cases, led by religious leaders who had vested interests to be sure, who were interested in keeping the status quo. But the claims of Jesus were as radical as the claims of David Koresh. How do you judge? How do you discriminate? I suppose the only way you can do is like Jesus said, “by the fruits.” When a religious leaders’ actions and calls to action result in violence, domination, dehumanization, coercion, manipulation, then we in the middle are quite quick to say, “that’s wrong, that’s an abuse of religion because it is an abuse of people.” But what about the radical claims of Jesus on the other side? Well, you say, they resulted in quite the opposite. Jesus went about doing good. Jesus went about healing. Jesus went about lifting up. Jesus went about setting free, liberating. Jesus’ whole ministry was a ministry of love and grace, and the consequence of that was quite opposite from what we have seen in our own time this past week. Jesus said, “Love your enemies. Pray for those that despitefully use you.” There was a total contrast between this contemporary expression of religion and the religion of Jesus. But we have got to remember that in both cases we are talking about individuals who made radical claims. Jesus, understood more clearly today perhaps than ever before, was a Jewish believer, rooted in his own culture, his own society, his own day, reflective of the value systems and the faith systems and structures of his people. But the point is that the people in the middle were as upset with Jesus who came at them from one angle as we are with a David Koresh who comes at us from another. Because, as I said last week, Jesus didn’t die in bed; he was put to death. And in order to determine why he was put to death, we are looking during this Lenten period at the faith of Jesus, at Jesus as a believing man: his conviction about God and the things that were ultimately important to Jesus. As we examine the faith of Jesus, we are maintaining during this Lenten Season that, at its core, it was trust in a gracious God. It was a God whose grace was inclusive rather than exclusive. The God of Jesus was the God of the abandoned, the God of the outcast, the God of the outsider. The God of Jesus was the God with whom there was no outsider. And it is all well and good to sing the praise of Jesus as long as we recognize that we certainly would have been a part of that middle slice of society, good decent, serious and sincere folk, led by religious leaders who wanted nothing more than to keep the structure of things, to keep society somewhat on an even keel, to keep intact orthodox faith structures and generally accepted moral standards. It was to keep society in a state of reasonable wellbeing. We cannot think of the Jewish leaders as being irresponsible, as being © Grand Valley State University �God of the Abandoned Richard A. Rhem Page 3   conspirators, as being demonic. They were simply leaders of people who had their own vested interests, and their own agenda, but also who had the responsibility for doing the best they could to make things as good as possible for the society of their time. Jesus was a threat to that because his conviction, the heart of his faith, was that even in their decent application of religion, they had turned the heart of God’s upside down. The story of the leper is the case in point. Mark places it at the early part of the Gospel on the preaching tour of Galilee. Leprosy was an inconceivably horrible disease. The name covered a wide variety of diseases actually. But without real medical knowledge of its cause, recognizing the defilement, the disfigurement, society had ruled that the leper must be cast out, must be ostracized, must be isolated. It was a horrible disease that carried its own pain and suffering to a degree hardly fathomable. But added to that was the isolation from community, the declaration of being ceremonially unclean, being unfit for the gathering of the community of God’s people. In the Middle Ages there was actually a practice in the Roman Church of leading the leper into the sanctuary and the priest reading over him the burial service. The man was dead...while he was yet alive! The little vignette of the leper that we read as our lesson– Bishop Lightfoot, one of the New Testament scholars of a former generation, says that little story is more packed with emotion than any other story in the Gospels. For the leper himself displayed an urgency that caused him to break through the barrier that was erected against him. He had no right to address anyone. He was to go down the street with his head bared and his clothes wrinkled, calling out, “Unclean, unclean,” lest anyone should come within distance of him. But, rather than do that, the leper breaks through, he comes to Jesus, he kneels before him and the language would tell us with great urgency says, “If you will make me clean....” Jesus, the text says, “ was moved with pity” – a more accurate text would say, “was moved with anger,” – and said, “Be clean!” Moved with anger, anger, I suppose at the hellishness and the horror of what a human being can suffer. Anger at the disfigurement of the created intentions of God. Anger at the community of God’s people that excludes and pushes away. Anger at all of that that is so wrong. Anger. There is a place for anger. There is a place for anger in society, in our lives. There are some things that should make us angry, that should move us to compassion which borders on anger, and anger that is filled with compassion. And then Jesus, likewise breaking through the booths and the barriers, the constraints of socially accepted behavior, stretches out his hand and touches God. Because it was Jesus’ conviction that there is no one whom God has abandoned, that there is no such thing as an outsider, that it is impossible to be an outcast in the presence of God. Made folks very nervous. Threatened the structure of their social life and their doctrinal understanding and their moral behavior. Jesus turned it all on its head, in the name of God, claiming to be a spokesperson for God. Claiming to act out what he was convinced was true of God. © Grand Valley State University �God of the Abandoned Richard A. Rhem Page 4   This weekend we have been engaged in a significant concentration on the HIV virus and the crisis that AIDS has brought to our world. And it has been a good weekend, full of information, education, alerting us, making us aware. It is important. We cannot put our head in the sand. It is also a terrible blight on the human body, and it is that with which we must all be concerned. It is important that we get behind every effort at education, and every health care movement to delimit the destructive power of this plague. But here in worship, what I must say to you as a Christian congregation is that whatever we do out there, we must do it out of the conviction that we are called to follow Jesus in disallowing the possibility of anyone being abandoned anywhere, for any reason, that we are called to be a community of compassion and care and to reach out and to touch, and to heal in the name of Jesus. The faith of Jesus found expression in the action of Jesus. And we are called as the disciples of Jesus to let love issue forth in compassionate ministry to bind up wounds, to embrace and to hold, to be with the suffering and the dying. That large middle slice of society of which we are a part is able to look at a David Koresh and say, “That’s wrong. That man is demonic.” But what will we do with that one who comes to us from the other angle? Who makes as radical a claim upon us, and as radical a call to us? Religion is so powerful, but it can also be a power to block the flow of compassion. Let me sum it all up in this - which is a bit radical and very dangerous. But let me suggest it anyway. Never let your theology (your doctrine), nor your morality, come in the way of following the lead of your heart to be compassionate. Never let your doctrine, or your morality, block the flow of God’s love through you. Thereby, you’ll follow Jesus. Someone said to me yesterday, “Somebody somewhere is preparing a cross for you.” And I said, “That’s O.K. if it is for genuinely, faithfully following Jesus. Then I’ll be in good company.” © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Lent II Series The Faith of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God Scripture Text Mark 1:41 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-0-19930307 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-03-07 Title A name given to the resource God of the Abandoned Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 7, 1993 entitled "God of the Abandoned", as part of the series "The Faith of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God", on the occasion of Lent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 1:41. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Compassion God of Grace Inclusive Religious Authority https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5d3e8fd4ed033198996c59b29c040426.mp3 f23069e6345ae35b8fc92af8f3aef661 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cbedc1f888842495f4ccbed603fd1efa.pdf 480842e0e3724422876e0b9d99c3087f PDF Text Text Suffering: Is There a Reason for It? From the Midweek Lenten series: Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering Job 3:1-26; Psalm 88:1-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan March 3, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon This evening we will begin a study of Job in a series of messages under the theme Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering. For these Lenten meditations I want to raise certain questions, the questions that I think arise rather naturally in our minds when we enter into the darkness. I want us to deal with human suffering, recognizing that there is some suffering that comes upon us because of our own wrong choices. Someone said to me on my return, “Did you read the newspapers while you were gone?” And I said, “Yes.” “Did you read about bald men that they are more prone to cancer?” I said, “Yes.” And then I said to him, “I eat too much. I drink too much. I smoke too much. The least of my worries is my bald head.” There is that which comes upon us, which we bring upon ourselves. And in those cases perhaps we can find some connection between what we are experiencing and what had been our patterns earlier. Of course, sometimes we suffer because of the wrong choices of others. But that’s not the real human darkness that I want to speak of in these weeks. The real human darkness, the mystery of suffering, is that which comes upon us for which there seems to be simply no explanation, and which affords us not a modicum of human understanding. It is simply the mystery of suffering. I want to say in this series of messages that that is a reality that is a part of our human experience. I want to deal with it, not out of some morbid desire to probe in the darkness, but rather in order that we might, if we are in the darkness, find a way to cope and survive. And if, pray God, at the moment we are not personally in the darkness, we know not what tomorrow brings. There are few of us who go through life unscathed, that do not come into those deep, dark valleys where the shadow of death is cast over us. So I hope that it might be a sense of preventative therapy simply to acknowledge the fact together that a very real part of our human experience involves the mystery of human suffering. And to do that, I want to focus on the stories of Job and Jesus. We will begin with Job. We will move toward Jesus. And perhaps they will interface at some point. But in both cases we have stories of persons who experienced the intensity of the darkness, © Grand Valley State University   �Suffering: Is There a Reason For It? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   and didn’t simply passively capitulate, but rather were so bold as to question God. Jesus said, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” And Job railed against heaven, maintaining his innocence and claiming God to be unjust. Yet in both cases there was a movement, a movement from the sense of utter desolation to a kind of waiting on God in the darkness. For the one on the cross who said, “My God, my God, why…?,” he breathed his last saying, “Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit.” And Job, in the experience of the revelation of God, didn’t simply, passively submit, but he did surrender himself to Almighty God. Both of them going through the experience found a place to rest and wait for the darkness to clear and for the light of God to break upon them. If I were to set concisely the goal that I have for these messages, it would be that we might be enabled when we enter into the darkness to find God as our friend and not as our enemy. It is ironic, but it is so characteristic of our human response to suffering that, at that point at which we more desperately than any other time need to sense the presence of a gracious God, we tend to see God rather as the adversary, and experience God as the enemy. That seems so characteristically human. I think it is particularly the response of good religious people. We who have been nurtured in the faith are most vulnerable to experiencing God as the enemy in the darkness. We are all vulnerable people, fragile. Who of us always does it right? Who of us has not made wrong choices? And who knows our weaknesses and the ambiguity of our being more than we do? Who knows the complications of our own persons more than we do ourselves? And who is harder on us than we are ourselves? I think it is precisely that that sets us up. We who are particularly religious people are somehow set up to experience God in the darkness as the accusing enemy rather than as our friend. What is operating here? What is operating when I move to the darkness and begin to accuse myself and feel the foundations shake underneath me and begin to condemn myself? What is operating? Is it not a movement from the good and gracious God modeled out in Jesus Christ to an understanding of God as the stern judge who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked? If you scratch us, I dare say that even you at Christ Community, who for these twenty-two years have been brainwashed with grace – if you scratch, underneath is too often that fearful vision of God as the one who is the stern judge, the one who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. We can talk about faith until we are blue in the face, but when push comes to shove and when our life moves into the deep, dark shadow we become the accusers of ourselves. And we see God as joining us in that accusation against us rather than, as the whole Christian Gospel tells us, God being for us. So, I believe it is important for us to think a bit about human suffering in order to better understand who God is for us, there in that place, and to look at who God is for us in that place in the light of the stories of Job and Jesus. Perhaps in so doing we might find some place to rest, come what may - be it light or shadow. © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is There a Reason For It? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The first thing I simply want to say is that human suffering is very real. We read about it in our newspapers. Sometimes we encounter those who suffer greatly. And sometimes it is our own personal experience. The Psalmist in Psalm 88 speaks of suffering. I said before I read, it’s the one Psalm in the whole Psalter in which there is not a ray of light. Psalm 22, that Jesus quoted on the cross, “My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me?” is a Psalm of bitter complaint, of intense suffering poured out. But it ends in faith and in praise. Not so, Psalm 88. It is interesting that Psalm 88 made the cut when the canon was put together, when the hymnbook of Israel was collated, because it is just pure darkness. It’s not exactly the kind of Psalm you want to wake up in the morning and read for your devotions. But there are those times when no light breaks through and I am glad that that reality is recognized in the scriptures, that in the Old Testament faith there were those who, like Job, addressed God and could bring to speech the awful suffering of his soul, having found no resolution. There are days like that, and sometimes weeks and months like that. As far as Job is concerned, he curses the day of his birth. He wishes he would have been stillborn. He says, “Why? Why don’t you simply let me die and be at rest where I’ll no longer know this awful torment of soul, this terrible suffering?” Job’s friends to their credit had come to be with him. And even better than that, we are told that they sat with him and didn’t say a word for seven days. For seven days they were simply present to the other, which is so terribly important. But when Job began to make his claim they couldn’t keep silent any more. They were good religious sorts, and they felt it imperative upon them to rush to the defense of God. They operated on the basis of the traditional understanding that I mentioned a moment ago: God is the stern judge of all the earth, rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked. Their syllogism went something like this: Suffering comes from God. God is just. Therefore, Job is guilty. Job’s syllogism was: Suffering comes from God. I am innocent. Therefore, God is unjust. His friends couldn’t just sit there and take that. They had to defend God. Of course , God couldn’t be unjust. The only option was that Job must be hiding some deep sin. Their orthodox faith, their little system, was such that they could not get out of their own minds and actually identify with Job in his suffering. The moment Job began to defend himself they rushed to the defense of God. And in the Book of Job, if you go home and you read it between now and next week, you will find there are three cycles of discourses. Job’s three friends go on and on, and on and on, defending the honor of God, and Job intersperses his counterclaims. It’s interesting that when Job began to say, “I am suffering and I know not the reason why,” his friends could not just hear it and be silent with him, but rather had to begin to explain why he must be suffering. There is a reality of human suffering. “Is there a reason for it?” The message of the Book of Job is, “No.” Now that was a challenge to the traditional understanding of things. That was a challenge to the orthodox understanding of © Grand Valley State University �Suffering: Is There a Reason For It? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   things. “Human Suffering: Is There a Reason For It?” The real mystery of it. In the face of that real, deep human suffering, the Book of Job says there is no reason for it. There is no connection between what I am experiencing and what my life has been. To connect as cause and effect, sin and suffering, is to fly flat in the face of the Book of Job. Thank God, Job is there, because as I said, there is something about us when we enter into the darkness – we get very hard on ourselves. We accuse ourselves. No one can accuse us better than ourselves, because no one knows those weak spots in our soul like we do. So, we begin to suffer not only that darkness that has come upon us, but then our own sense of unworthiness, our own guiltiness, and it exacerbates and it can become a syndrome that picks up momentum until we are absolutely crushed under it. The Book of Job says, “No, don’t do that. That’s not true.” The whole purpose of that book in the Old Testament canon is to speak a word of God against that inhumane tendency to connect sin and suffering. The darkness can be very real. There is something in us that so wants to have an explanation. Often there is none. The most brilliant philosophical discourses, the most profound theological reflections down through the centuries have not always been able to give a rational explanation or the reason for suffering. We have it not within ourselves to explain it. Therefore, the best counsel is to wait on the Lord in the darkness. I can’t go through the whole series for you tonight, but our problem with starting a series here is I would like to give you the resolution at the other end and I can’t do that. I simply have to say to you that we are not left hanging. There will be that resolution which is not a rational explanation, but is simply a trusting in the darkness. But I think that it is good for us simply to come to the recognition that there is some terrible suffering as a part of the human experience. And then to recognize that if it happens to us, we must wait. And if it happens to another, we must be compassionate. © 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 Midweek Lent Series Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering Scripture Text Job 3:1-26, Psalm 88:1-18 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-0-19930303 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-03-03 Title A name given to the resource Suffering: Is There A Reason For It? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 3, 1993 entitled "Suffering: Is There A Reason For It?", as part of the series "Job and Jesus: The Mystery of Human Suffering", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Job 3:1-26, Psalm 88:1-18. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/82d546ffe23623e073b28d4d37311cfb.mp3 0b0265d430c02cf3c72d8e1cc0147ea3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e35fe89a71f294747ca3fac5a7fb8427.pdf 6f7a22212dc35214e1a56676ac1f5da0 PDF Text Text Table Fellowship: A Sign of God’s Nearness From the series: The Faith of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God Text: Mark 2:15 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent I, February 28, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon When Jesus was at table in his house, many bad characters . . . were seated with him.” Mark 2:15 We have entered another Lenten season. The advantage of the celebration of the Christian year is that it brings us annually through those events, and gives us opportunity to hear those stories that have shaped us as a community of faith and as the body of Christ. So we come once again into this Lenten cycle and we begin our Lenten pilgrimage, following the steps of our Lord, as it leads to his death, his crucifixion. But it is not as though we simply revisit the old story. It is not as though it has all been said before. The stories are the same. The events are the same. But we are not the same. There is the passion and pilgrimage of Jesus, and then there is the pilgrimage of each one of us. We come as different people. For one thing we are a year older than last time. Every time we come, we come as those who have had new experiences. Some of us have been devastated. Some of us have been exhilarated, and all of us have gone through the kinds of experiences that have changed us and will make it such that our angle of vision is a bit different this time as we come through the old familiar cycle once again. I probably am more aware of that than you, because I have both the privilege and the responsibility to prepare for this season with greater intensity than would be expected of any one of you. It has been my custom over many years now to leave you for an extended time, prior to this season, in order that I might do some new and in-depth preparation and come back ready for this Holy Season. As I reflect and prepare I am conscious of new lenses, new insights rising to the surface. With the capacity of computers today, if someone were to enter in all of the themes and texts of my Lenten preaching over 22 years, I am sure that you could see evidence of such shifts of perspective. As a matter of fact, I am aware of a very significant shift in my own perspective and understanding going back at least © Grand Valley State University   �Table Fellowship: Sign of God’s Nearness Richard A. Rhem Page 2   three years now. Back in 1991 I preached on “The Sign of The Cross, The Way of Jesus.” Rather than looking back from the perspective of Paul, I began to suggest we walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Paul’s perspective is very much the perspective of the Church in its theological tradition. Paul, after Good Friday and after Easter, steps back, and from the perspective of post-Easter looks at that death and tries to make sense of it. Essentially, Paul raises the question: What was the meaning of that death? And I think for many years that was also the question that occupied me, trying to make sense of that death, trying to understand that whole complex of ideas that we call atonement. Was it necessary for Jesus to die so that we might be forgiven? Those questions were really Paul’s questions. Paul was the first Christian theologian, I suppose, and Paul’s reflection on Jesus, on crucifixion, on resurrection were the shapers of our Christian tradition. But of late it seems to me that the significant question for us is not Paul’s question, What was the meaning of that death?, but rather, following in Jesus’ footsteps, to attempt to peer through his lenses and then ask, “Why?” More and more I began to ask myself, “Why? What was there in Jesus that caused the human community of his day to crucify him?” That question, it seems to me, is significant for us as we seek to become the disciples of Jesus. The other question, Paul’s question, is more a theological question. So this year again, I continue, probing and asking - but this year investigating the faith of Jesus. In the series title I suggest that the core of that faith was trust in a gracious God. I want us to think together, “What did Jesus believe?” We don’t often think of Jesus as a man of faith, do we? Didn’t he know everything? Didn’t he have a card up his sleeve? Didn’t he just sort of go through this thing as a charade? No, I don’t think so. A lot of very exciting New Testament research coming out today is able to pull back some layers and to see Jesus the Jew, Jesus the believing Jew. While I have been gone I have read several of these books. One book was entitled, The Marginal Jew. Another, The Historical Jesus: The Story of a Mediterranean Peasant Jew. And a third one, Jesus, a Life. It was exciting to see these studies uncover the concrete context of Jesus’ Jewishness and his historical allure, to see the contours of Jesus: what he believed, how he lived, how he acted. It is out of that concrete context that, I believe, we must come to some kind of understanding of why he was crucified. We have the Table set here this morning. We do that in remembrance of Jesus, for on the night in which he was betrayed we believe he gathered with his intimate disciples, and he broke bread and he poured the cup and gave them that tangible sign of his presence. But, beyond that, was he not also saying to those that were his most intimate associates, his friends, “Be with me while I share this last cup with you. I need you.” He was looking for human support and succor in this point of crisis in his life. And as a matter of fact, this is not so out of sync with the whole of his life. If you go through the gospels with this in mind, you will find © Grand Valley State University �Table Fellowship: Sign of God’s Nearness Richard A. Rhem Page 3   that Jesus was always having supper. Simon the Pharisee invited him to supper. He was often found eating at Mary and Martha’s home in Bethany. He was always sitting at table with someone. The four Gospels all record the feeding of the five thousand. There was something about Jesus that in his table fellowship signaled the nearness of God, and when the Gospel writers remembered the historical Jesus, the thing that they remembered and continually brought to expression was the table fellowship of Jesus. Jesus was a party hound. The last supper was not something out of line with what had been the hallmark of his life. He sat down with people. In response to some of his critics in Matthew, the 11th chapter, he just sort of shakes his head and says, “You know, I can’t win with you people. John the Baptist came, neither eating nor drinking, and they said he had a demon. He said, ‘I come both eating and drinking and you call me a wine bibber and a glutton.’” [And because we want to be like Jesus we have Pete Theune on Team who is our Minister of Gourmet. (Laughter) We are always eating here, aren’t we?] But for Jesus this was the way he bonded with people. With whom do you sit at table? You sit at table with those whom you love. Somebody says, “Let’s have a meal together.” You say, “Not with you.” Or you say, “Oh, I’d be delighted.” You don’t just eat with anybody. You don’t eat around do you? (Laughter) Nancy and I have just returned from Florida, and it always amazes me. You live with people all weeks and months of the year, and then you discover that you are going to be within fifty miles for ten days down in Florida of someone who lives down the block. They say, “Oh, let’s get together.” My goodness. You can’t believe how tough it is to take a vacation! Everybody that is with me all year wants to “get together” on vacation – you know, “Come and have a meal.” Well, it’s because that’s the way we experience community and express friendship. And it was even more so in that culture of which Jesus was a part. Hospitality was a prime concern. And to sit down and break bread with someone was a sign of acceptance, of embrace. The Dutch New Testament scholar, Edward Schillebeex, said that was the very hallmark of Jesus. The presence of God was mediated by Jesus while he sat at table. In the text of this morning, Jesus embraced the wrong people. In the listing of the text in the bulletin from the New English Bible, it says he was sitting at meal with “bad characters.” Shame on Jesus. Sitting down with “bad characters,” tax collectors and sinners. He went through the tollbooth and Matthew, (Levi, as he was called by his fellow Jews) was there, taking toll. Jesus said, “Follow me.” And Matthew said, “Not me. You don’t know who I am.” Jesus said, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew was a tax collector, ritually unclean, excluded from the community of God’s people, an outsider, and Jesus said, “Follow me.” And Matthew couldn’t believe it. When he found that Jesus was serious, Matthew said, “Let’s have a party.” Matthew invited his friends. And who were his friends? Other “bad characters.” The religious right came to Jesus’ disciples and said, “What’s he doing eating with bad characters, tax collectors and sinners?” That’s why in the end they killed him. © Grand Valley State University �Table Fellowship: Sign of God’s Nearness Richard A. Rhem Page 4   In the table fellowship which was the hallmark of Jesus ministry, he gave witness to what he really believed, and that is that God is gracious and invites all. That word is very threatening to a religious institution. A religious institution is strong to the extent that it can create an over-againstness with all of those who are not “our kind.” Isn’t it remarkable, really, that the Church has duplicated the very mentality of the Jewish community of Jesus’ day in its exclusion from this table? It has said, “Oh, you can’t come,” or “If you ask permission, perhaps you can come,” or “Is everything right in your life so that you might come here?” or “Whoa, not you!” But not Jesus. Jesus opened his table of fellowship to all people. And it was that kind of thinking, that kind of behavior that got Jesus crucified. I have said on occasion, “Rather than putting a fence around this table, we should set it up on Savidge Street and offer bread and wine to those passing by on their way to skiing up north, saying, “Have bread and wine for the journey, and have a good Sabbath.” What did Jesus believe? Jesus believed in a gracious God, and he would sit down with anyone in order to communicate in his action, in his openness and availability, that God’s embrace was wide enough to include them. He mediated the Presence of God and the offer of salvation in the table fellowship, which was the characteristic of his whole life and ministry. What did Jesus believe? That God was trying to get God’s arms around all sorts and conditions of humankind. They killed him for that. And the Church has been excluding people ever since, duplicating the very spirit and attitude that rejected and crucified Jesus. It really blows my mind when I think about it. What Jesus wants us to sense when we come here is that God’s arms are around us. If Jesus were here I believe he would say to you, “You come.” And you would say, “Ah, but Lord.” And he would say, “You come.” You would protest and say, “But you don’t know,” and he would say, “Oh, yes I do. You really need to come.” And then when we come, there is that sense of our belonging to one another. That was the intuition behind that old tradition of saying, “If you are not right with your brother or sister, you don’t come here.” Because this is a table of reconciliation. This is a family meal and you have got to be right with one another. This whole congregation, in a few moments, will be on its feet and moving and flowing, and there will be a sense of our coming together because we are one. We belong to each other. We embrace one another. We support one another. We care for one another. We are God’s people, God’s children. We are brothers and sisters. That’s what Jesus demonstrated concretely in his action and behavior. He broke bread with all people as a sign that there is grace for all. And he says to you, “You come. You come. This is for you.” © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Lent I Series The Faith of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God Scripture Text Mark 2:15 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-0-19930228 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-02-28 Title A name given to the resource Table Fellowship: A Sign of God's Nearness 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 February 28, 1993 entitled "Table Fellowship: A Sign of God's Nearness", as part of the series "The Faith of Jesus: Trust in a Gracious God", on the occasion of Lent I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 2:15. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Faith God of Grace Inclusive Lent Presence of God Table Fellowship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8ddb4fcfe8ff620604897964cc715049.mp3 ea8d6b5ceed9e09a0400b791a49a98b2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bc2ff9517a8a56ed4bc0bbffc9eca7ac.pdf a498dba48a4234c1c3afe9adc1cac715 PDF Text Text Mission: Passion Unleashed From the series: On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Text: Isaiah 58:12; Luke 4:17-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany V, February 7, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon “You will be called the repairer of the breach, a the restorer of streets to live in.” Isaiah 58:12 “...The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him ... The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me...” Luke 4:17-18 On the threshold of the third millennium Christ Community is newly structured for a forward movement. We struggle with a fresh expression of Christian faith, seeking to translate the tradition in order that we might connect our faith with our human experience. This morning I want to call you to a new sense of mission, a new commitment to be the people of God. I call you to effect the purposes of God in the world as the agents of grace and reconciliation, bringing people together in the name of Christ our Lord. Mission: It has always been a part of the Christian tradition. Missio, the Latin word, means to send, to send out or to be sent. I want to suggest that we ought to be sent out with passion. Passion unleashed. Passion that is compelling emotional engagement with the task. I want Christ Community always to be passionate. Passionate about what we believe and passionate about that which we do in the name of Christ. No kind of routinized ritual, external form, dead-in-thewater, but passionate - with deep conviction, compelling conviction leading to compelling action with emotional engagement. It is that, I believe, to which we are called as the people of God. And as we stand on the threshold of the third millennium, God needs a people who will fearlessly, courageously, unstintingly, unrelentingly be there as a concrete community of love and grace, bringing peace and reconciliation to all people in the local community and throughout the world. I want to call you this morning to be a people unleashed for mission with passion. I want to call us as a community to be committed to the humanization of the world, to the humanization of society. © Grand Valley State University   �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 2   One of the nice things about having the Perspective class after worship is that I can clarify the fogginess of the sermon, and I can answer the question that I raise in the minds of some. I had a very good question raised to me last week, because I had suggested toward the end of the message that I was not so concerned that we make the world Christian as that we make the world human. And the question was asked, “Well, is that just humanism?” It’s a good question, and the answer is, no it is not. There is a kind of classic humanism that would be defined as over against God. Atheistic naturalist humanism would see human society and the world as a purely human project with no intervention and no involvement by a God if there was one. No, that’s not what I mean. I am thinking rather of the phrase of the Catholic theologian Hans Küng who said, “God’s cause is the human cause.” What I would love to call us to this morning is that we be the agents for the humanization of society, the humanization of the world, meaning that we seek to do that which would make for all people a fully human existence possible. So all people might be set free, set at liberty, the shackles off, all forms of human bondage removed so that all people in all sorts of conditions could move into the fullness of human existence as God intends. Jesus lived such an existence. In him, we believe, was full humanity modeled out for us. When I say that I believe the Church is called to work at the humanization of society, I mean that the church is that group of people who are called to seek to effect the purposes of God in human lives and in human society as a whole. That, to be sure, is a little different than the classic understanding of mission in the history of the Church. The modern missionary movement was initially born in the 19th century, although there has always been from the beginning this impulse to “go into all the world to preach the Gospel.” But the modern movement, the evangelization of the world, really had a new birth in the 19th century and the object there was to bring all of the world to Jesus Christ. It was world evangelization. There was a great missionary conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910 and a great missionary statesman named John R. Mott had a cry that really motivated the student population of the day: “The evangelization of the world in this generation.” There were always educational missions, and medical missions, and farm-agricultural missions which were the accoutrements to the missionary impulse, but the major focus of it was the proclamation of the Gospel, the goal of which end was to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. One rather contemporary missionary statement spoke of the missionary movement of our forbearers as a movement motivated because they could not conceive of people dying without Christ. D. T. Niles said, “In our generation it is more that we go because we cannot conceive of people living without Christ.” But, when I speak of the humanization of society, I have to admit to you - I want to acknowledge to you - that I am not speaking so much in that classic sense of trying to Christianize the world because I am not at all sure that we are called to Christianize the world in terms of bringing the world into the institutional © Grand Valley State University �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 3   structures of the Christian church. I believe that we are there to witness to the whole world to the God to whom Jesus points us. It is the God of Jesus that we want to point all people to, and we want to do that by all means possible. I think that the missionary movement with all of its good intention and all of its sincerity, and all it has accomplished, nonetheless, because of the very institutionalization of the Christian faith, tended to become a rather arrogant and triumphalistic and imperialistic movement into other cultures. I must say that I don’t really believe, in spite of hundreds of years of witness and sincere effort, that we have done more than slightly dent a Muslim culture or an Oriental culture. Now in Africa today there is an astounding rate of conversion into the Christian church, but that is in a third world; that is not in the first world. The first world is secularized and sometimes that can perhaps dull our sense of the Christian mission. But let me make it clear. I believe that we are called to be the witnesses of Jesus Christ, pointing to the God of Jesus, the God that Jesus reveals, and we are to do that by all means possible. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel by all means possible even in last resort with words.” The humanization of society is a Christian imperative, and I believe we are called to do that. Let me give you a little autobiographical sketch for a moment. When I came here in 1960 I wanted 50% of the budget to go to missions and 50% to stay at home. I was so young and so idealistic that I even turned down a raise. I refused a raise one year because I said, “if you will not go 50% I won’t take a raise.” One of the great pillars of the congregation looked at me and said, “Young man, you’ve got a family coming. Wise up. You’d better start thinking about retirement - it’s not too soon.” He was right. I was wrong. I was idealistic. I was going to change the world. And then I came back here in 1971 and I went with some of you over to the Institute for Successful Church Leadership where Bob Schuller told his story. When he arrived in California, an old pastor took him aside and said, “If you want this new church to prosper, use this formula: give 50% away and put 50% back in.” And Schuller was smarter than I was. He said, “No, I’m going to give only 10% away. But we’re going to build a missionary center right here because mission is where you are.” He said, “You know if I give 50% away I’ll never build a base here, and I’ll never be able to give much more than I give the first year. But if I build a bigger base here I’ll be able to give ten times more than what 50% would have been.” His math was right, and reality has proved him right. I came back and his vision became our vision - this was to be the place of our mission. Not to neglect the world, but to begin here and to build here a center of creative Christian faith which would be a fruitful movement issuing out of this very place. For two decades we have been working at that. We’ve been stretched. We’ve really always been reaching beyond our means - always dreaming a little bit beyond what we could possibly do. But I think that it’s time for us to be fully unleashed. To unleash our passion in the mission of Jesus Christ here, in the nation, and in the world. Not in order to © Grand Valley State University �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 4   make the world Christian, but in order to humanize the world, transform it so that it might be as the God we have found in Jesus would have it be. That’s the prophetic word I hear here. Jesus stood in the prophetic tradition. Jesus was a prophetic, charismatic figure. The world evangelization, the institutionalization of the church was down the line. But if we really hear what we heard this morning, then God was saying to that Old Testament people a long time ago, “Don’t get all caught up in your rituals, in your church structures, in your sacrifices, in your priesthood and all that business, because I don’t really care about that. If you want to do that, you ought to do that because it can help you be what you ought to be. But you see, religion is never an end in itself. The practice of religion is never an end in itself. Worship, devotion, ritual, liturgy - whatever it may be – is not an end in itself. It is to imbue in us the depths of the mystery of God in order that out of the experience of worship, out of the experience of the reality of God we might be galvanized into significant and meaningful living in the world – significant human living in the world, and the humanization of the world. Old Judah said, “Hey, what’s up. We are doing all this sacrificing and incense and candles, and all of that, and you don’t seem to heed.” And God says, “Is that why you fast? You want to mortify yourself? I’ll tell you what mortification I want. Put your life on the line out there in the community: feed the poor, give shelter to the homeless, clothe the naked, take them into your home. And then call and I’ll answer.” The prophet of our reading said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me. The spirit has anointed me to proclaim good news.” Jesus came to his home synagogue and he read that word aloud to his home congregation, “The spirit has anointed me.” That’s what Christ means, the anointed one - “I am anointed to proclaim good news, relief to the captive, healing to the broken, setting the prisoner free.” They said, “My, that fellow really speaks quite well. Isn’t that Joseph’s son?” Sure enough, Jesus, Joseph’s son – that’s who it was. But you see he had been on the outskirts of Israel, on the outskirts of God’s people. He had mingled with those who were outsiders and he had done some healing and they had heard about that. And so he knew that underneath that first blush of enthusiasm there was a kind of hostility brewing because Jesus had the audacity to consider the outsider also embraced by God’s love and grace. And so he said to them, “Let me remind you of your own tradition. Do you remember the instance of the famine, when Elijah was a prophet? To whom was the prophet called? To no one in Israel, but to a widow, a woman, an outsider in Zarephat. And what about Naaman? What about Naaman, the leper? No leper in Israel was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian was cleansed. You see, God has always been concerned about the outsider. My ministry is to all people, and if that offends you, I’m sorry.” Well, it offended them alright. They said, “Let’s throw him over the ledge. Let’s do away with him.” There was wrath and anger, and hostility that are so often in religious people - Christian people. And Jesus ran afoul of it, and everyone who has had the audacity to stand in the prophetic © Grand Valley State University �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 5   tradition has run afoul of it because it is a very human characteristic to turn religion in upon itself and make it self-serving, when actually God would have God’s people turn inside out, to live on behalf of those who are on the outside, to let them know that they are not on the outside. The old philosophy of mission was to go to the outsider to bring them in. But, with all my heart, I believe we ought to go to the outsider to tell them they are already in. That’s the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ. Not to make them like us. Not to force them into our structures, into our institutions, but to tell them of the promiscuous grace of a God that already embraces them, and that has come to a particularly full focus in Jesus Christ our Lord. Not to make them Christians like we are, but to point them to the marvelous God to whom Jesus points us. That’s the mission to which we are called, and I am ready for this place to be unleashed for such a mission, laced with passion. You know a couple of weeks ago I was out at the Crystal Cathedral at a conference of churches uniting for global mission, which is the movement that Bob Schuller is hoping to get going. It’s a rather loose affiliation of congregations - a congregationally based movement with very little administration and bureaucracy, but the ability to move immediately with flexibility into opportunities for mission. When he was negotiating the Hour of Power in Soviet television, they said to Bob Schuller, “Here is 50,000 acres of land. Could you make it productive for us? We will give it to you if you can bring us tractors. Bring us seed. Bring us know-how.” When I was in Chicago last summer at the Churches Uniting meeting, David Schouts who has preached for us in the past, of the Hinneton Avenue Methodist Church in Minneapolis, volunteered to head up the Russian farm project. Just a couple of weeks ago in California, David Schouts reported on that project, and he has got Ralph Hostadler who was the CEO of Land of Lakes, retired, who has taken over that project and has taken all kinds of people and resources. Two young men from the Soviet Union, one a member of the parliament, is helping him organize a cooperative project sponsored by CUGM, Churches Uniting for Global Mission, on behalf of the Soviet people. They are helping them gain some knowhow as to how to make farms productive and how to distribute what they produce. Those kinds of opportunities, I believe, are out there in our world. These are the kinds of things we have to do. Let God take care of what God would do with those Russian people. But for God’s sake, let’s get them some grain and some cattle, and get them fat. Then on Wednesday morning, the last morning, there was a black speaker named Leon Sullivan. I hadn’t really heard of him, but when he began to speak, (this man must be in his middle seventies) - I had to look up to him, a big man. When you walked by him it was like there were all kinds of vibrations. This was somebody, and when he spoke I learned he was a Baptist preacher from Philadelphia. And could he preach! Oh, my goodness, he could preach! I learned that he was Leon Sullivan of the Sullivan Principles. The Sullivan Principles were written by Leon Sullivan when he was on the board of General Motors. He came © Grand Valley State University �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 6   back from South Africa and he said, “In South Africa when American corporations do business, they must dismantle Apartheid in the workplace.” And it happened. The American corporations in South Africa for some years now have operated on the Sullivan Principles. And this was that Leon Sullivan. He had just flown in from Brussels where he had been meeting with the economic community in Europe. He had just met with Helmut Kole and Francoise Mitterand. And he is all turned on about Africa, because right now Leon Sullivan is in the business of raising enough money to send a thousand teachers a year for the next four years to Africa. It only takes $10,000 to support one teacher. He sees the need for education, to teach children. He is looking for 1000 teachers for the next four years. He said (There was a group there of 40-50 pastors, I suppose.), “How many of you could support one teacher - $10,000 for the year? Raise your hands. “Should I have raised my hand? Well, should I have? Would you also keep paying the building debt off? I mean, don’t give me the $10,000 out of your envelope! I need my salary! (Laughter) But, have you got some more? Would you dig deeper if I had raised my hand? Would you? And I thought to myself, “You’ve really changed.” In 1960 when I first came to this place I would have wanted to raise money to send a missionary to tell them about Jesus. Now I want to raise money to send a teacher to educate them so that they might feel the presence of a God whom Jesus incarnated. Someone in the congregation sent me an article and said, “This might be interesting in light of your present series.” It was an article about the Arlington Street Church in Boston, a church that is called “The Conscience of Boston.” It’s a church that has been a center of social activism and social protest for 200 years. It is the place where Unitarianism was born. William Ellery Channing was a great minister there for 40 years. He had the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson in his congregation. He had the best and the brightest, and the mightiest of New England there. It became a significant center of Christian witness on all kinds of issues that divided and tore society apart. And the Arlington Church was always on the “wrong” side. It was the place where the Abolitionist Movement to dismantle slavery found its headquarters. In the 60s it was the place where William Sloan Kaufman and Benjamin Spock invited the young men of Harvard and Yale to burn their draft cards in protest against the Vietnam War. It was the place in the subsequent decade where every social cause found expression. Its present senior pastor is Kim Crawford Harvey, the first woman senior pastor, who is lesbian. You notice I say she is lesbian. She is not a lesbian. Because people are not gay or lesbian, people are human beings. They are people. Their orientation may be one way or the other, but you don’t refer to me as a heterosexual. I am a person. The Arlington Street Church has found a new issue that needs addressing. There is a great flourishing congregation again, with a budget bigger than it has been for 20 years because they have addressed this issue, which is tearing our society apart. © Grand Valley State University �Mission: Passion Unleashed Richard A. Rhem Page 7   Randall Terry is the head of a movement he calls Resistance . You see him on television on Christian broadcast channels (that I don’t watch), eliciting from people their baser motives, creating fear and division and trying to raise money. He was quoted as saying that if he had scripted Bill Clinton’s first two weeks himself, he could not have done a better job. He’s just delighted at all of the controversy around the White House because fundraising letters are in the mail, and he calls it a bonanza. I read the article on the Boston church, and I’m not a very pious guy and I don’t lay a lot of stuff on you, but when I was done, my eyes were moist and I said, “Dear God, I would that Christ Community would be a community of such integrity that it would provide a shelter for all sorts and conditions of human beings, that would create a space where people could be together, where there would be the acceptance of diversity, the encouragement of dialogue, the embrace of grace, and a love that was a true reflection of the love of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord.” It seems to me, in the words of the title of a book by James Davison Hunter, that in the midst of this time of “Culture Wars,” this world, this nation, needs a people who will be a voice for reconciliation, who will seek to bring people together, who will seek to honor every person’s dignity, who will guard the dignity of every person, and will create a place for people to be fully human in the worship and the service of God. I don’t know why churches, why religions, seem to breed the kind of hostility that in Nazareth wanted to kill Jesus, and did kill Jesus. But I know this, that in the face of Jesus I want us to be something other. I want us to be full of love, dripping with compassion, able to deal honestly with every social issue. I want us to be civil and committed - a place of light, love, healing. Dear God, wouldn’t that be great! Wouldn’t that be great! © 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 Epiphany V Series On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Scripture Text Isaiah 58:12, Luke 4:17-18 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-0-19930207 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-02-07 Title A name given to the resource Mission: Passion Unleashed 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 February 7, 1993 entitled "Mission: Passion Unleashed", as part of the series "On the Threshold of the Third Millennium", on the occasion of Epiphany V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 58:12, Luke 4:17-18. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Followers of Jesus Grace Inclusive Transforming Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c877e42e85eff7f265195d7e0b8f1f1a.mp3 7623e3941c70e94716155f5d1056b6cc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/04d29a08584579e627f2589f10dbd178.pdf 5469514484530f54eb536d28b697806b PDF Text Text Credo From the series: In the Threshold of the Third Millennium Text: Acts 17:27-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany IV, January 31, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon “... so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for God and find God though indeed God is not far from each one of us. For in God we live and move and have our being; as even some of your poets have said. For we too are God’s offspring.” Acts 17:27-28 “Credo.” That is a word that we have taken into our English language but it is really a Latin verb form from the Latin word credari, which means to trust or to put one’s faith in. And credo, the first person singular of the verb. In other languages other than English, oftentimes the form of the verb tells you the person and includes the pronoun. In this case credo means I believe. And this morning in the second of three messages on the edge of the third millennium, as we think together about our faith, about our community, and as we look to the future, I want us to move from last week and the whole question of our structure to the question of what we believe at this juncture in human history and at this point in our own lives. I entitled the message “Credo,” which means literally I believe, because I want to lift up the fact that in a certain sense, this is a personal profession of faith on my part. Every sermon ought to be the preacher’s personal profession of faith. It ought to be the confession of the preacher’s faith. The preacher ought not to proclaim what he or she does not passionately believe. It happens sometimes. Among my many faults I think that has not been one. I think I can say without fear of contradiction in your midst that what I have all these many years preached is that which I passionately believe. I have not preached to you what I do not believe. One can speak about what the Church teaches or what the Christian tradition is somewhat from a distance rather objectively without personal involvement or passion. One can speak of that. One can teach that way. But one cannot preach that way. At least, one ought not to preach that way. For to preach is to give © Grand Valley State University   �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 2   expression to a compassionate, compelling conviction in order to persuade, in order to convince, in order to move a people. And so, I say Credo this morning because I want to lift up the fact that this I believe. And perhaps more importantly, this I believe passionately. But also because I want to say to you that you too ought to live with a passionate faith. And I want to raise the question: What do you believe - passionately? What do you really believe? What do you really believe? There is a difference between a nonchalant answer to a nonchalant question like that, and an answer that comes from really sitting back and saying, “What do I really believe?” Would you begin to tell me what the Church teaches? Would you begin to tell me what you learned in catechism? Would you begin to outline for me the Christian tradition as you have imbibed it? I would stop you at some point and I would say, “Now, come on. What do you believe?” In other words, what elicits from you passionate, compelling conviction? I have a suspicion that we live with a lot of rather foggy and vague ideas. And then something happens in our life and we are put on the spot or we have some critical juncture in our human experience and suddenly it becomes clear to us that “I believe this,” or “I do not believe that” in spite of the fact that those elements may or may not have been a part of the kind of generalized, vague faith structure that we carry around with us. I want to say this morning that I believe that Christ Community Church ought to be a place where faith is a matter of passion. Where we live out of a compelling conviction. Where it is more than - the Christian tradition holds . . . or the Church teaches . . . or the Bible says.... I would that we would be a community of people that were moved by passionate faith, where things were clear and were articulated in our experience, were things for which we are willing to live, and if need be, things for which we would be willing to die. Credo. What do you really believe? What would you write down in a paragraph of twenty-five or fifty words entitled “These Things I Believe”? Paul was a passionate believer - a person of passionate conviction. In the scripture lesson this morning Paul comes to Athens. I envy him that. In September I am going to take some folks to Athens, and we will be able to appreciate the grandeur of the ancient city, but only from the ruins of the present. It must have been some experience to come to Athens in the first century. Oh, to be sure, the Golden Age was five hundred years earlier, but Athens continued to be a great center, a great city, the university city of the western world, to be sure, where all of the great thoughts that have ever been thought were thought and discussed. Paul came there in the midst of his missionary journey and, while he was waiting for his companions to join him, he signed up for a city tour. I want to say, I would like us to be passionate believers like Paul, but I would hope that we might be able to be a bit more appreciative of human culture than Paul because after his city tour, Luke tells us that he was disgusted. He was disgusted because he saw all of the temples, and all of the idols, and apparently © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 3   he had this overwhelming sense of a spiritual quest that was coated over with darkness and it disturbed him. I don’t want to be too hard on Paul, for he was a man of compelling conviction with great passion, who was turning the world upside down because he was so convinced that the one true and eternal God had acted decisively in the event of Jesus Christ; that this was a cosmic event and so he went everywhere telling the Gospel. Thus, when he encountered Athens with its layers of religion representing humankind’s vague religious quest, it upset him. And I want to honor that. But I do also want to lift up a danger when our religious conviction can sometimes become so focused and so frantic and so fanatic that we miss the larger picture. I would have wished that Paul might at least have given us a line of appreciation for the wonder and marvels of Athens. There has never been a greater cultural explosion and expression of the human spirit than Athens. I wish he could have been more open to appreciating the goodness of that. But, I go astray a bit. Let me return to the story. Before long the citizens of Athens heard that Paul, the passionate missionary, was in town and they brought him right to the very supreme court, as it were, to give witness to his faith. He did so rather smartly I believe, connecting with his audience, making reference to the statue of the unknown God, and then saying, “I know that God. And that God I proclaim to you.” He moved to the broad canvas of creation, “This one who has created all things....” And then he narrowed down, finally focusing on Jesus and the resurrection and the coming accountability of all before the face of God through Jesus Christ. Paul was a passionate believer who with all of his heart believed that the one true and eternal God who spoke and brought all things into being had come to be manifest in this one Jesus Christ, and Jesus in his way and in his life was vindicated in his death and resurrection, and the end was near. And because Paul believed that the end of the world was near, he called all to account after the proclamation of this good news of what God had done in Jesus Christ. Not a bad sermon really. Not a bad technique of preaching. And with all the passion that was his person, he presented the resurrected Christ as the window into God before whom all peoples would be brought to account. That was nearly 2000 years ago. And now we stand on the edge of the Third Millennium. What do you really believe about the things of which Paul spoke? Is it now enough for us to continue to say the things that Paul said, or do we somehow or other have to take stock of a perspective of 2000 years, which separates us? All that separated Paul from the event of Jesus Christ was a couple of decades, and yet there were a couple of decades there. Paul had no personal first-hand experience of the events of Jesus. He experienced Jesus, he says, by revelation. And he experienced it also by discussion with the other apostles. But Paul’s primary conviction came out of that mystical experience when he was thrown on his face on the Damascus road - the encounter with the ascended Lord. Now for us, do we, as we approach the Third Millennium, do we simply continue to reiterate what Paul said, or must we judge what Paul said in the light of Paul’s © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 4   background that brought him to that point? And do we reiterate the 2000 years of Christian church doctrine that has come in the meantime? What I mean to say is, from Paul, primarily, stems Christian theology. One of the things that I shared with you last fall that has gotten as much response as anything I have ever said as I was going out to Brandeis University for a discussion with Protestants, Catholics and Jews. I suggested to you that there have been a series of forks in the road along the line and that really it would not have been necessary for Christianity to develop separately from Judaism. It would not have been necessary for Islam to develop separately from Judaism and Christianity, and it would not have been necessary for the Christian Church to be divided into Orthodoxy and the West, and then the West into the Catholic tradition and the Protestant tradition. Those forks in the road need not have happened. There was no compelling truth that necessitated those splits. Those splits happened through human fogginess, though human misunderstanding, through human stubbornness and blindness, through human pride and arrogance. Somehow or other, when I said that, it seemed to ring a bell with a number of you. And now I am wondering, on the edge of the Third Millennium, whether or not we must not look at Paul and what happened in his formulation of the faith and, in dialogue with that, find our own way to bring to expression what is happening in our world today, in order to make an impact on our world for the one true and eternal God who was revealed in Jesus Christ. Paul, after all, thought he was at the end of the age! Paul had absolutely no sense at all that 2000 years later we would be here. Remember that Paul was jerked by God out of his tradition, uprooted as it were, turned upside down. Paul, so steeped in the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then so convicted by Jesus Christ that he was able to be absolutely uprooted from his Jewishness. Yet he need not have thrown over the faith of his forbearers, for he says that the Jew had every advantage. He never said that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not the true God or that Israel did not have true faith. He was simply trying to say to his Israel, “Look, the promised one is here.” But I wonder whether or not 2000 years later we don’t have to seriously consider what our message has to be for the Third Millennium. I read a very interesting book recently entitled, The Presbyterian Controversy, which was a study of the years 1922 to 1936 in the Presbyterian Church. That is the period of denominational crisis out of which arose Fundamentalism. It was a time where five fundamental doctrines were annunciated as absolutely essential for orthodox Christian faith. There was a deep division within the church as to how those events were to be understood and interpreted. In that book there is a statement by Henry Adams in his autobiography, published in 1918. He spoke about his birth, I suppose, in the year 1854, and he said, “A school boy in 1854 stood closer to the year one than to the year 1900.” Follow me? In 1854 years there was more continuity, more similarity, less challenge or disruptions to assumed understanding of reality than happened in the next forty-six years. And © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 5   that was written at the beginning of the 2oth century. What would he say if he stood now another 140 years later with the dramatic, radical, revolutionary developments in human understanding, our knowledge of the physical universe and our sense of the development of history? I think sometimes that those of us in the conservative Christian tradition have had to live a schizophrenic existence. We are modern people out there every day of the week. We live with business and industry and the exploding knowledge in all the professions. We operate with computer chips and we live in a world where we have landed a person on the moon and have a space vessel going out toward Mars, and all the other amazing things that are a part of this human scene of ours, and then we come into church and it is like another world and another age. It is hard to weave, between the religious realm and that secular realm, a relationship and a dialogue, a connection and an interlacing between their two realities. At the beginning of this century there was a great Christian optimism. We were going to evangelize the world in this generation: That’s what they said in 1910 at a great missionary conference. But it’s not happening is it? Do you foresee the time when the world will become Christian? Frankly, I don’t. Do you foresee the possibility that all of those world religions with their centuries of development and tradition will somehow or other be brought into the Christian Church? Do you really believe that? I’ll confess to you, I don’t really believe that. What then? What then must be our credo as we enter the third millennium? I wonder if God, through the processes of history, as God’s Spirit moves in the development of human experience, is bringing us at the edge of the third millennium and saying, “The thing you’ve got to do is, out of your experience of Israel and out of your experience of Jesus Christ and out of your Christian tradition, you’ve got to enter into dialogue with the richness of Judaism and the richness of Islam, and the richness of Buddhism and Hinduism. You’ve got to begin to talk about that insatiable religious quest in the human heart that is universal and forget the imperialism that would seek to bring everyone into the Christian Church and begin rather to share your knowledge and faith and trust in the God made available in Jesus. Bring that to the table. Our intention must be, in the decades ahead, it seems to me, not to bring everybody to Christian faith, but to bring the world to trust in the God whom Jesus revealed. Not the institutional imperialism and triumphalism that would make the whole world Christian, but rather in Jesus’ name to bring the world to the kind of human community that Jesus lived out. It’s really an exciting day in the Church. On the edge of the third millennium I want to invite you to join me into a continuing pilgrimage, probing the faith in order to understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches today. It is a day in which exciting things are happening. I brought some books with me this morning that I thought it might be fun for you to see. After all, I am at the threshold too, of © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 6   going on vacation, so I have begun to gather (retrieves books from pulpit) - take a look at this! For one thing, I am wondering if we don’t have to get back behind Paul and this is one of three or four recent publications - A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, 500 pages long It happens to be written by a Catholic. There are three or four others. Hans Küng, Christianity and the World Religions, Paths to Dialogue with Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, 460 pages. Hans Küng, Judaism Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, 750 pages. And then this one: The Birth of the Modern, World Society 1815 to 1830. Fifteen years, 1100 pages. And you thought I was wordy! Now, dear friends, I just say to you that there is so much that is happening in the world of scholarship, in the Church and outside of the Church, which is trying to come to terms with modernity and an ancient faith. My calling as a theologian in the traditional understanding of that calling is simply to explicate what is given, and not to think beyond it. That is orthodoxy’s definition of paradigm theology. It is my conviction that such orthodoxy is idolatry. It is the great tool of those in power in the institutions to keep the institutions intact. “Don’t bother me with the fact, my mind’s made up.” But we cannot afford, on the edge of the third millennium, simply to continue to reiterate yesterday’s answers to yesterday’s questions. That’s fundamentalism repeating an answer that at one time throbbed with passion because it connected with life. It is our task to believe passionately, engaged with our contemporary experience and the experience of our world, and there is nothing in the experience of the contemporary world that need frighten us or threaten us. Paul’s message was still a relevant message, pointing to the one true and eternal God, the creator of all things, whose face we see, whose heart we see in the face of Jesus. The way of Jesus is a way of justice, and righteousness and peace. It is a way full of love, full of grace, working on behalf of others and our world in terms of Jesus’ mind and heart. Working toward the healing of persons and the humanization of society. I’ll tell you, that’s what I really believe. I believe it passionately. And to the extent that you are willing to join me, we are going to open a whole new page with a daring attempt to confess what we really believe in order that we might really make a difference in faithfulness to the God who is always before us beckoning us on. The God who, when we have discovered the final secret of the universe, will still be more. The God who gives us confidence and a foundation for a sure hope. The God who keeps the world from disintegrating and unraveling. The God who allows hope to arise in our hearts and healing to happen, who calls us to the full expression of our humanity and the humanness of our world. Ah, it is an exciting task! What do you really believe? What do you really believe? © 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 Epiphany IV Series On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Scripture Text Acts 17:27-28 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-0-19930131 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-01-31 Title A name given to the resource Credo 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 January 31, 1993 entitled "Credo", as part of the series "On the Threshold of the Third Millennium", on the occasion of Epiphany IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 17:27-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Belief Diversity Inclusive Paul Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd4ea468a3c982088b6737a8adc36965.mp3 74ea8539af528b0831507fe49a248058 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3284061f7b835bf50960a1aeb1abf3b1.pdf 2734ca89220379f74e4098385a713f22 PDF Text Text Marks of Leadership From the series: On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany III, January 24, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon Of Issachar, those who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” I Chronicles 12:32 The gifts we possess differ as they are allotted to us by God’s grace, and must be exercised accordingly. Romans 12:6 ...among you, whoever wants to be first must be your servant ... Mark 10:43 Well, it’s been quite a week hasn’t it? No matter what your political party, I think you couldn’t help but get caught up in some of the excitement. After all, everyone loves newness and as our new president said, “the mystery of renewal” is something in which I think we all want to participate. The movement of change was so obvious from one generation to another, detectible in the musical sounds. Mr. Bryson, wanting to reflect that which happened in the nation’s capitol invited the president to be with us this morning to play his saxophone. But the president was busy, but we have Christopher! It’s been a fun week, a great week, and it is so nice that it coincides with the newness in our lives at the top of the year and the newness that is a part of our life together as Christ Community. I have been looking forward to this time to celebrate it together with you and with these who have now been commissioned to their respective ministries. It is always wonderful to have a new beginning, and I believe that we are at an important watershed in our life together. Coinciding as it does with the events of this past week, we can say, “These are our times. Let us embrace them.” And we can say with the poet, Maya Angelou on inauguration day, that this is a time to sense the pulse of this new day, to look out into our sisters’ eyes and a brother’s face and to the country and “to say, simply, very simply, with hope ‘Good Morning.’” That’s where we are together. And as we implement our new leadership arrangement in this congregation, I want to begin by thinking with you and with those who have been commissioned to their respective ministries about the marks of leadership. © Grand Valley State University   �The Marks of Leadership Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Those marks of leadership become clear, I think, in the three lessons that were read this morning. In the Old Testament lesson the delegations came to David in order to give their loyalty to him. Their request was that he be king over all of Israel. You will remember from your Old Testament history that Israel’s first king was Saul. Saul came to a tragic end but, as it was assumed, as it is always assumed, the royal houses perpetuate themselves. And so there were those leaders around King Saul who sought to establish his son as king. Yet, down south, was the Robin Hood of Israel, young David, with a band of bandits around him, who had such charisma and who had gained such fame in the land. For seven years the two tribes of the south said to David, “You are our king.” But the old monarchy was perpetuated in the north, and the nation was being torn apart with civil strife and civil war. Finally, the leaders of the north could see that the future lay with David and that obviously the blessing of God was not on the House of Saul. If Israel was to find its place in the sun, then certainly it had to make David king over all the tribes. And so the leaders came first, then delegations from each of the tribes. I singled out the delegation from the Tribe of Issachar because they are characterized according to what I would like to suggest as the first mark of leadership for the Church of Christ. They are characterized as those who had an “understanding of the times” to know what Israel had to do. They were visionary. They were far-sighted. They were practical. They were pragmatic. They were wise. From this, I would like to suggest the first mark of leadership is a holy worldliness. When I was growing up, worldliness was a great thing to avoid. It was the great sin. But I am using that word in the sense of the people from Issachar who had an understanding of the time. The Church too often has been characterized by people who have been devoted, dedicated, serious, sincere, but lacking sometimes that sense of where the movement of history was going. Where was the cutting edge? And what had to be done today in order to capture tomorrow? The men of Issachar were the kind of leaders who were able to see the handwriting on the wall. They were able to look into the horizon and see what was breaking, and they were able to position Israel in order that it might, under David, realize its golden age. It never had another age like the age of David. Their choice, their decision was confirmed in the prosperity of the nation under this great king. We need in the Church a kind of holy worldliness – that is, set apart for God, but worldly, wise in the ways of the world. Far too often in the Church we have had sincerity and piety, but not always visionary leadership and the strength and giftedness of that leading. When I think back, over thirty years now, to when I first came to this congregation in 1960, I can tell you what at that time was a surefire formula for being elected to congregational office. You had to be male, on the young side, and promising. You had to come to church in the morning. You had to come to church © Grand Valley State University �The Marks of Leadership Richard A. Rhem Page 3   in the evening. You had to teach a Sunday School class of irrepressible, impossible young sixth graders. (Laughter) Maybe you’d have to take a stint at being Sunday School superintendent. Then we always elected officers in November and, along about September when family night began and midweek prayer meeting began, if you would show up on Wednesday night, and if you could catch your voice and croak out a prayer, I can assure you you would be deacon the next election. (Laughter) Then, if you served a term or two or three as deacon responsibly, if you grayed a bit or balded a bit, you could become an elder. Understand, I salute all of those who have served 120 some years in this place because it was always recognized that leadership was nothing if it was not rooted in devotion to Christ and loyalty to the church, but in all honesty I want to say that there was also, too often, a resistance to the strong leader who was making a mark in business, industry, the professions. There was almost a resistance to bringing such a person on board the governing body of the church. Rather, the church became the place of authority for those of adequate piety. But, all over this country still to this day, there are good and sincere people leading the church who lack leadership quality, who lack a sense of where things are going and where the church has to position itself if it would capture the future. Not so the men of Issachar. They said, “This civil war is destroying the nation. The House of Saul has got to go. David is our leader.” They had an understanding of the times, to know what Israel had to do. We need people who are visionary, creative, daring, able to negotiate the passages of the structures of our society in order to make the Church of Jesus Christ a viable institution that has power and thrust, that has integrity, spirituality, but a kind of far seeing vision that will enable us to execute the mission of Jesus Christ in a fast changing world, in an amazing world on the edge of the third millennium. That giftedness is the gift of the Holy Spirit. I think that’s where there was a lack in the past. We identified the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the “more spiritual aspects of ministry” - someone who could lead in prayer, teach a class, make a pastoral call. These are important, necessary spiritual gifts for the nurture of the body. Paul uses the image of the body of Christ as an image for the Church, and in two or three or four different places in his letters he lists various gifts of the spirit, always making the point however that all gifts come from one spirit. They are not to be exercised for selfaggrandizement, but for the common good and that all of the gifts, no matter how they manifest themselves, have not only a common origin in Spirit, but also a common dignity in value. All of the lists are not the same. I chose Romans 12 today because there is one important distinction in the list in Romans 12. In the 7th verse it speaks about a gift of service. Maybe a more careful translation would be practical service, or in the New English Bible you will find that gift translated as the gift of administration. Now I take it for granted that the leadership of the church will include people gifted in prayer and spiritual © Grand Valley State University �The Marks of Leadership Richard A. Rhem Page 4   devotion, and loyalty and dedication, and Christian life, but what has not always been understood is that the “worldly” gift of administration is also a gift of the Holy Spirit. So I want to say that the second mark of leadership is that it is in its diversity gifted by the Spirit for the common good. That’s why this morning, in order to act out what we believe regarding marks of leadership, we have had elders and deacons, and boards of trustees and operations council all mixed up. They said to me, “In what order should we march in?” I said, “It doesn’t matter, you’re all mixed up.” They said, “You can say that again!” (Laughter) We used the same oil and the same words, the same commissioning because, in the diversity of these gifts and the diversity of these people, we have a common source of spiritual power in the Spirit of God, and a common place in which to exercise the gift. In all of its diversity it is still one ministry. It used to be that we ordained elders and deacons and we constituted various committees to do stuff - no more! We are seeking now people with specific gifts for specific ministries, recognizing that, in all of that diversity, there is a commonality of spiritual empowerment for the common good of this institution that needs to be prayed over, that needs to be healed, that needs to have financial finessing, that needs to have visionary strategic planning – all of this, the wholeness of the body, demanding a diversity of gifted persons. We are recognizing that baptism is our ordination, that ministry is shared, and that what we need to do is appoint people whose gifts we recognize to execute these ministries. The Church isn’t a democracy. The Church isn’t a republican form of government. The Church has nothing to do with winners and losers. Jesus, on the way to Jerusalem with the shadow of death looming over him, shares with his disciples what is in store for him. And James and John come and they say, “Jesus, when you come in your glory, could we sit on your right and left hands?” Talk about insensitivity! Jesus knows the only glory he is going to get is the glory of martyrdom. Talk about misunderstanding! The other disciples got involved too; they were indignant with James and John, but what made them angry was not that James and John wanted to be number one and number two, but the fact that James and John thought of it first! And so you have the feuding and dissension. You have the desire for power and position, for pomp and circumstance, and Jesus had to gather them all and say, “Look, it’s not that way. It is that way out in the world. It is that way in Washington. It is that way in probably every other institution and organization of which you are a part, but it’s not that way in the Church.” He said, “The Gentiles have great men lording it over them, but it shall not be thus with you. The one who would be great must be the servant of all.” And that, I believe, brings us to the third mark of leadership: humble servanthood. Jesus is our model. He says, “I have come not to be served, but to serve.” Dear friends, what we have done in this congregation is a radical restructuring. I don’t even dare tell the Reformed Church in America what we’ve done, because we’ve turned © Grand Valley State University �The Marks of Leadership Richard A. Rhem Page 5   their constitution upside down. But then, that’s not the first time. Constitutions of organizations are frantic attempts to get down on paper what has already happened in the life of a living organization. I say that with some fear and trembling in the presence of the Judge (Judge Post), but there is a real sense in which our situation is like that of the nation. As President Clinton said in his inaugural address, “Thomas Jefferson long since recognized that, in order for America to meet its future, it would have to change much,” and he said, “We change not for the sake of change, but in order to preserve the ideals of the nation.” And so, while we must always be in dialogue with the past, it’s like the Constitution of the United States. It stands so that we must always come up against it, but we must also continue to interpret it in the ongoing life of the nation. And so, here too, we saying what we are doing is more biblical, more reflective of this institution which has a ministry function that is classically thought of as spiritual, and a management function that needs to be thought of as ministry. In order that the institution may be well positioned, strong and vital, moving into the future, able to execute the mission of Christ, we are so structured now that we can move with facility and agility. We can look into the future on the edge of the third millennium and say, “These are our times. Let us embrace them.” We are able to look into the eyes of our sister and into the face of our brother, and to our country, and our faith community, and simply, very simply with hope say, “Good morning…Good morning.” © 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 Epiphany III Series On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Scripture Text I Chronicles 12:32, Romans 12:6, Mark 10:43 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-0-19930124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-01-24 Title A name given to the resource Marks of Leadership 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 January 24, 1993 entitled "Marks of Leadership", as part of the series "On the Threshold of the Third Millennium", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Chronicles 12:32, Romans 12:6, Mark 10:43. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Church Community of Faith Holy Spirit Servanthood https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/11e4dc63046b41538e21bda097817e40.mp3 4a7a8497062c1d8ccc57a4871a2e9b07 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4e8a5cd241bd90d334a598b7545b7375.pdf 6a9f387bd68757a2d5af6de13786bcd0 PDF Text Text Light of the World Text: II Corinthians 4:6 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany I, January 10, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon For it is God…who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 4:6 We have come to celebrate the fact that light has come into the world, and to wonder at the mystery of that light, which for some becomes the light of the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and for others seems to be not light at all. This is the season in which we point to our reality that light has come into the world, that God has been revealed, that God has been unveiled, that God has made God’s self accessible and available, and comprehendible and apprehendible to the likes of us. And yet it is also the season in which we wonder about the mystery of why it is that some believe and others believe not at all – or, to wonder even further, why it is that we, who are exposed all our life to this mystery, if we are honest must say that we have never fully sensed the dawning of the light. For you see, in this celebration in this season of the year we recognize a double act. On the one hand light has come into the world, but on the other hand the critical personal question is, “Has the light dawned upon me? Have I seen the light?” There is always that double edge. It is one thing to celebrate that the light is here, and it is another thing to wonder at the mystery of the dawning of that light on our deepest selves. It is not enough simply to affirm that the light has come; it is essential finally that I can say, “I have seen the light.” The Apostle Paul tells the story of Epiphany in his own way, out of his own experience. Had I read a Gospel lesson this morning, I think I would have read the first chapter of John, the prologue to John’s Gospel. The prologue to John’s Gospel might well be called the Christmas Epiphany passage, because in that passage John calls our attention or makes a connection between creation and the coming of the light in Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things were made by him and apart from him was not anything made that was made.” That light was coming into the world, and John affirms in the fifth verse of that first chapter, that that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it. So John connects the coming of light with the creation story. © Grand Valley State University   �Light of the World Richard A. Rhem Page 2   In Time Magazine last week, on the 28th of December, the cover asked the question, “What Can Science Tell Us About God?” The cover story dealt with that question from the aspect of the physicist who probes deep cosmological secrets. It’s an interesting article. It’s the kind of thing that Time usually does at the end of the year, maybe at Christmas and Easter, tipping their hat to the spiritual realities of the world. But, in that article, it recounts the fact that centuries ago there was an Islamic scholar who spoke about the fact that the darkness would have been just preceding the brilliance of light, and that all of reality would have been contained in a mere speck prior to the creation. In the New York Times this past week there was an article about some further confirmation of the “big bang” theory, that all of reality - the whole cosmos, the whole vast expanse of the cosmos – was at one time just a knot of energy tightly compacted, and that the “big bang” was the explosion, that nuclear-type explosion that created the cosmic reality that continues to this day to be expanding. There was some further verification for that theory, which I have to admit, goes over my head. But at the end of it all, the authors of the article say that agnosticism is still a pretty good scientific position to take, but atheism may not be as valid as once it might have been. One hundred years ago with the onrush of the natural sciences, it seemed as though God was just going to be moved off the map, or off the globe. But after a hundred years of intense scientific inquiry, there are some very profound scientists today who would say, “You know, there is a curtain there and if you haven’t been able to look behind the curtain, then it’s rather presumptuous to say that no one is home.” Well, the creation in this description is so complex; it is such a mystery that it challenges the best minds and causes them to stand in awe of the complexity of life from its molecular structure to its very complex arrangements. The creator hasn’t really been ruled “out of court” yet in terms of the best of science that’s out there. The creation of light. There is even an article in the New York Times this week about the discovery of a huge invisible mass that they have been looking for, a mass that would indicate - which would give some confirmation to – the theory of the “big bang” as the way it all began. One scientist read the read-out from a computer and said, “Well, if you are a religious type you might say you are looking at God.” How did it happen? Who knows? But, if there is something to that “big bang” theory, then, with the coming into being of all of this cosmic matter, there would have also been the explosion of light. We know now from our probe into outer space that it is cold and dark there but, in that moment of creation, poetically the Genesis writer says, “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’” There must have been light, blinding light, if that “big bang” has any credibility about it. And that light, the light at the beginning of the natural world, is for John and for Paul, an analogy of that Light that explodes within the mind and heart of the human person who comes to see the brightness of God in the face of Jesus © Grand Valley State University �Light of the World Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Christ. That is what Epiphany is all about. It is the celebration, the dancing before the Light that has come into the world. The good news is that the Light has come into the world. Just as surely as the natural light was indicated when God said, “Let there be light,” just so surely in the face of Jesus Christ – so says John, so says Paul, so did they witness and testify – there is now light to enlighten our human experience, our human lives. Light in the natural realm, but also light in the personal realm through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul says, “To look into the face of Jesus is to look into the heart of God.” I like that passage. I think it says it beautifully, brilliantly: that in the contours of the life and ministry of Jesus we see into the depths of the nature of God. And when Paul speaks about this light, he is, of course, telling his own story. We read that story in the book of Acts. Paul, a Jew, serious and devout, committed to the way of Israel, cognizant of the threat that was placed before temple and law in the ministry of Jesus, set about to exterminate the Followers of the Way. He tells us that it was about noonday, somewhere on the way to Damascus, that he had a vision - saw a bright light - was thrown to the ground, blinded. For Paul it was that dramatic and that vivid. For Paul indeed it was like that initial atomic explosion at the creation. It was a blinding flash, and he was blinded and, led on into the city, he prayed, and finally one was sent to him and we read it was as though the scales fell off his eyes. That’s the way it is. The blinding flash of physical light that blinds one is analogous to the blinding flash of insight into the truth. Paul’s experience was that out of which he spoke and out of which he ministered for the rest of his life. The light had dawned upon him, for you see there is a double aspect that we must reckon with in Epiphany. On the one hand, the light shines and Jesus is the light of the world, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it. But the other side of the coin, the completion of the circle, only comes when one says, “I have seen the light.” Paul could say the Light has come, and I was blinded by the light, the light shining in the world, and suddenly I saw the Light. It is interesting when you think about that, because it wasn’t as though he was some pagan, a reckless, careless, unspiritual individual, of which the world is full, of course. That wasn’t the case with Paul. It wasn’t the case with Paul that he was following some false God. He was following the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of covenant grace, the God of David and Moses. He was the son of Israel. But suddenly the Light struck him and everything changed. His world got turned upside down and redirected. Strange how that happens isn’t it? In the context of the passage in Corinthians, he is defending his ministry. He often falls under attack, and has to give an account of himself. He is doing that in this letter, and, in the course of saying, “I have carried on an authentic ministry, an honest ministry. I set forth the truth before the common conscience of my fellow men and before the face of God,” he hears the objectors say, “But not all believe.” And that is a mystery isn’t it? It is a mystery that you could be sitting here this © Grand Valley State University �Light of the World Richard A. Rhem Page 4   morning and the one next to you believing fervently and you in all honesty having more questions than certainties. Paul tries to explain that. I am not very satisfied with his explanation. He says, “Well, to be sure not everybody believes, but if one doesn’t believe it is because they are blinded by the god of this world.” Well, I don’t know, Paul. From a preacher’s point of view, that gets me off the hook a bit. In other words, if I make sense to you and the Light dawns, it’s because there is a connection here, but if nothing happens then the failure must be that Satan has blinded your heart, your mind. That whole conception of the universe peopled with spirits of darkness is a little strange, frankly. I don’t think of my world that way, do you? Maybe I’m naive, but I am not as ready as Paul was simply to explain the one that believes as opposed to the one who doesn’t believe in terms of devils going about blinding people. Our Reformation forbearers tried to explain the phenomena of belief and unbelief in terms of God’s predestinating, electing grace. That ought to send chills up and down your spine. I don’t believe that either. Thank God. Double predestination: the fact that somehow, in the mystery of God’s counsel, you are chosen, you are damned. Poof! You know our forefathers and foremothers believed that? That you didn’t really have a chance. If you were elected you had had it. And if you weren’t, you had really had it. That was, frankly, a theological scheme by which to explain why one believes and one doesn’t. How would you explain it? Here two people sit. One believes. One doesn’t. They hear the same stuff. They eat the same meals. They watch the same television. They go out into the same world. One has faith. One doesn’t. How would you explain it? Because you see, it is one thing to say that the Light has come into the world. That is our Christmas gospel; that is what we celebrate. The Light shines in the darkness, but have I seen the Light? Well, I like to think that maybe it’s not so much explained by little spirits of darkness pulling curtains over hearts, and I certainly don’t think that somewhere in eternity God decided to choose you and leave me out. I think it has a lot to do with our human experience, don’t you? Some people in the midst of their human experience are so broken and scarred that it seems almost impossible for them ever to trust. Some people never having been loved find it impossible to love. Some people never having experienced the embrace of forgiveness find it impossible to forgive. Some faith has been shattered on the shoals of human suffering. Some faith has been ignited in the midst of suffering. Suffering doesn’t necessarily turn you one way or the other, but it can still turn you. I could give you instances of those who suffered deeply and came out with strong faith. The Psalmist said in retrospect, “It was good for me that I was afflicted.” But I could show you other people who suffered deeply, who are cynical and full of despair, and for whom the ongoing religious life is hollow and empty. Human experience has a lot to do with it. © Grand Valley State University �Light of the World Richard A. Rhem Page 5   I like the way we are nurturing our children at Christ Community. In this season of the year they are being taught to cultivate “Epiphany Eyes.” Because it is not only Epiphany, the manifestation, the revelation, the turning on of the light, but it is the eyes to see and behold. It is to create within us that expectation that we will be apprehended by the Light and we will have the Light dawn upon us, that we will see the Light. The cultivation of an expectation creates within us a readiness and an openness for it. I think it is good also to remember as we wonder about these things - why one believes and why one doesn’t, or why there was one time when your experience was warm and enriching and now it seems rather distant and cold - that the Light shines and Epiphany happens not simply once. There may for some be the dramatic turn-around of an Apostle Paul, but for most of us, here and there, a ray breaks through in a deeply moving experience, times when suddenly we feel, as Wesley expressed it, “How our hearts strangely warmed.” Oh, it’s a mystery. I wish I knew how to throw the switch. I wish I knew how to trigger it for you. I can do no more than Paul advised. Giving up all kinds of manipulation and any distortion of the word of God, simply commending the truth before the common conscience. Before the common conscience of humankind and before the face of God, to set forth this story that the Light has come into the world - that in the face of Jesus we see into the nature of God and that can be trusted. And some Sundays you walk out of here and say, “That really got through to me.” And some Sundays you walk out and say, “Could have better gone to brunch.” And sometimes it’s me. But, as often, it’s you. What you bring. What you anticipate. What you are looking for, and what you need. Oh, I wish I could take all of you on occasion and shake you, take you by the nape of the neck and say, “Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you questing? Where are you? What are you doing? Where are you going? Are you doing more than just going through motions? Is your faith, your devotion, more than just hollow ceremony and empty form? Is there some passion? Have you been touched? Has the fire burned brightly lately? The Light has come. The Light has come. The Light shines in the world. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” And in the face we see to the heart of God. But the face of Jesus isn’t available for you. Where finally then in your human experience will you find the Light shining? Well, I suppose, to drag out an old saw: If I can’t see it in Jesus’ face any more, then you are the only face I have in which can be mirrored the face of Jesus, that is a mirror of the heart of God. It’s a Mystery all right! And we do make a mystery of it I suppose. We carry on our theological discussions and we split our doctrinal hairs. I suppose, finally when I look into your face and know I am accepted, finally when I feel your arms around me and know I am loved, finally when I look into your eyes and know I am forgiven, finally when you touch me, the Word becomes flesh, and then it is not the objective reality alone that Jesus is the Light of the world. Then it is that Light that floods my soul. It is in the encounter one with the other that Epiphany © Grand Valley State University �Light of the World Richard A. Rhem Page 6   happens today in the ongoing community of those who stem back to the Word made flesh, the Word who was the explosion of Light revealing the One who in the beginning called forth an explosion full of light. The Light has dawned upon us. Thank 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 Epiphany I Scripture Text II Corinthians 4:6 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-0-19930110 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-01-10 Title A name given to the resource Light of the World 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 January 10, 1993 entitled "Light of the World", on the occasion of Epiphany I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 4:6. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Creation Divine Mystery Face of Jesus Insight Light Nature of God Transformation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e08eeaa0a8d3c31404cfa6d022f83dab.mp3 afc05ba2196ee230da9673352e2cc8ab https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d0adc6978e1dc1fc5eeacf5bbe8c7f88.pdf 2406762906e3e7e6fc56f453ffe234e1 PDF Text Text What a Line! Text: Matthew 1:1 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Christmastide II, January 3, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah…Matthew 1:1 On Christmas Eve after our two Christmas services here, Nancy and I went home and I turned the television on and watched midnight mass from St. Peter’s. And this year I had the presence of mind when that was over to remember that Chicago is an hour behind us so I flipped to WGN and caught midnight mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. So, two services here and then two midnight masses. It’s stuff like that that makes Nancy question my sanity! (Laughter) But I love to see the scenes and the sights of St. Peter’s on Christmas Eve: the crowd such a diverse group, and the red-caped cardinals, (always wanted to be one of those.) and the magnificent sculpture of Bellini, and just that space. Well, it sort of makes Christmas Eve complete for me. There is always a commentator in English so that I can follow what the Holy Father is saying. And then sometimes they move the cameras away from the live action and show you different sights. This year they focused on some of the Italian crèches that are rather famous, paintings, and sculpture which are magnificent. The crèches at Christmas time are so much a part of the celebration - with the Christ Child in full halo and of course the Madonna, the Blessed Virgin, also in halo looking so wonderfully serene and peaceful. It’s one of the most common expressions of Christian art. The halos, the serenity, the tranquility, the beauty of it all, the little infant with arms outstretched and smiling. “No crying he makes,” of course. There is something heavenly about it. But art has a way of glossing over the kind of harsh stark reality that is the actual story. There is some legitimacy in that. It does, I think, become a sign that points us to the heavenly dimension. But on the other hand the crèche scenes do obscure the reality of the situation. The squalor and poverty of a manger for instance. The hay not necessarily all yellow and sweet smelling as the choir sang on Christmas Eve but probably soiled a bit. Amongst steaming animal dung, came the wails of a woman, a bloody birth. That is the truth of the story. And sometimes, when we paint over the stark reality of the story, while it does point us to that heavenly © Grand Valley State University   �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 2   dimension and has a certain legitimacy, it also has the danger of distorting the real event and the real message. In a recent book, Born of a Woman, a rather controversial Episcopal Bishop, John Shelby Spong, has written that the nativity stories at the beginning of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke have, as a matter of fact, a way of distorting the reality. They have been, he says, the source of the subjugation and the subservience of women in the Church and in society by idealizing Mary, creating an image of Mary as the ideal woman. It’s a rather interesting thesis that he sets forth. And when he looks at biblical material, he does have some basis, although one has to weigh it, and in places his hypothesis is certainly somewhat speculative. He suggests, for example, that Jesus may have been married. Well, that wouldn’t be any problem. At least not for Protestant bones, I guess. He suggests the possibility that he may have been married to Mary Magdalene. Now there he is somewhat on some solid ground. In the history of the Church, the Blessed Virgin, Mary Mother of Jesus, has the central place, but if you read the Gospel stories, the predominant figure of the Gospel narratives is Mary Magdalene. Why is she so important? Spong simply raises the question: could it have been that Jesus was married? Could it have been Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene? And then he asks a second question. Could it have been that Mary Magdalene was not the ideal woman and that the appending of those nativity stories as they were added to the Gospel record somewhat later, the appending of those stories might have intentionally removed Mary Magdalene from the center stage and replaced her there with the Blessed Virgin? But when you read the Gospel story, Mary mother of Jesus doesn’t play a terribly key role. You go to Mark 3:21 and you find this Jewish mother out after her son she’s going to drag Jesus home because they are saying, “This is a wild man.” And he says, “Mother, get lost.” John 7:2 is a similar reference. Mary does not play at all the central role in the Gospel narrative that she has played in the tradition of the Church, particularly the Roman Catholic tradition where that whole development of Marian doctrine has taken place. Spong suggests that the Blessed Virgin is not an accurate portrait of Mary the mother of Jesus in the Gospel, but rather is the creation of the Church. What church? Well, of course, a male-dominated church, a male, celibate clergy. And the idealization of Mary as this Blessed Virgin was a rather safe woman for a celibate clergy to adore. Wouldn’t every man want every woman to be docile, obedient and powerless? Now that’s Mary according to the development of Marian dogma in the church. Here again Spong is on very solid ground. In the late second century there was a Gospel of James that didn’t pass muster for the canon, but it’s one of those books - there were many such representative writings at the time - and in the Gospel of James, the whole story of Mary is told. Mary’s birth to a very aged couple: Joseph and Anna. It was kind of a miraculous © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 3   birth. When she was very young she was dedicated and brought to the temple – sort of like Samuel – and she was raised by holy men in the temple. She had to get out of the temple before her puberty, of course, because the menstrual flow would pollute the temple. Again, a denigration of womanhood in its genuinely human state. Mary was given to an aged widower, Joseph, who had children from his previous marriage. To this aged widower Mary was entrusted and thereby her perpetual virginity was ensured. Because, in the teaching of the Western Catholic Church, it is not simply that Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin, but that her virginity was perpetual. And so the Gospel records speaking of Jesus’ brothers and sisters are written off as referring to the stepchildren of Mary, the children of Joseph by his first wife. All of this is common church tradition and accepted by many as historical fact. In the continuing development of the Blessed Virgin in the tradition of the Church we have then Mary’s perpetual virginity and, as a matter of fact, even the teaching on the part of some that Mary’s hymen was not broken in the birth of Jesus. There was not even the disruption of the birth canal in Mary. She was spared the “taint” of anything having to do with sexuality, her womanhood, in the bearing of this child. In so doing, the Church was removing Mary from common human womanhood and thereby also removing Jesus from the stuff that is part and parcel of our human experience. Mary was never allowed the intimacy and the ecstasy of the sexual relationship. Her sexuality was something that was not allowed because, in the development of the early Catholic dogma, sexuality was identified with sin and with guilt. And one of the major shapers of this was Saint Augustus, who was a great theologian and a great Christian, but had serious problems because of his own youthful profligacy. He identified sin with the sexual union and through the sexual union original sin was passed on from one generation to another. That whole thing has shaped Christian understanding and Christian doctrine more than you might realize. Saint Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate argued strenuously against the possibility that the married state was equal to the celibate state for man or for woman. The whole monastic development in the Catholic Church, the monasteries and the convents were a reflection of the highest spirituality that was attributed to the celibate state. Mary becomes the epitome of this sexless human, drained of its reality and all of its genuineness. When Spong speaks about this ideal woman: docile, obedient and powerless, he is on strong grounds historically. This is the image and it is a distorted image. It’s not faithful to the Gospel record itself, and its impact has been considerable. Actually the Marian dogma has continued to grow into this present century, although most acute Catholic theologians will have very little to do with it today. But it was only in 1854 that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated by Pope Pius IX, and it was in 1950 that the dogma of the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven was promulgated by Pope Pius XII: the doctrine which determined that Mary, holy as she was, would not have died a normal © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 4   death. So you can see that in the history of the Church there has been a strong movement away from the biblical picture of Mary the mother of Jesus to this kind of idealized woman, spiritualized and drained of her genuine, full, humanness. Spong says that this image has been fed by the nativity pictures. And its development has been a major instrument for the subjugation of women, with refusal to give women positions of authority and leadership in the church. And such a perception of the ideal woman has spilled over into larger society, resulting in subjugation in the secular realm as well. And I think probably that point cannot be contended. But the interesting thing, and my point this morning, is that, in viewing Mary thus, we lose the wonder and glory of the grace of God that came to expression in Mary and in Mary’s son Jesus, our Lord. If only the Church had read again the genealogy of Matthew, it would have known that the Immaculate Conception was a ridiculous matter. You know the Immaculate Conception has nothing to do with the conception of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception in Catholic dogma has to do with the conception of Mary. Mary’s conception was immaculate they say (in other words, “without sin”) in order that she might be a pure vessel to carry the Godhead, Jesus. And so they moved the whole deal back one generation in order to avoid the “taint” of original sin for the Virgin Mary. But, as a matter of fact, all you do is remove it one step back. The Gospel of Matthew would tell us that, if you would go back far enough, you have some line for Jesus. Matthew’s genealogy, like all biblical genealogies, was put together with a specific theological purpose in mind. If you compare Luke’s genealogy and Matthew’s genealogy, you cannot possibly harmonize them. They are totally different lines. The genealogy of Matthew, any biblical genealogy, makes no attempt to give the exact order right on down the generations. They are always constructed to make a certain point. And Matthew, writing to a Jewish Christian community that was receiving Gentiles into its fellowship, told the story of Jesus to this Jewish Christian community in order to show them that it had long been the intention of God that the Gentiles should be included into this fellowship of God’s people. Matthew goes back to David and back to Abraham. He says to David, “To you of Israel, yes indeed, Jesus was the Messiah, the one promised, the one who would come to be like David. And then he goes back to Abraham so he can say, “and he comes from Abraham from whom God said, ‘And all nations of the earth shall be blessed.’” So he goes back to particular ancestors of the Messiah, to David and to the universal covenant of grace with Abraham, and that is his purpose in putting together this genealogy in this way. If you would look at Luke, chapter 3, you would find that Luke starts with Jesus and weaves his way all the way back to Adam, Son of God, because Luke’s gospel was not for a Jewish Christian community, it was for a Gentile community. Luke was also trying to say Jesus came as the Savior of all people, and so he brings it all the way back through David, through Abraham, all the way to Adam to say he was the universal Savior. © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 5   But, back to Matthew. His purpose is to connect Jesus to the messianic promise in David, and the covenant promise in Abraham. But in the meantime he mentions four women. That in itself is unusual. There are four women mentioned in the genealogical table in Matthew, chapter 1. Who are they? Tamar. Do you know who Tamar is? She was the daughter-in-law of Judah, founder of the tribe of Judah. She married the son of Judah. The Bible says that son was wicked and he died. So then Judah’s daughter-in-law is without a husband. The law of Levite marriage in Israel said that in that case the next son must take this woman in order that seed might be raised up to the brother who is dead. But the next son doesn’t cooperate. His name is Onan. He intentionally spills his seed on the ground and for this he dies. God’s judgment. Judah says, “Hmmm. This woman Tamar, there is something deadly about that woman!” He’s got one more boy, but he thinks, “I am not going to risk my last son with Tamar.” So he says, “Tamar, cool your heels. Go back and live with your father and when my youngest son is old enough I will give him to you.” Well she waits and she waits, and she waits, and nothing happens. One day she learns that this youngest son is a full adult and realizes Judah is procrastinating. He is not being honest with her. So what does she do? She hears that Judah is going to go down where the sheep are being sheared and she goes along the highway and sets up a little booth…of prostitution. Judah, not realizing the woman in the tent is Tamar (for she has disguised herself and it has been a while since he has seen her), enjoys himself with her for an evening. And out of their union there is a pregnancy. Word comes to Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is pregnant.” He says, “Bring the whore out, we’ll burn her.” But she is an intelligent and clever woman. Tamar had managed to slip Judah’s ring off his finger, and she pulls it out and says, “It’s true, but the one who did it owns this ring.” Judah said, “Oh, my goodness. She’s more righteous than I,” for he knew he had not fulfilled the legal obligation to her. And he honors her. And so Tamar is in the line of Jesus Christ. Rahab. Did you ever hear of Rahab? She lived in Jericho when Joshua, “Fit the battle of Jericho,” and he sent some spies in to reconnoiter the city. They heard about this happy brothel run by Rahab and they went there and their presence was discovered. Rahab, always equal to the moment, hid them up on the roof. The king called up and said, “Any men there?” She said, “Oh they were, but they are on their way.” When they were gone she went up and said, “Now you boys are going to come in with the army and, when you come in, spare me and my family.” They said, “Well, put a scarlet cord in the window, and that will be the sign.” Rahab managed to save her family when the walls of Jericho fell down. Rahab, the Canaanite, is in the line of Jesus. And then there was Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess. There was an Israelite couple that went to Moab during a famine in Bethlehem in order to find food. Naomi was the woman. Her husband later died and her two sons also had died and left her alone with their Moabite wives, one of whom was Ruth. Naomi said, “I am going back home to Bethlehem.” And Ruth said, “I’ll go with you.” Naomi said, “Oh, don’t go with me. Stay here.” She said, “No. Where you go I will go, where © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 6   you dwell I will dwell, your God will be my God.” Wonderful story of Ruth in the book by her name. And once back in Bethlehem Ruth starts gleaning in the field of Boaz. Boaz was a wealthy old critter, and he notices Ruth one day. Naomi, sly old fox, she sees Boaz eyeing Ruth. And one night when Boaz was going down to the threshing floor where they were going to do the harvest, Naomi said, “Ruth, my dear, take a bath. Put on some Esté Lauder, (Laughter) your finest gown and go see Boaz. Wait until he has eaten well and had a couple of nightcaps. Note the place where he lies down to sleep and join him.” Simple as that! And Ruth and Boaz eventually marry and have a son, Obid, who had a son Jesse, who had a son David, whose greater son was Jesus Christ our Lord. And then, of course, also listed is the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Do you remember her name? Bathsheba. David looked at her, longed for her, took her, illicitly. She became pregnant and consequently David had to have her husband killed so he could take her as his wife. She bore a child but he died as a punishment from God. But she bore another son and his name was Solomon. As David lay dying she pleaded on behalf of her son and, although Solomon was not in the line of succession, David arranged things so that Solomon succeeded him on the throne. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba: all in the line of Jesus according to Matthew. It’s unusual to begin with that there would be women mentioned at all, but what was Matthew’s point? Raymond Brown, the great Catholic New Testament scholar, has a big thick book entitled The Birth of a Messiah, and he has a section there, “Why Bring on the Ladies?” He gives a couple of reasons that have traditionally been put forward, but finally gives the consensus of opinion, and it is this: There are two things that these women have in common. Number one: they are foreigners. And to a Jewish Christian community this word of Matthew to them was, “Look, the Messiah himself is the product of mixed blood. Canaanites, Moabites, Hittites. Where do you get this blue blood, this pure blood line stuff?” And, secondly, in every one of the cases there was something irregular and extraordinary about the union of these women with their partners. In each case the women took initiative. They showed ingenuity and they furthered the purposes of God. God blesses them even though their ways were contrary to that which was the acceptable standard of behavior. And in 1854 one part of the Christian Church was worried about the Immaculate Conception of Jesus. Matthew would have told them that Jesus came from some line. You go home this afternoon and read Genesis 38, Joshua 2, the Book of Ruth, and II Samuel 11 and 12, and you’ll have more interesting reading than the pro football playoffs could possibly compete with. (Laughter) Something that would compete well with whatever soaps you would want to watch tomorrow. (Laughter) You see, Jesus Christ came into the grimy, grubby, humanity of which you are all a part. The Church has done us a terrible disservice by making it all sound so squeaky clean, draining it of all of its life blood, its vitality and its reality, making the blessed Virgin this ideal woman, this docile, passive, powerless, obedient one. © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 7   Making Jesus somehow or other come out of some pure vessel in order that he might not be tainted with the common human humanity that we all share together. Now if we would listen to the scriptural record itself, if we would simply take Matthew’s word, then we would have to acknowledge that Jesus came from a line that had all of the ingredients in it that makes up the life and the tapestry of the lives of all. And that is the glory of the Gospel. Matthew was trying to say to the Jew, “Look, he came from David. He is the Messiah, the one you have been looking for.” He tried to say to the Gentile, “Look, he came from Abraham, the covenant of grace for all people.” He tried to say to male domination, “He came from women who took initiative, who took ingenuity, who moved and shook in order to further the purposes of God.” And more than that. He says to us all, “He comes from the kind of stock that you come from with all of its light and all of its shadow.” The red-blooded reality of the incarnation of the word is the flesh of Jesus Christ constituted of the stuff that we are all constituted of. He came into the world a Savior for the likes of us because he was in every respect made like his brothers and sisters. So says the writer to the Hebrews. And the greatest wonder of the Gospel and of the Christmas story is this. Jesus came into our ordinary human stuff with the powerful grace to transform us - everyone. There is a Christian organization that has very strict rules for its leadership. If you are a member of this organization and your life’s story has left you somewhat crippled and tainted, scarred and broken, then you may be a part of this fellowship but you may not be a leader. To be a leader, for example, you may not drink in public. Oh, a glass of wine at your own table with the shades down, but not out in a restaurant. That is hypocrisy! That is dishonesty! I would never be a part of an organization that said that I could be any different in my own home than I can be in the marketplace of the world because my Savior comes out of the marketplace - out of a manger of soiled hay with steaming animal dung - with a peasant maid all bloody and wailing. This organization says you may not be in a position of leadership if you have been divorced. You may not even be in a position of leadership if you, God forbid, should marry a divorcee. I remember a dear aunt of mine after my divorce when she learned that I was going to marry Nancy, she said, “Why did he have to marry a divorced woman?” Someone reminded her that I was divorced. And she said, “Oh, well, yes, but do you have to multiply the sin?” (Laughter) I mean, wasn’t there some chaste virgin somewhere in Israel? (Laughter) Well, for twenty years it was a good choice. No, good friends, the Church has not been honest. The Church hasn’t told the truth. The Church has idealized some figment of the imagination and it has robbed us of the wonder and the glory of the Gospel that reaches us where we are - human, human as we are! The ambiguity of our personhood, transformed by the grace of God, never loomed so large as in the Christmas story where Jesus is born of Mary, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. I wonder, do you think that Matthew included those women because he was aware of the fact that there were serious rumors going around about Mary, about a birth out of wedlock? I suspect that may be true. Maybe he was trying to say, “Look, God doesn’t operate © Grand Valley State University �What a Line! Richard A. Rhem Page 8   according to the rules of your pomp and piety, your self-righteousness and holier than thou attitude, that disqualifies people and cuts them out. God has been operating all the time in this kind of questionable manner, with the likes of Tamar and Ruth and Bathsheba, so Mary is no exception.” I think God has a wonderful sense of humor. I think God must have marvelous belly laughs at all of the pretensions of our piety and pomposity. The wise men knew there was a star that marked a significant birth and a cosmic event. So they thought, we’ll stop in Jerusalem at the palace, someplace having to do with the king. Little did they know it wasn’t Jerusalem but Bethlehem, not the palace but a stable, not the king but a peasant girl. One of these days when I move from life through death to life eternal and I have a free afternoon, I am going to invite Mary to lunch. And I am going to look her in the eye and I am going to say, “Come on now, Mary, what really happened?” And I am going to invite as accompanying guests, Tamar and Rahab and Ruth and Bathsheba. And don’t you think we’ll have a time. (Laughter) Do you want to come too? Isn’t it good news! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that anything that you’ve ever been, or anything that you have ever done, or any record you’ve written in the story of your life disqualifies you from being an instrument in the grace of God - a beloved child of God - forgiven, cleansed, made whole. Because God the great lover has been about this business and will be until he brings us all home. That’s the wonder of Christmas. That’s the Gospel. Thank God. Reference: John Shelby Spong. Born of a Woman. HarperSanFrancisco, reprint edition, 1994. © 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 Christmastide II Scripture Text Matthew 1:1 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References John Shelby Spong, Born of a Woman, 1994 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-0-19930103 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-01-03 Title A name given to the resource What a Line! 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 January 3, 1993 entitled "What a Line!", on the occasion of Christmastide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 1:1. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Inclusive Jesus' Birth Mary Mother of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fad2510feb2e51fd75a90a58d92b7d32.mp3 6a71d53452f26dc0ea43ab66e11cff00 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 New Years Eve Scripture Text Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 11:33-36 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-0-19921231 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-12-31 Title A name given to the resource The Promise of Chaos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 31, 1992 entitled "The Promise of Chaos", on the occasion of New Years Eve, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 11:33-36. 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/f6846157a023408f9bebeea881c3d050.mp3 ca25b288b022c9625fecb8eae245e5ae Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Christmastide I Scripture Text Isaiah 9:3, Luke 2:10 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-0-19921227 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-12-27 Title A name given to the resource Joy! Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 27, 1992 entitled "Joy!", on the occasion of Christmastide I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 9:3, Luke 2:10. 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/2f61cf151f6752fb9db1eb01b736d70d.mp3 a1b65eb3db5e1f0fcaa935263d3561ef https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7147b2d0da366895a0c04cf4e789749b.pdf f9987aec993f794a81fd7f3958c1724b PDF Text Text What Are You Afraid Of? Text: John 4:18; Luke 1:30 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent IV, December 20, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. I John 4:18 Do not be afraid, Mary... Luke 1:30 In Advent, 1992, we’re asking significant questions that have to do with our human existence and our relationship to God: Do you really think that he will come - this one who came? Will he come again? Do you expect that? Is there life after life? Hell? In these weeks, although we have answered those questions in less than traditional ways, we have affirmed again our Christian faith. We have affirmed that the God of our beginning is the God of our end, and the God of our meantime, that God is with us and that the last word is Grace. And if that is the case, then, “What Are You Afraid of?” What are the fears that dog your steps? What are the fears that haunt the inner sanctum of your heart? Fear, Henri Nouwen says, is so characteristic of our lives today that one could speak of our living in “a house of fear.” Fears that are very personal. Fears that are connected with those we love. Fears connected with the situation of the world and the destiny of the cosmos. Category after category of fearful thoughts that often take possession of us. We live in “a house of fear.” Nouwen, in his little book Lifesigns, invites us to move from “a house of fear” into a house of love - the house constituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord, the one who came at Christmas and whose Advent we celebrate again, and whose birth we will remember this week. To move from the house of fear to the house of love is the invitation of the Christmas Gospel. Easier said than done perhaps, but let’s for just a bit of time think about the perspective of the writer of this first letter of John, for he tells us that fear and love cannot coexist. Oh well, I suppose that’s too strong a statement. As a matter of fact they do coexist in the hearts of us all. But to the extent that there is love, there will be an absence of fear. And to the extent that there is fear, there will be an absence of love. If we did a little word association, if I gave you a word and you were to come up with the opposite… if I said, “high,” I suppose you would say, “low.” And if I said, © Grand Valley State University   �What Are You Afraid Of? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   “black” you would say, “white.” If I said, “hot” you would say, “cold.” If I said, “love,” what would you say? Hate? I think there was a time when I would have said that hate is the opposite of love, but I don’t think so any more. I think, according to John in this letter, the opposite of love is fear. Perfect love, he says, “casts out fear.” Love and fear are at enmity with one another. It’s like light and darkness. To the extent that the light is there, the darkness is absent. To extent that it is dark, the light is absent. To the extent that the heart is filled with love, fear is absent. To the extent that fear controls the heart, love is absent. The opposite of love is fear. Fear is the root of all that destructive behavior, of evil and darkness. Destructive behavior, born of fear, impinges upon our selves and reaches out to all of those whose lives we touch. When we are afraid we are destructive. When we are afraid we cannot love, and we cannot live lovingly. So John in a very interesting association suggests that love casts out fear. He says, “God is love. And those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” Love has been perfected among us in this that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment, because as He is so are we in this world. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. In this Advent season when we have been talking about the last things - the last events - that final encounter - judgment - Hell? -I find it rather interesting that John associates love as the absence of fear, fear particularly related to the Day of Judgment. Now you say to me, “Well, fear of the day of judgment. There isn’t a lot of that around today. Most people have kicked that habit. We don’t have to fear eternal punishment or damnation or hell - we talked about that last week!” Most moderns, our neighbors, have put that idea to rest. It isn’t that terrifying threat that it once was, and yet John says that fear has to do with the experience of punishment and the fear of punishment. He says that love comes in in order that we might have confidence and boldness in the Day of Judgment. John seems to relate our present possibility of living in love without fear in relationship to the end event. I just wonder - I wonder if he might be right. I wonder if there is something about us as human beings that would on a willed, conscious level rid ourselves of the idea of punishment and judgment, but that fear of it simply goes underground and in a kind of gorilla warfare disables us, so that much of our action that we would not directly relate to a fear of judgment and punishment is nonetheless precisely that. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we know that we are people who will be held accountable, that there will be a time of reckoning, that there will be that final encounter. Maybe down in the depths of our being we know that, so that it doesn’t matter to what extent we may pooh-pooh that final encounter, that day of judgment; nonetheless, there is something perhaps in the very fact that we are human that causes us consciously or unconsciously to feel a bit of disease and thus produce in us fear – fear, whose root we don’t understand, but whose consequences are felt in all of our relationships and all of our doings. Could that be? John says, “God is love. The one who abides in love, abides in God, and this love is what gives us confidence in the Day of Judgment because there is © Grand Valley State University �What Are You Afraid Of? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   no fear in love.” Hm-m-m. Rather interesting association of ideas isn’t it? I wonder if there could be something to that? Harold Ellens, the psychiatrist, theologian and pastor, has spoken about the human condition as a condition of anxiety. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, I forget in what connection, but that human anxiety is not the consequence of our sin, it is the consequence of our being human. He speaks of a kind of generic anxiety which is the consequence of spending nine months all safe and secure in the darkness and warmth of the womb, only to come splashing and bouncing down the birth canal into the bright lights of the delivery room to respond to a whap on the bottom side with a wail! We come into this world wailing. Scared to death. Fragile. That’s anxiety producing. And then he goes to the Genesis stories and shows that even in that setting, the human couple there is anxious - there is an anxiety producing set of circumstances, so that to be human is to be anxious. Then he goes on to say, and I think quite rightly, that the greatest anxiety reducing mechanism in the world is religion. Religion is a universal phenomenon. Stamp it out here and it will pop up there. You can’t seem to get rid of it. Any place you go in any age, any people, there is some kind of religious ritual, some form of religious practice. We who are simply a little farther along on the human story and a little more sophisticated in our religious experience, nonetheless, crave the basics - a kind of cultic practice. That is, a ritual. The prayers we offer. The gestures we make, and a certain mode or code of behavior that we follow, certain creeds that we assent to. They all constitute cult for worship. A creed to lead, a moral code to follow - those are the ingredients of religion, whatever the religion may be. And religion, by and large, is a universal phenomenon which has been a great anxiety reducing mechanism. It is how we anxious people try to come to terms with our anxiety. It is a way we come to curry favor with God, to appease God. There is something endemic in us that knows that we write with crooked lines. And, accountable people that we are, because we are human, we feel a need for some kind of buffer against that final moment, that examination, that judgment day, when God might hold us accountable. So our life is fraught with anxiety. And Ellens says that we try to devise means by which we can buffer ourselves against that anxiety, a way by which we may find ourselves acceptable to that all examining eye of the Eternal God - and so we turn to religion. That is the story of most religion. That is very much what most religion has been about. But the problem with most religion is that it becomes the tyranny of the should and the ought and the must. It becomes a prescription to follow. It becomes a matter of performance - of doing things, of gaining favor through ritual acts, creedal belief, and moral behavior. And any time you are in the business of gaining peace through performance you never make it. We can never satisfy the demands, the infinite demands. We will always fall short. We will always come up wanting. We will always be weighed in the balance and found © Grand Valley State University �What Are You Afraid Of? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   wanting and we know it. There is no peace! Rather, that anxiety reducing mechanism that we call religion becomes an exacerbation of the anxiety with which we came into this world, and our religion all too often binds us and makes us seven-fold more the child of hell than when we began. Religion is too often binding, controlling, coercive, manipulative. It is not too often good news, but bad news. And the threat of hell and of judgment, and of damnation and of condemnation broadly used in the religions of the world, do not reduce anxiety, but increase it. But, of course, the people cowering in fear are manageable at least. John has quite a different thing to say. What he says isn’t the Bible’s only message, but if we could only hear this. Do you hear it with me? “God is love.” He has said it before. He doesn’t say “God loves,” he said, “God is love.” That is whatever God is, whatever God does, God does it in a loving fashion because God is love, and, “Those who abide in love, abide in God and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.” It would seem that what John is trying to say is that if you could get a glimpse of the love of God, if you could get a grasp of the love of God, then that intrinsic human guilt and cowering before that final moment of judgment would dissolve. Because John says that, “there is no fear in love. God is love.” And, love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in the world.” As Christ is. How is Christ? Christ is one with God. Christ is in the presence of God - crucified, resurrected, received in the presence of God. “As he is so are we in this world.” Earlier he has said, “Beloved, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God, and such we are now. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Beloved, what matter of love, we are now, children of God.” If we could only believe it. If we could only lay hold of it. If we could only know that there is no record that stands against us. If we could only know that the love of God somehow or other has embraced us so that the record has been expunged and we are embraced in an everlasting love, so that there is no need for fear in judgment. I think that’s what John is talking about. Do you sense that’s about one hundred eighty degrees from where most religion would take you? From the place of the tyranny of the ought and the should and the must. People have challenged me about my promiscuous offer of grace, about the prodigality of God’s love, about the unconditional love of God that embraces us. Is that not dangerous? they ask. Will not people exploit that? Will not people take advantage of that? If that is true - if we are loved already, if we are embraced already, if judgment is passed already - then why worship? Then why live in praise and wonder? © Grand Valley State University �What Are You Afraid Of? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Why? Precisely because of that! Precisely because of a love so amazing, so divine that it demands my life, my soul, my all! There is no fear in love. Most of the time the Church has not dared preach it. Too radical. The people cannot handle it. They will take advantage of it. Nonsense! Preach fear to the people and you bind them in fear. Preach fear and you increase resentment. Preach fear and you exacerbate anger - hostility. Dare to preach love - and you transform. God is love. And love is perfected in this - that we have boldness before the thought of judgment. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. The one who fears is not perfected in love. Most of the time the Church would keep you afraid. It’s safer that way - for the masses. Nonsense. Dear, serious, sincere, religious people have been forced to cower before the demands of an angry God rather than hearing the word of the Christmas Gospel. The covenant of grace instituted with Abraham began when God came to Abraham and said, “Do not be afraid.” Old Zacharias was in the temple doing his thing and the angel came and said, “Do not be afraid.” Mary, a young Hebrew maiden doing her cross-stitching was encountered by an angel who began, “Don’t be afraid.” And Joseph, concerned about this situation that confronted him, heard from the angel saying, “Fear not.” The Christmas Gospel is Good News pure and simple. You don’t have to be afraid. God is love. And love casts out fear and so that endemic human sense of accountability that causes you to cower has been dissolved by the chemistry of God’s eternal love. Preaching on this text one day, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the time of the Montgomery, Alabama bus protest. After one particularly horrendous week in which he had been arrested and he had received phone calls threatening his life, and everything seemed impossible, he had to speak to a mass rally. When he was done speaking he came down from the podium and old Mother Pollard came forward. She was an old, black woman, uneducated and wise, who marched and marched, and marched in many protests. She came up to him after he had finished speaking and said, “Son, come here.” He went to her and gave her a hug and she said, “What’s wrong with you tonight?” He said, “Nothing, I’m fine.” She said, “You don’t talk strong tonight. Something’s wrong. Is it that we ain’t followin’ you enough? Or is it them white folk?” And then she looked at him and said, “Son, whether we follow you or not, God’s gonna take care of you.” And Martin Luther King said that from that day, because of the words of old Mother Pollard, he was able to live without fear. You say, “Well, that’s just fine. He said it that way at 8:30 but if you remember he died by an assassin’s bullet.” He was killed after all. Yes, that’s true. The Christmas Gospel does not say that life is not perilous, that human existence is not fragile, that there is not tragedy and suffering. Bullets cut us down. Cancer cuts us down. There is brokenness and pain enough to go around. But Martin Luther King lived the rest of his days without fear. That is to say, he lived until he died. But when fear enwraps our hearts we never live before we die. We will all die one way or another. And we will meet the Lord face to face. The question is whether we will have truly lived before we die - lived without fear. © Grand Valley State University �What Are You Afraid Of? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   So what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? Name it. Speak it before the face of God - and let it go. Just let it go. © 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 Advent IV Scripture Text I John 4:18, Luke 1:30 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-0-19921220 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-12-20 Title A name given to the resource What Are You Afraid Of? 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 December 20, 1992 entitled "What Are You Afraid Of?", on the occasion of Advent IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I John 4:18, Luke 1:30. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Fear Judgment Trust Way of Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd4e67fa2588974c90c2e9affb107b07.mp3 85736715e091ec4a9f28b9cd4c980e9a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/78c7a6521cc98bc279042c7d715a5ddf.pdf 2f91d395eab6fd8a8ef22c12d25254e0 PDF Text Text Hell? Text: Isaiah 66:24; Luke 1:51-52 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan December 13, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon ...the people who have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not be quenched. Isaiah 66:24 ...he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. Luke 1:51-52 Let us descend into hell. Well, I mean, we’ve been to heaven. Now, “Hell?” I suppose if there is a heaven it is quite natural that one might raise a question about the other possibility. But what has the Magnificat to do with such a question? Well, it has everything to do with that question, I suppose, because in the beauty of voice and instrument, the Magnificat according to Pachelbel becomes an ethereal experience. But did you catch the words? He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away. That is a battle cry in the mouth of a young Hebrew maiden. That is a radical social statement, and if there is a hell it will be populated by the powerful and the rich and mighty who rule and oppress and abuse and who lack justice, righteousness, compassion and love. If God is angry, God is angry not with the ungodly who pay no heed, but with the godly who insulate themselves from the pain of the world. If Jesus was angry it was not with tax collectors and adulterers and garden-variety sinners. It was with the religious establishment that bound heavy burdens on the peoples’ back and oppressed people in the name of God. Is there a hell? “Yes, Virginia, there’s a hell.” It is the hell of missing the meaning and purpose of life, of having one’s life end without realizing its full potential, a life of self regard and self assertion and self centeredness that fails to find the rhythm of God’s movement, which is to realize the highest possibility for our human existence. If there is wrath in God and wrath in Jesus Christ, it is not for © Grand Valley State University   �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   the poor, the oppressed, the careless and the reckless; it is for the well-informed and the enlightened folks like us with power, position and prestige who go our own way while the world weeps and goes to hell. “Hell?” Question mark because we are talking about things about which we have no experience, and about things beyond the veil we cannot penetrate in our present experience. But the question is always before us even though it doesn’t get mentioned in polite circles and is not a topic for conversation. Preached on almost never in the Church and yet the question of Hell is a kind of ghost that lurks around the edges. The doctrine of hell or of everlasting or eternal punishment has been the chief weapon of the Church for controlling people, scaring people, manipulating people. It probably has been the greatest travesty perpetrated in the name of God and goodness and decency. And yet you can’t take the Bible seriously without sensing that there is a kind of ultimacy about the issue of our life. At the very end of the Old Testament in Isaiah, a very late writing, there is a beginning of that imagery that we call apocalyptic. That genre of writing is classically expressed in the book of Revelation where you have all the images of fire, and smoke, and the moon darkened, and the sun darkened, and the heavens falling and that kind of thing. You have the very beginnings of that in that last chapter of Isaiah 66. Verse 24 of that chapter is a gruesome verse. Just prior to that verse all the nations are beginning to come to Jerusalem to worship before the Lord. It seems like there is a kind of universalistic theme here where the nations will finally come to worship at the temple. But then the 24th verse says, “And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” In the synagogue in the Jewish tradition when this lesson was read, the lecture could not end with that verse. The reader had to go back and read verse 23 because they didn’t want any lesson to end on that note. The picture was too gruesome. In the passage that I read in the Gospel of Mark, I read it because it is full of hell, but the word hell is a translation of the Hebrew word for the Valley of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom was a valley just outside Jerusalem. To the south on the Mount of Olives as you look across the Kidron Valley to Jerusalem, you could also look south and you could see the Valley of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom was the place where they burned the offal of the animals that were slaughtered for temple sacrifice. It was where they threw the bodies of criminals. The Valley of Hinnom was a public incinerator. It was a refuse heap. It was a garbage dump. But this is the imagery that Jesus picks up. Now the imagery is so strong and so lurid - the temple sacrifices created a rather rancid situation around the temple. There are one or two persons here in Christ Community that would like me eventually to come with one of those sensors, you know, with a little incense. Why not, we’ve got everything else? One of these days we are going to have a little incense. But the incense for us would simply be one more little pretty trifle in our worship, but in the temple days the incense had a function - it stank. It was to get rid of the odor. © Grand Valley State University �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   When I was a boy, my father was superintendent of a company that had a subsidiary and once in a while he would have to go out and visit that company. Whenever I could, I would jump in the truck with him. I loved to ride in that truck. The subsidiary was the Kalamazoo Rendering Works. Have you ever been to a rendering works? You know what they do? They go around to farms and pick up dead animals and bring them in (Are you comfortable?) - they bring these dead animals in and slaughter them and take the skin and cure the skin and hides, and they grind up these things, you know, bones and all and make fertilizer. So one summer day, very hot, I went out with my father and walked into the slaughtering room and I lost it. It was bad! If you have ever been to a rendering works, you probably haven’t returned. There is another image I have – it’s an image of a friend of mine down in Florida. I used to go down fishing with him, and you know if you are a fisherman one of the problems is to get rid of the fish heads and the other stuff. You can’t put it in your garbage can because it begins to reek there. You really have to bury it. My Dad always buried it. The guy in Florida had dug a pit and he threw the entrails into that pit. I went out with him one time. He took the cover off and I’ll tell you I just snapped back. It was white and it moved. (Laughter) There must have been one billion maggots just delightfully feasting. One other image. I used to weed celery in Kalamazoo in the muck. (Laughter) In the muck in the summertime sometimes there is a kind of spontaneous combustion and the muck starts to smolder and sometimes those fires in those muck fields would go on all summer. And they smelled too! They just kept smoldering, kind of like a peat bog on fire. The imagery of hell in the scripture is a combination of the Kalamazoo Rendering Works, that maggot pit, and the muck that burns forever. That is the picture. That is the image. Hell in Mark 12, as Jesus uses it, is a translation of the Valley of Hinnom, and the Valley of Hinnom became a symbol, an image, for life that ends up on the garbage heap. In the Old Testament, in apocalyptic thought, and in the ministry of the teachings of Jesus, it became the image that said to people, “Life is important and you are responsible for the way you live. You are responsible for the choices you make. And at the end of it all, as well as during the interim period, you are constantly being called into account. You are responsible for the way you live. You are responsible for the issue of your life. Your life is a gift and the way that you use it, and the choices that you make, the decisions, the priorities, the values, the things to which you give your heart and soul – those things will be reviewed with you, for you will stand in the presence of them and in the presence of God and there will be that moment of judgment.” What Jesus was getting at when he talked and used this kind of imagery was not the building of a systematic theological picture of eternal damnation or bliss as the case may be, but rather with saying to people here and now before him, “Watch. Take care. Live responsibly. You are called to righteousness and to © Grand Valley State University �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   justice and compassion, and to love. You are called to care and to be careful, and so don’t miss the meaning of life. Don’t miss the purpose for which God created you. You can miss it. You can destroy yourself. You can destroy others.” I believe with all my heart that judgment is woven into the biblical narrative from beginning to end, and I do not believe that any one of us, neither myself nor you, will ever get away with anything. What we sow we will also reap. That which we do and that which we speak, and that to which we commit our hearts, are those things to which we are held accountable. And there will be that moment of accounting. There will be a reckoning. Life is not simply to be willy nilly on its way, flouncing along nonchalantly, carelessly, as though it doesn’t matter, as if it doesn’t matter if one cares or not, if one decides for compassion or not, if one is selfish or self-aggrandizing or not. All of these things matter. Everything matters. Life is serious! That is what Jesus conveyed. Life has implications. Decisions have consequences. Don’t we really know that no one ultimately gets away with anything? I wouldn’t want to live in a world where I could get away with something. Would you? Well, I wouldn’t mind living in a world where I could get away with it, but I wouldn’t want to live in a world where you could get away with it. (Laughter) I want to be sure that I live in a world that has a kind of moral fabric about it so that there is something or someone, or some structure of things that will make for ultimate justice - on the side of righteousness and compassion and love. The Magnificat was a battle song on the lips of a young Hebrew maiden who said, “God is a God who sets what is wrong to right. God is a God who is on the side of the poor, the oppressed and the voiceless and the powerless. God cares. God cares about the human condition. And God has a bias for those who have no advocate.” Jesus manifested the wrath of God against the powerful, the religious, the establishment, the entrenched - those who had a vested interest in the status quo. Jesus was radical, revolutionary and they crucified him because, if they didn’t crucify him, they would have had to change. All of the prophets have been killed. And religion has been the instrument of their murder. Jesus in the prophetic tradition was a destabilizer. But before long the religious institutions were able to get things back into the neat and tidy. Religion all too easily, again and again, becomes the baptizer of the status quo. It becomes the institutionalized form of oppression and abuse all too often. In the name of God it baptizes those structures of society that hold people down and gives advantage to those who are powerful - like us. Hell has been the best thing the churches had going. It has held people under threat. It has scared people to death. It has made people cower before a finger pointing to an angry and wrathful God. But we have set the truth of God on its head. Life is serious. God holds us accountable. We are not going to get away with anything. But I need to preach about the doctrine of hell as it has been traditionally taught in the medieval church and the Protestant Reformation and in our own tradition. I need to © Grand Valley State University �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   preach about that in order to undo the damage that has been done with that doctrine, a doctrine that has driven out of the Church too many thoughtful people. For it is not really believed by as many people as it would seem to be believed by. I have got to tell you that the biblical witness is very diverse. There is not a clear teaching on the ultimate destiny of all human kind. There was no formal creedal Church statement on eternal punishment until the 6th century. Some of the most illustrious names in the gallery of the Church did not believe in a hell in the traditional sense of a place of eternal torment, so the witness is divided. There have been various solutions that have been suggested. There is the traditional one that the righteous go to eternal life and the damned go to eternal torment. There is the opposite - the idea of a kind of universal restoration where God will finally be all in all. And then there is a view that is more popular presently and which seems to be growing in conservative circles that is called Annihilationism - a view that those who come to the grace of God will be issued into eternal bliss, and those that reject that grace will not be eternally tormented but simply come to extinction. Well, what do you believe? What do you believe? You need not look to me for an answer because I, like you, struggle with these things and think about them, but I will tell you a couple of things that I believe, and I hope that it will help you as you think about the ultimate issue of your own life. I will tell you one thing that I do not believe. I do not believe in a God of retribution. That God has been portrayed by the Church all too often, I think - the kind of God whose offended honor demands that God gets his own, a kind of punishment and reward, where God is all too human. I don’t see God that way as God was revealed in Jesus. I don’t believe God is an angry deity, offended at the dishonor of his dignity, waiting to mete out punishment. Neither do I believe that the doctrine of hell as it has been taught in the Church has been a fair reflection of the biblical witness, but rather that it has been used as a control mechanism. I believe in the Church we have imposed guilt and threatened judgment as a means of control. Many Christian leaders have felt that, to be honest with the people and to take that away, would be to lose control, and that the common people need to be scared of hell in order to have the hell scared out of them. I also believe that there has been a lot of desire for something like eternal punishment. Not that we would think that we might be candidates for it, but there are some others we know who have it coming. I’m serious. There is that kind of something in us that wants revenge and wants another to get their due. We hope that the bullies and the ones who have beat us and competed with us and conquered us and oppressed us, perhaps will get their due. In the history of the Church and in the Old Testament there are some lurid pictures of the righteous rejoicing over the damnation of the wicked. I could quote you some vivid statements. The Church, religious people, have often been © Grand Valley State University �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   the oppressed and the persecuted - the minority. Our biblical doctrines, our biblical documents and our creedal tradition come most often out of a people who are no people, and there was this kind of crying out for God to damn the persecutors. Tertullian, the great church father, said that “the righteous would be able to take joy and satisfaction in seeing the burning of the wicked who had oppressed them.” Those kinds of emotions, which are rampant in the history of our theological tradition in the Christian Church, those kinds of emotions are sub-Christian, less than Jesus taught. They are unworthy of the God reflected in Jesus, and they really have no place for us. If we perpetuate that kind of thinking, what we do is turn thoughtful people away. We trivialize the reality of life’s accountability. And we fail to say instead to those within the Church and without, “Don’t miss the meaning of life.” Probably the best image that I have ever found, that helps me in all of this is just a paragraph from C.S. Lewis. Rather than hell, he speaks of purgatory, a final cleansing justification: Our souls demand purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, “It is true my son that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy.” Should we not reply, “It was submission, Sir, and if there’s no objection I would rather be cleansed first.” “It may hurt, you know?” “Even so, Sir, I assume that the process of purification will normally involve suffering, partly from tradition, partly because most real good that has been done me in this life has involved it.” But I don’t think suffering is the purpose of purgation. I can well believe that people neither much worse or much better than I will suffer less than I or more. No nonsense about merit. The treatment given will be the one required whether it hurts little or much. My favorite image on this matter comes from the dentist’s chair. I hope that when the tooth of life is drawn and I am coming round a voice will say, ‘Rinse your mouth out with this.’ This will be purgatory.” I believe that one day I will be in the presence of the Lord. That at the moment of death there is an encounter with God, at which moment all is clear and all is revealed. I believe that encounter with God, a moment which reveals all, will be the moment of regret, remorse, repentance, and then adoration at a grace that says, “Nevertheless.” Could one finally say, “No,” to that grace? It would be presumptuous to answer I suppose. It is my hope and conviction that God’s “Yes,” © Grand Valley State University �Hell? Richard A. Rhem Page 7   will finally batter down my every “No,” and all the “No’s” of all those who are encountered finally by the living God. Hell? I don’t know. Of grace - of that I am certain. Thank 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 Advent III Scripture Text Isaiah 66:24, Luke 1:51-52 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-0-19921213 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-12-13 Title A name given to the resource Hell? 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 December 13, 1992 entitled "Hell?", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 66:24, Luke 1:51-52. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Forgiveness Grace Hell Justice https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c2ca9837b191da69babad739c9c7c800.mp3 393f9ce183515fa351fd87153a1b9979 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a02df693385ba1e0c0f5939d1fd7bc39.pdf eb56a4fd13e695990fb86c0cb70c4f30 PDF Text Text Life After Life? Text Psalm 16:11; I Thessalonians 4:17 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent II, December 6, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon In your presence there is fullness of joy... Psalm 16:11 ...and so we will be with the Lord forever... I Thessalonians 4:17 The Season of Advent is a season in which we celebrate in the Church the One who came, the One who comes and the One who will come. Advent, the word itself, means to approach or a visitation. And Israel was that people who all of their history looked for one who would come, that one who would come, who would be anointed with the Spirit of God. “The one who would be anointed” - the Hebrew word was Messiah - the anointed one. The Messiah was the one who Israel hoped, prayed for and longed for in order that God’s will might be done on earth as in heaven. The anointed one, the Messiah, the longed-for one was predicted every time a priest was anointed with oil or a king was enthroned, anointed again with oil. For the oil, the sign of the Spirit, was a sign of God’s empowering of the Spirit, and every priest and every king was a sign pointing to that one who one day would come supremely, full of the Spirit of God and would bring justice and peace and Shalom. The Christian church believes that that one indeed did come, and that one was Jesus of Nazareth. Sometimes we speak of Jesus Christ as though it was a first and last name. But that is not correct. Christ is a title. Jesus of Nazareth was believed in the Church to be the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one longed for by Israel, the one who would bring the will of God into effect on earth. In the Christian church the expectation that this Jesus of Nazareth was the one grew in various ways among his disciples and his followers, and then they were despairing for they said, “We thought that this might be the one. But a crucified Messiah? No way.” But then he was raised from the dead and he appeared to them, and then they rejoiced. Then they began to see that the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose came in a way quite other than they had expected. In a new © Grand Valley State University   �Life After Life Richard A. Rhem Page 2   way. In a surprising way. But they believed that Jesus, crucified, resurrected, and in the presence of God, was their reigning Lord whom they expected imminently. In fact, I read from the book of Acts this morning because it reflects one of the very earliest conceptions of these events that would mark the end. Peter, in having presented Jesus as the one who was crucified and raised by God, says to those who were listening, “Repent.” That is, “Change your mind. Turn around. Repent and understand that this one whom you crucified is God’s servant, indeed the Messiah.” He says, “Repent. Turn to God that your sins might be wiped out. So that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you. That is, Jesus.” Now when you think about that for a moment it is rather interesting. “Repent that the seasons of refreshing may come, that he may send the Messiah.” Well, didn’t they believe that Jesus was the Messiah who had already come? Yes, but in those early days when everything was fuzzy, they were saying Jesus was the Messiah but he was in the presence of God now and it was as though heaven were keeping him until you repent and turn, and the seasons of refreshing come and there is a universal restoration; then God will send the Messiah appointed to you, that is, Jesus. Now that conception of things did not prevail in the New Testament church, but it was one of the earliest understandings. Jesus of Nazareth, Messiah, in heaven for a while, soon to return. The expectation of the return of this one was obviously very vivid and the return was to be imminent. At the conclusion of the revelation given to John, the revelation of the ascended Lord – at the conclusion of the Book of Revelation, in the 22nd chapter, we have these words of the ascended Lord who gives the vision to John. He says, “Behold I am coming soon.” Now, how soon is soon? What do you think? Soon. He says, “Here at the tail end of the first century, I am coming soon.” What do we give him? Six months? Or would you give him a year? Ah, somebody over here says, “I would give him two years.” How soon is soon? What do you think? How about two thousand years? That’s not soon. That’s not soon according to any kind of soon I’ve ever understood. But yet for two thousand years there have been preachers taking this text and saying, “Go outside and watch the sky because it may be today.” If we had more time this morning I would sing for you a chorus “Jesus is Coming Again.” I’m really tempted to do it, (Laughing) but I won’t do it. Jesus is coming again, and you can flip your dial anywhere you want to on the radio today and you’ll hear preachers all over the country saying, “Repent because Jesus is coming, and it may be today.” How long can you hold your breath? How far can you stretch this thing out and still talk about Jesus coming soon? Do you think he is coming? Do you think he is coming soon? I don’t think you do. In all honesty I don’t think you do. I think after two thousand years anybody that expects Jesus to appear soon on earth and establish a kingdom is simply going along with a traditional conception of things that has a strong hold on the Christian Church, but I don’t think we really believe it. And that raises a question © Grand Valley State University �Life After Life Richard A. Rhem Page 3   to me as to whether or not the New Testament Church understood about Jesus, and the summing up of all things might have been true but it was cast in a form that really cannot carry the freight for us today two thousand years later. The way that I have come to understand this and have found most helpful in trying to translate all of that imagery of the Second Coming and the end events – and the rapture, or is it the rupture? The Second Coming, the great white throne, the final judgment, heaven and hell and all of that, the end events - the way that I have come to translate that for myself is in the same way that I have come to translate the opening chapters of Genesis. Somehow or other in the beginning we have been able to deal with the symbolic presentation of profound truth, moving away from the literal understanding, but over at this end we have never been able to get off the literalization of those images and understand them symbolically. But if we are over here in the beginning, you don’t really think there was a garden called Eden do you? You don’t really think there was a Mr. Adam and a Mrs. Eve? A snake? A tree? An apple? Well, with Adam and Eve, of course, there was pear. (Laughter) They say of Eve that she was a peach. (Laughter) But not an apple with a worm. Not a snake, a talking snake. (Laughter) No. But what it says is so true. It was Israel’s understanding of what was going on in their own present existence. And what they said essentially was, “Everything that is is because God said let there be.” And God said, “Let there be,” and God said, “It’s very good.” And then they said, “If it’s very good, how come it’s so bad? How come everything is so rotten?” And they said, “Not God’s fault - our fault because we who were created to worship and adore and serve, usurped God’s place in proud rebellion, in self assertion wanting to be God. We made hell on earth.” That’s what those chapters tell us. And what they tell us is profoundly true and touches our own existential experience of the human situation where we are drawn to heaven and mired on earth and caught in the tension of worshiping and rebelling, wanting to be God and yet wanting to be God’s. And in those symbolic representations of garden and tree and snake and apple and all of that, the most profound truth of the cosmos, of God, and of the human situation comes to expression. Somehow or other a long time since, I’ve been able to negotiate that and come to a deeper understanding of biblical truth. © 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 Advent II Scripture Text Psalm 16:11, I Thessalonians 4:17 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19921206 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-12-06 Title A name given to the resource Life After Life? 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 December 6, 1992 entitled "Life After Life?", on the occasion of Advent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 16:11, I Thessalonians 4:17. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Anointed One Eschatology Jesus Messiah Nature of Scriptures https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/87cdb0ced4a3d16f007d53c3636f2be1.mp3 90957c6f29184b8a51818ef031c77f7b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2607c859a56f899d2d90cf4b3340027e.pdf 81ecea92cae914c9386c8b847ed03491 PDF Text Text Do You Really Think He Is Going To Come? Acts 3:11-21; Revelation 22:8-12 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent I, November 29, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Advent is a season in which we celebrate within the Church the one who came, the one who comes, and the one who will come. Advent means coming, to approach for a visitation. Israel was that nation of people who throughout their history looked for one who would come, who would be anointed with the Spirit of God. The Hebrew word Messiah means “the anointed one.” The Messiah was the one that Israel hoped for, prayed for, and longed for in order that God’s will might be done on earth as in heaven. The anointed one, the Messiah, the longedfor one was anticipated every time a priest was anointed with oil or a king was enthroned and anointed again with oil, for the oil, the sign of the Spirit, was a sign of God’s empowering through the Spirit. Every priest and every king was a sign pointing to that one who one day would come supremely, full of the Spirit of God, and would bring justice and peace and Shalom. The Christian Church believes that the awaited one indeed did come, and that one was Jesus of Nazareth. Sometimes we speak of Jesus Christ as though it is a first and last name, but that is not correct. Christ is a title. Jesus of Nazareth was believed in the Church to be the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one long looked for by Israel, the one who would bring the will of God into effect on earth. In the Christian Church, the expectation that this Jesus of Nazareth was the one grew in various ways among his disciples and his followers. And then he was crucified. Those who had hoped despaired, for they said, “We thought that Jesus might be the one! But a crucified Messiah? No way!” But when Jesus was raised from the dead and he appeared to them, they rejoiced. They also began to see that the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose came in a way quite other than they had expected. It was a new and surprising way, but they believed that this Jesus who was crucified, resurrected and in the presence of God was the reigning Lord whom they expected imminently. I read from the Book of Acts this morning because it reflects one of the very earliest conceptions of these events that would mark the end. Peter, who had presented Jesus as the one who was crucified and raised by God, says to those who were listening, “Repent.” That is, change your mind. Turn around. Repent and understand that this one whom you crucified was God’s servant, indeed the © Grand Valley State University   �Do You Really Think He is Going to Come? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Messiah. He says, “Repent. Turn to God that your sins may be wiped out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed, that is, Jesus.” Now when you think about that for a moment, it is rather interesting. “Repent that the seasons of refreshing may come. That he may send the Messiah.” Well, didn’t they believe that Jesus was the Messiah who had already come? Yes. But it would seem as though in this conception, at least in those early days when everything was fuzzy, they were saying Jesus was the Messiah, but that he was in the presence of God now, as though heaven is keeping him until you repent and turn, and the seasons of refreshing come and there is the universal restoration. Then God will send the Messiah appointed to you again, that is, Jesus. Now that conception of things did not prevail in the New Testament Church, but it was one of the earliest understandings—Jesus of Nazareth, Messiah, in heaven for a while but soon to return. The expectation of the return was obviously very vivid and the return was to be imminent. At the end of the Revelation to John, the revelation of the ascended Lord, the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22, we have these words of the ascended Lord who gives the vision to John. He says, “Behold I am coming soon.” How soon is soon? What do you think? What would be soon? He says at the tail end of the first century, “I am coming soon.” What do we give him? Six months? Or would you give him a year? Ah, somebody over here says, “I’ll give him two years.” How soon is soon? What do you think? How about two thousand years? That’s not soon. That’s not soon according to any kind of soon I’ve ever understood. And yet for two thousand years there have been preachers taking this text and saying, “Go outside and watch the sky because it may be today.” If we had more time this morning I’d sing for you a chorus of “Jesus Is Coming Again.” I am really tempted to do it, but I won’t. “Jesus Is Coming Again,” and you can flip your dial anywhere you want to on the radio today and you’ll hear preachers all over the country saying, “Repent, because Jesus is coming and it may be today.” How long can you hold your breath? How far can you stretch this thing out and still talk about Jesus coming soon? Do you think he is coming? Do you think he is coming soon? I don’t think you do. In all honesty, I don’t think you do. I think after two thousand years, anybody that expects Jesus to appear on earth soon and establish a kingdom is simply going along with a traditional conception of things that has had a strong hold on the Christian Church. But I don’t think we really believe it. That raises a question for me. Was perhaps what the New Testament Church understood about Jesus true, but cast in a form that really could not carry the freight for us into modern or postmodern times? This is the way I have come to understand it, the way I have found most helpful in trying to translate all of the © Grand Valley State University �Do You Really Think He is Going to Come? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   imagery of the second coming, the end events, and the rapture (or is it the rupture), the great white throne, the final judgment, heaven and hell and all of that–the end events. The way that I have come to translate that for myself is in the same way that I have come to translate the opening chapters of Genesis. Somehow or other, in the stories of the beginning we have been able to accept the symbolic presentation of profound truth, moving away from the literal understanding. But at the other end, we’ve never been able to shed the literal translations of those images and understand them symbolically. Think about the beginning. You don’t really think there was a garden called Eden, do you? You don’t really think there was a Mr. Adam or a Mrs. Eve. Do you believe there was a snake, a tree, an apple? Well, with Adam and Eve, of course, there was a pair. And they do say of Eve that she was a peach, but not an apple with a worm! Not a snake, a talking snake! Yet the story’s message was full of truth. It was the Hebrew understanding of what was going on in their own time and in their own existence. What they said essentially was, “Everything that is, is, because God said, ‘Let there be.’” God said, “Let there be.” And “It is very good.” Well, then they said, “If it was created very good, why it is so bad? How come everything is so rotten?” And they said, “It’s not God’s fault. It is our fault, because we, who were created to worship and adore and serve, usurped God’s place in proud rebellion and self-assertion. We wanted to be God. And so it was we who made hell on earth.” That’s what those chapters tell us. And what they tell us is profoundly true of our existential experience of the human situation where we are drawn to heaven and mired in earth, caught in the tension of worshiping and rebelling, wanting to be God and yet wanting to be God’s. In those symbolic representations of garden and tree and snake and apple, all of the most profound truth of the cosmos of God, of the human situation, comes to the fore. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to negotiate all of that and come to a deeper understanding of biblical truth. Yet it is only recently that I dealt with the other end of it in Revelation in the same way. All of those images of the golden city, the streets of gold, the tree for the healing of the nations–all of those images picked up from the Old Testament really tell us that paradise was lost. But in the End, paradise will be regained. The garden out of which we were driven becomes the city into which we are invited. Essentially the Bible says that God, who in the beginning had good plans for us, will consummate those plans ultimately in the end. What the Biblical message is trying to say in those allusions to Jesus crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, and returning may have meant to intimate a pouring out of his Spirit, the Spirit of God for us, the community which is the body of Christ. Jesus did say, according to John’s Gospel, “I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.” Pentecost was the coming of the risen one. The Spirit of God, or the © Grand Valley State University �Do You Really Think He is Going to Come? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Spirit of Jesus, is with us forming the community. The community is the body of Christ, which is to live out the life according to the example of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was the anointed one. Jesus was full of the Spirit. And Jesus lived a life according to the intention of God. Those who follow Jesus are those who form concretely the community of God’s people where God reigns, where there is righteousness and justice and mercy and peace, where love abounds. Those end references are simply the only way we can talk about these kinds of things, by which we bear witness to our conviction that it’s not all going to come to naught, but that ultimately God’s way will prevail. God’s purposes will be realized and we will be gathered into the eternal brightness of God’s presence with all God’s people. All of the imagery and symbolism of the New Testament is simply a testimony to the conviction of the early Church that God had acted decisively in Jesus and the end was no more in question. It is something like a chess game, to which I get subjected every once in a while by my grandson Derek on Sunday afternoon when I am tired and brain dead. The mistake I made was to let my son Joseph, when he was a little boy, teach me to play chess . . . a little bit. Now I’m humiliated week after week by my grandson. But two weeks ago I was doing quite well. I actually had more off the board than he did, and I thought I might have a chance of licking him until that fateful move when I unthinkingly did the wrong thing, and I knew it. I thought, the good news is I am going to be able to take my nap! It was over. So I just put my king out there where he could get me. He said, “Oh, no, Bumpa. No, no, no. There’s another move you can make.” So I made the move, and he had to make another move, and I could make another move. But it was all over. All he was doing was dancing me all over the board until finally he got me into the corner where there was no more wiggle room. “Checkmate!” In the early Church, in God’s chess match with all that was opposed to God, what happened in Jesus was that decisive move. There is no possibility that God will not be all in all. But there is still a little wiggle room. As people of God, we believe in that already, of the presence of the kingdom, a kingdom not yet in its fullest expression. In the meantime God is with us. Do you want me to tell you three things that sum up everything that I could possibly suggest you believe and bet your life on? They are these: God in the beginning, God in the end, and God in the meantime. In the beginning all that is, is because God said, “Let there be.” In the end, God will be all in all. And in the meantime, Immanuel, God is with us in the flesh of Jesus who came to us and continues in the ongoing community of God’s people in the bread and in the cup, tokens of a presence with us now. © Grand Valley State University �Do You Really Think He is Going to Come? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Where is history going? I don’t really know. What will happen to planet earth? I haven’t got a clue. I simply know that for myself and those I have loved and lost, and for my children and my children’s children—in the beginning, God. In the end, God. And in the meantime, God in tokens of bread and cup, and word, and in the flesh of the community—in the other that one loves and in whose face one sees God. That’s enough. I will sing, “He is coming, He will come again,” and by that I mean poetically in song, liturgically in worship, that I adore the God who has called us into being and has come to us and will finally fulfill every promise when we are gathered eternally in the brightness of God’s presence. Thank God. Do you really think God is going to come? No, you don’t. But don’t you know that God is with you and that you could never move beyond the grip of God’s grace? Of course, you do. And that’s enough. That’s all you need. That’s true! © 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 Advent I Scripture Text Acts 3: 11-21, Revelation 22:8-12 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-0-19921129 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-11-29 Title A name given to the resource Do You Really Think He Is Going To Come? 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 29, 1992 entitled "Do You Really Think He Is Going To Come?", on the occasion of Advent I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 3: 11-21, Revelation 22:8-12. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Advent Community of Faith Grace Revelation Spirit of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dd9ffb0d0459acd1f80eb940b8f72f83.mp3 c8e1c6e0460929e5f7f01ad327128dac Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Thanksgiving Day Scripture Text Psalm 73:16-17 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19921126 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-11-26 Title A name given to the resource Worship: Therapy for the Soul Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 26, 1992 entitled "Worship: Therapy for the Soul", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 73:16-17. 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/53f81032e4838a1bc663bbd9a6c514a3.mp3 899798d1d6b0bdc7607eb45a1e02d854 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2445c212d6441a4228867e5288bf7a7e.pdf e229b1f6a9b6372d0f2d77049bdca596 PDF Text Text Wrath – Sometimes Necessary: Never the Solution From the series: Heroes in Clay: John the Baptist Text: Matthew 11: 3, 14 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 22, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Matthew 11:3 ...if you are willing to accept it, he [John] is Elijah who is to come. Matthew 11:14 Wrath is a word that we don’t use often. It bespeaks a violent kind of anger, indignation. It bespeaks a strong passionate anger. When we think of wrath, we often associate it with the “wrath of God.” We even use it colloquially, almost flippantly when we speak about the “wrath of God” coming down on someone. Why do we identify wrath with God? We do so legitimately because, both in the Old and New Testaments, wrath, violent reaction, strong indignation is indicated as that which, from time to time, God expresses. The wrath of God comes to expression most often through a prophet. Israel gave to the world prophecy, that speaking in the name of God, on behalf of God. Most often it was a word of judgment, a word that called God’s people into account. The prophetic word reflected the wrath of God against all that was wrong, all that thwarts God’s purposes of love, and of grace in the world. All that oppresses, all that exploits, all that dehumanizes calls forth from God a wrathful response. God is not all sweetness and light. God is not a wimp. God cares too much. God loves too much. When God’s care and love and God’s purpose for humankind is thwarted - the prophet tells us that God’s response is wrath. Now the prophetic word that announced God’s wrath was never the last word. It was always a penultimate word. For it was spoken in order to elicit in its turn a response from God’s people, a turning back to God in order that God may save. The word of judgment that the prophet speaks, announcing the wrath of God against all that is wrong, is a word that is intended to turn God’s people in order that they might experience the saving love of God. But, nonetheless, that word wrath has a legitimate place in the biblical story. It is the other side of God’s passionate love and all that stands in the way of that love elicits from God wrath announced by the prophet. © Grand Valley State University   �Wrath... Never the Solution Richard A. Rhem Page 2   John the Baptist was among the greatest of the prophets. John the Baptist spoke a word of wrath. John the Baptist was tough. John the Baptist was angry. John the Baptist addressed his word of wrathful judgment against God’s people. The prophetic word of judgment was not often spoken to the world in general. Primarily the prophetic ministry of the Word of God which calls people to account and announces God’s wrath is addressed to God’s people, to the faith community that has failed to trust God and has failed to respond in the way of living to which God calls God’s people. John the Baptist in his day rose up in the wilderness and spoke this word of judgment to the religious leaders. And all of Jerusalem and Judea came to him and heard his preaching. He was tough. How would you like it this morning if I said to you, “You brood of vipers, what are you doing here this morning?” [Laughing] Tough word from old John. He never took Dale Carnegie’s course. He didn’t know “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” John was tough. John was serious. John was passionate, and John was only half right. John was right and John was wrong. John was right in the words he addressed to the community of God’s people at that time, a community that had fallen into a kind of complacency, a kind of spiritual dullness and decadence where religious service had become form and in many cases empty ritual and where the religious worship of God’s people was not reflected in the life that they lived. John preached against the tax collector for exploitation and the soldiers for dehumanizing people, and the Pharisees and Sadducees and religious leaders for their blindness and their unspirituality. He was right about that and in so speaking he spoke a word of God, and the wrath of God on that dead faith community was a word spoken in due season. But John was only half right. When Jesus appeared John embraced Jesus. Jesus was baptized by John. Then Jesus inaugurated his own ministry, and here is where we see that John, who was in many senses a prophetic hero, was nonetheless a Hero in Clay, for Jesus disappointed John. John hoped that Jesus would be the one to ring down the curtain of history and bring fire on earth. John hoped that the world had come to its end point, that soon the wickedness that so tore him up would be blotted out by the judging vengeance of God. He hoped that Jesus would be the one to effect this. John himself in consistency with his moral severity had the audacity to confront Herod for his immorality and was thereby cast into prison. And eventually he lost his head! But while in prison he heard reports of Jesus’ ministry and what he heard he didn’t like. Remember when the disciples of John came to Jesus and they said to him, “John asks, ‘Are you the one that we are looking for or should we look for another?’” That’s where you see the clay in John, the human error. John had a preconception of what Jesus ought to be and when Jesus failed to live up to that preconception John did not say, “I wonder if I’ve got it wrong?” John was ready to look for another one. He could not hear Jesus’ word of grace. He could not hear Jesus’ word of invitation. And he could not countenance the compassion, the healing ministry of Jesus. He was ready to switch messiahs rather than to question his own predisposition. He failed to recognize that, as a forerunner, he had brought only half the message and that his © Grand Valley State University �Wrath... Never the Solution Richard A. Rhem Page 3   message announcing God’s wrath against all that was wrong, was only Act I in order for Act II to happen, which would be the announcement of God’s grace that would embrace all. John was a hero, but a Hero in Clay. He had a true word of God, but his error was making it God’s last word. Wrath is sometimes necessary, but it is never the final solution. I find that juxtaposition of John and Jesus rather interesting for our understanding of what’s going on in our own world, our society, our own lives today. Last week we focused on Samuel and we noted that there was a cultural war in Samuel’s day. There were those who said to Samuel, “You are old and we want a king.” But Samuel reflected those others who said that to serve a king would be to undercut the old values and the old ways. In Samuel’s day there was the conservative party and the liberal party. There were the orthodox and the progressives and there was this great divide within Israel. So we noted that the cultural wars in our day are really nothing new - that God’s people have always lived with these kinds of tensions, the things that are dividing us today in our society, the things against which fundamentalist Christians, especially, are raising their voice: questions of abortion and homosexuality and family values and education, etc. These tension-filled social matters that cut across denominational lines and faith group lines and divide people with great acrimony and create a polarization in society – these issues are not new issues. And we saw last week that God somehow or other is able to embrace the whole spectrum. God does not choose sides. This morning as we look at John in juxtaposition to Jesus, I think we get another interesting angle on what is going on today. Let me say first of all something that you may not agree with, which is alright, and which I may not be able to express with great clarity, I am sort of struggling with this, but it seems to me as I experience what is going on today in contrast to biblical prophecy, the biblical prophets spoke the Word of God to the people of God. And I find today that the Word of God that is being spoken by fundamentalist circles is not addressed to the people of God but to the world out there, as though the Church somehow or other is a kind of a society of the righteous, and the world is a wicked old world that needs to be bombarded with the threat of judgment and hell. It seems to me that is to set prophecy on its head. If God is as Jesus reflects God, there is a great deal of compassion for the world on God’s part. God is rather easy on the world. It is the people of God that get the prophetic word - the people of God who ought to know better. So, that’s the first thing that I would observe as I think about John. John at least addressed the faith community. He addressed tax collectors and soldiers, and Pharisees and Sadducees, and anyone else who dared come within range of his voice, but essentially he was addressing the covenant community. I wonder what John might preach to the covenant community today. I wonder if John would have anything to say to the fact that things in Muskegon Heights are so poor that 68 teachers are getting laid off and class sizes will get doubled, and © Grand Valley State University �Wrath... Never the Solution Richard A. Rhem Page 4   education becomes a joke, and the dropout rate can only increase, and the unemployment among young blacks exacerbates, which results too often in a reaching out for a quick buck through the passing of drugs - a temptation almost too great for anyone to withstand. I think John the Baptist would have a Word of God full of wrath maybe for us who sit twelve miles to the south. Thursday night I saw Malcolm X. When I see a film like that, when I see the way we white people treated black people before the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s I could weep. It is treating people in a dehumanizing way. It is creating in them a slave mentality where they cower and where they don’t rock the boat, where they take abuse. They were treating them with paternalism and condescension. Malcolm X experiences that and says to his people, “Don’t turn the other cheek.” And that word, diametrically contrary to Jesus, was the right word. I think John the Baptist would say, thirty years after the Civil Rights Movement, that racism is alive and well in our hearts, and our society continues to be divided and the people continue to be treated as less than human. Time Magazine’s cover this week has God and women - the story of the Roman Church’s continued intransigence against allowing women into the priesthood and the Anglican Church’s admission of women into the priesthood amongst a furious controversy. I think John the Baptist would have something to say about that. We are in the midst of a cultural, social revolution. The Time article (which I know is not the Word of God; nonetheless it is an astute comment on our social situation) calls the movement of the women in the Church a “Second Reformation,” and points out that an all male jury of bishops sits in judgment as to whether or not a woman ought to be a minister of Christ. I think that some day we will look back on this whole period like we look back after a hundred years on the slavery issue. Again, there were those within the Church who were justifying slavery from the Bible. So often the Church, rather than being the avant guard, rather than sensing the movement of the Spirit, becomes the entrenchment of old ways, full of prejudice, and blindness, unable to see the nose on its face. Where in the world is the world going, and where must the Church be are the questions to be asked of ourselves if the Church is to continue to be taken seriously as a community of the people of God. I imagine, just out of events of this past week, there would be enough fodder to keep old John the Baptist preaching along the Jordan for a long time. And it would be a tough word. It would be a hard word. He would say, “You Christian people coddle yourselves in your aesthetic beauty and wonderful ritual and you don’t give a damn about people who are bleeding, people who are hungry, people who are dehumanized.” There is a place for the wrath of God to be spoken. But not out there to the world. Goodness sakes, let MTV alone; let Madonna do her thing. An old English professor of mine at Hope College had more wisdom than I did one day when I was complaining about the worldliness on campus. [Laughing to himself.] She said, “Let the wicked have their pleasure. They have so little.” We get all steamed © Grand Valley State University �Wrath... Never the Solution Richard A. Rhem Page 5   up about all of the nastiness in the world, and we don’t see the depths, prejudice, racism, and lack of compassion in our own hearts. Sometimes a word of wrath is necessary, but it is never the solution. And now you see the juxtaposition of John and Jesus. John could serve as a forerunner, but not the answer. The answer came in the one whose coming we will remember next Sunday. Jesus full of compassion and full of grace. Jesus who said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” For wrath confronts and may make you cower, may bludgeon you into submission, but only love can transform. Only love can change people. When we are angry we lose our effectiveness. Jesus was no wimp. He was every bit as tough as John the Baptist. But rather than anger that wished that the earth would be set on fire, Jesus was full of anguish, “Oh Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her, but you would not.” He came to the crest of Olivet and looked across to the city on Palm Sunday and he wept, and said, “If you had only known the things that belonged to your peace but now they are hid from you. And there will not be left one stone upon another...” But he said this with anguish, not with anger. I get angry. I get angry. Sometimes I would love to run from it all. Sometimes I would love to throw in the towel because it seems such a hopeless task. Anger is self-defeating and doesn’t do the job. Only love can change the world. Only love can change our personal relationships. Anger begets anger. Love melts. Only love finally can bridge the abyss of our culture wars. Angry accusation, acrimony and hatred only polarize and entrench. Only love can change the world. John was a prophet of God with the Word of God, announcing the wrath of God on my life when I fail to be God-like. It’s not the last word. The last word is God’s love that will never let us go - and keeps beckoning us to love in turn. God help us! © 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 XXIV Series Heroes in Clay Scripture Text Matthew 11:3, 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-0-19921122 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-11-22 Title A name given to the resource John the Baptist: Wrath - Sometimes Necessary: Never the Solution 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 22, 1992 entitled "John the Baptist: Wrath - Sometimes Necessary: Never the Solution", as part of the series "Heroes in Clay", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 11:3, 14. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives God's Grace John the Baptist Judgment Prophetic Transforming Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/be14a89ff0e966f80b8ed6225aac9c84.mp3 e11aab272432f7f4fcc4b620fe63382f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bb81980486f88dee6b44daf5652109b1.pdf 9d949e6e3ee157ce1df6f45c30bdb66c PDF Text Text Culture Wars – Does God Take Sides? From the series: Heroes in Clay: Samuel Text: I Samuel 8:19-20; Matthew 5:45 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 15, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon … we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations… I Samuel 8:19-20 … God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on righteous and on the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45 Last evening on the evening news there was a brief bit of the heavyweight championship fight of the night before and of Riddick Bowe who delivered the telling blow to Vander Holyfield. “I won,” said Bowe, “because God was on my side.” Now that’s really dumb! One guy beats up another, makes him bloody and says, “God’s on my side.” But it’s really only the extreme of what we all do at one time or another. We get in a conflict or a debate, or a discussion or we get into something that deeply divides and we do our best to make sure that God is on our side. We make the claim and Samuel made that claim too. Samuel believed that God was on his side - or maybe, in all fairness to Samuel, I should say that Samuel believed that he was on God’s side. Samuel was one of the great leaders of ancient Israel – a good man, a man of integrity and of spiritual depth. He had been one of the judges of Israel at the end of that historical period we call the time of the Judges. Israel was a tribal confederacy at the time following the conquest of Canaan under Joshua. It was that period of time in which Israel lived as a kind of loosely confederated group of tribes. They would, when a crisis arose, rise up together for a common defense. They believed that God would, at a decisive moment, raise up a charismatic leader who could rally the tribes together. Then, when the crisis had passed and the battle won, they would go back and do their farming again in their respective tribal territories. They were a tribal confederacy. We can understand that because we had thirteen colonies at one time or thirteen states that were in a confederacy. A confederacy is a kind of government where the independent units maintain a certain amount of autonomy, but they feel the need for a certain amount of centralizing and organizing power for such things as common defense, etc. If you remember your ninth grade civics class, at least a © Grand Valley State University   �Culture Wars –Does God Take Sides? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   hundred years ago it was called the United States Civics class, you learned there about how the Confederacy moved into a strong central government. Wasn’t it Alexander Hamilton who wrote the “Federalist Papers” and argued the case for the strong centralization of power? Well, that’s exactly what was going on in Israel at the time. Samuel had been an excellent judge and a great spiritual leader. As long as you have a towering figure, the old forms and structures survive somehow because such a figure as a Samuel commands such trust and respect. But we are told in the eighth chapter of I Samuel that Samuel is old and his sons are not following in his footsteps, and so the elders of Israel, (kind of the leading citizens, I suppose) come to Samuel. I hope they were a little more sensitive than the text says. It says, “You’re old.” It can be a difficult thing, you know, growing old. You don’t need somebody to remind you! Somebody comes up to Samuel and says, “You’re old. And your sons aren’t doing well. Give us a king.” Samuel was displeased. These people were about to fall into the same trap from which they had so long ago escaped in Egypt. The Hebrews had vowed they needed no king but God. So he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said, “Yes, I understand you are displeased, but recognize they are not rejecting you. They are rejecting me and I am used to it. This has been going on since the very day I brought them out of Egypt. Listen to the people. Give them what they want.” However, Samuel warned them what they were in for. Then we come to the ninth chapter and it is as though we are reading a totally different account, because now we have Saul in the picture. God speaks to Samuel and he says, “Tomorrow there is a young man who is going to come. His name is Saul. I have appointed him to be a king and I want you to anoint him, etc.” And very interestingly, in the ninth chapter and the sixteenth verse, the Lord says, “Anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hands of the Philistines, for I have seen the affliction of my people because their outcry has come to me.” Now here in the ninth chapter you have another source. You have another perspective. You’ve got another understanding of things. Here, very much parallel to Moses, you have God coming to Samuel and saying, “This man is going to be my answer to meet the affliction and suffering of my people Israel. Anoint him. Appoint him. He will be my instrument in response to the cry of my people.” God said, “The cry of my people has risen to me and I am going to do something for them.” The words are very similar to the ones spoken to Moses at the burning bush. In the ninth chapter, after that rather discouraging beginning about the initiative for a king, it seems as though God is on the bandwagon now and it is God who is doing this thing. God is saying, “I am going to move this tribal confederacy into monarchy in order to meet the needs of the immediate situation.” Well, that whole section meanders between these two points of view. You have, we’ll call it, the Samuel source, the source that speaks for the old tradition, the covenantal community. And you have the Saul source, which reflects the view of those who want to move into something new, into some new social organization in order to meet the exigencies of the time. Both sides are sure © Grand Valley State University �Culture Wars –Does God Take Sides? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   that God is on their side. Neither side is pure. None of us is ever pure. No faith conviction of ours is without some measure of vested interest. You can count on that. Now I think Samuel was genuinely upset about the undercutting of that ancient covenant community where a people was gathered into a community, not through political alignment or economic philosophy or ethnic purity, but out of a common trust in God. But I also think he was hurt. He felt rejected. And those who were seeing where Israel had to go had a concern for the well being of Israel, but I think probably there were also the ones who had been able to accrue some considerable bank accounts here and there and they really wanted some kind of security system. They wanted to take the bull by the horns and make sure that the accumulated wealth and positions they had acquired would somehow or other be secure. They wanted to be like other nations where a king could help maintain an army and a measure of stability. So there is always that mixture. What’s going on here? Well, I suppose it’s a culture war. I don’t know who introduced the phrase “culture war,” but I do know that it came into prominence in this past political campaign. Pat Buchanan at the Republican Convention spoke about being at war for the soul of this nation. And out of the campaign has come an accentuation of that polarization of our society. If we look back to Israel we can see that polarization and culture divide wasn’t devised in the 1990s; it’s not a 20th-century phenomena. It has been going on forever. Then, there were two visions of what Israel was to be. There were two visions of what the identity and the mission and the nature of the community ought to be. They were at odds. They were at cultural war with each other. It’s really interesting that in the biblical account you don’t have one setup as the right way and the other way as the wrong way, but you have a weaving together of these two positions. Now in the old way that we used to read the Bible, and the old way I used to preach the Bible, frankly, I would have had to iron out those two undissolvable knots of material. I would have had to make one be subservient to the other. I would not have been able to recognize that a biblical writer might have left in there, intentionally, an unresolved tension. The biblical writer is no fool! He didn’t just cut and paste and put things together. It is intentional. As he looks back on Israel’s history, the tensions and conflicts and the movement that made them what they were and what they became, he is trying to see the way in which the uncanny presence of God moves in the unsettled, unstable, unpredictable human, historical situation. It is a marvelous study of how Israel became the nation that it was and the writer in retrospect portrays both sides of the issue for us so that we could see these tensions that existed within this ancient people of God. There have always been those who have clung to old values--What shall we call them? Shall we call them the orthodox? Or conservatives? There have always been those who have felt that new times demand new solutions. That growing explosion of knowledge and new © Grand Valley State University �Culture Wars –Does God Take Sides? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   understanding in insights call for new arrangements. What shall we call them? Progressives? Liberals, maybe? There have always been those who have looked to the past in order to secure the present and the future. And there have been those on the other hand who, looking to the future, have recognized the necessity of scuttling the past as a straightjacket. In which camp would you have been? Would you have put your arm around Samuel and said, “You’re right, old boy. Things are going to pot and there may not even be a future if those radicals have their way. Everything is going to pot. No more morality. No more spirituality. No more God. Secularism. Secular humanism, etc.” Or would you have been one of the lobbyists who were pushing for the king and would you have said, “Look, the future is here. And the new situation demands that we move out of this inherited confederacy that has served its time. It’s time for a new form and a new structure to carry out into the future in order that we can be all that God would have us be.” Where would you have been? Let’s have an election. Shall we have another election? You can cast your vote. Why is it even important to look at this? In this fascinating biblical narrative, seeing these tensions, we might get a word of enlightenment for the present situation in our own nation and society. For we are a nation deeply divided. We are a society that is polarized and poisoning each other, and everybody claims that God is on his or her side. There is a kind of conflict of moral vision about what this nation ought to be, and what kind of society God is calling us to be. And moral vision held with passion sometimes becomes violent. There is name-calling and acrimony, and there is division and adversarial spirit - a kind of polarization that fragments society and makes civil and rational discourse almost impossible. So I think that it may well be that in this narrative we have some help to understand how we should negotiate these times. When I was at Brandeis three weeks ago I met Professor James Davison Hunter. I didn’t know at the time that he had authored a book which was reviewed in the October Perspectives, entitled by the way, Culture Wars. I picked up a copy a couple of weeks ago in New York. His focus is the struggle to define America making sense of the battles over the family, art, education, law and politics. It is an excellent study. James Hunter is an evangelical Christian, and he is an excellent sociologist. So I find this a very intelligent survey of what’s going on in our nation - the things that are tearing our society apart. I would recommend it to you. Culture Wars. He uses the phrase, and he points out the perils in which our society stands: the potential fragmentation and the potential for the breakdown of all discourse, which of course, is so essential for a democratic society. As we look at the biblical account, might it not help us simply to recognize in the first place that these tensions are endemic to the human situation? So you’re orthodox. That’s good! But that’s not all. And so you are a wild-haired liberal. That’s great! But it’s not the whole picture. The one who clings to ancient values and the one who reaches for that which is new and untested need each other. In a © Grand Valley State University �Culture Wars –Does God Take Sides? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   healthy society there will be a creative tension with a strong enough center to hold people together. But I think it is simply important first of all to recognize, not despair, and not throw up our hands as though it is the end of the world. We didn’t invent this kind of polarization. Maybe the mass media, and the television, and the sound bite, maybe that accentuates, maybe that polarizes and divides us more than in earlier times. I think that is probably true. But, nonetheless, we have to learn to live with that and to work with that. If you are conservative and orthodox, you have every right to be thus. And it is your responsibility to hold to values that are tried and true, and to make sure that the treasures of the past are not lost. Yours is a good voice, but it’s not the only voice. And if you are always champing at the bit, and always on the growing edge trying to break through to something not yet jelling, then, bless you! Keep everything unsettled and unstable. Be a nudging discomforter, but recognize that there are perils out there. As old Samuel said, “You are going to get your king, and you are going to get yours.” What we need in a healthy society is an acceptance of the legitimate and authentic tension that rests within any community of people. I like the way God is portrayed in this whole narrative. I think that I would have to say that God is kind of a grudging progressive. That I say without bias. (Oh, come on. Where’s your humor!) [Laughter] He says to Samuel, “Samuel, you’re right. You’re right.” I think the narrative is saying, “You can’t give up traditional values without some significant loss, but the nature of the historical experience is such that you have to keep moving on. Yes, they’ve rejected me. But listen to the people. Warn them, but listen to them. Give them their king. No arguing. No pouting. No raging. No manipulation. No coercion.” God seems to be able to handle that which is threatening to so many of us. God seems to be confident about the future and God’s ability to cope with the future regardless of which alternatives are chosen. And then I love this in Samuel’s farewell speech in the 12th chapter. The people are rather humbled at this point, and they say, “Pray to God for us.” And Samuel could say this to them, “For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” Don’t you love that? Isn’t that the kind of God that you could worship? Samuel can say, “Look, this isn’t some petulant, petty, capricious deity. This is Almighty God. This is the Creator of the heavens and earth. This is the One who has created us in his image, who will not let any of his children go. This God will not abandon you. This God will not forsake you. Stop quivering in your boots. Trust God. God forbid that I should cease to pray for you. And I will continue to instruct you in the way you should go.” And then if you follow the story on, there is also this - that as there is this normal, inevitable kind of movement, the values of the old tend to get incorporated into the vision of the new. Samuel anointed Saul king, and the new was here. But Samuel said, “Saul, buddy, don’t think you’re a sovereign, an absolute like all © Grand Valley State University �Culture Wars –Does God Take Sides? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   those puppet kings around you. Saul, you’re just another citizen before the eternal, sovereign God.” And you know the thing that made Israel unique? Even when it became a monarchy, it was the fact that its king always trembled before the prophet - that its king knew that he was accountable and that he had no absolute sway, but must always regard the ways of righteousness and justice, and seek the ways of peace. The old values - the community and tribal confederacy in covenant with God – that somehow or other got laced into the monarchy, so that when we reach Chapter 16 we have David. We have the ideal king and it would seem for all the world that God always intended that there would be such a kingdom and there would be such a king - the Golden Age. Samuel wouldn’t have dreamed that it could be so good. I read from the Sermon on the Mount this morning because it seems to me that as God’s people we are called to that kind of posture and spirit and attitude. I think one of the great problems in our present social unrest is the fact that we have politicized things that cannot be politicized. You cannot legislate morality. You cannot legislate spirituality. The things that tear us apart - abortion, homosexuality, a National Endowment for the Arts, family values - those trigger words set off emotions and generate a lot of heat and very little light. They are not things that the government really can handle. Those are the things for us the people of God to deal with. We, as the people of God, are called to live an alternative community. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. Light illumines. Salt preserves.” And we are called to be Godlike. The God who causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and causes the fields of the righteous and the unrighteous alike to be watered with rain and snow. Jesus final word is “So, be like God.” The word perfect in the RSV is not a good translation. The word is kellos in Greek, which is the end or the purpose. Realize that for which God created you. God created you in God’s image. Be God-like, with a kind of universal benevolence, with a kind of love and a compassion, a justice and a seeking of love and fairness, and finally, peace in society. You be different. Don’t let the sound bites polarize you. When you feel your anger begin to rise, recognize that God is not on your side. Or rather, God is on your side - and on the side of your adversary. Have a moral passion, but lace it with humility and express it with compassion. Simply be God-like. God knows. God can handle this alternative, that alternative, and another alternative, but if somebody tells you, “This is God’s way,” don’t you believe him. God is bigger than that, bigger than my vision and your vision. A vision that embraces us all and calls us all to be civil and committed, agents of the kingdom that will surely come. Sorry folks, God doesn’t take sides. © 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 XXIII Series Heroes in Clay Scripture Text I Samuel 8: 19-20, Matthew 5:45 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-0-19921115 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-11-15 Title A name given to the resource Samuel: Culture Wars - Does God Take Sides? 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 15, 1992 entitled "Samuel: Culture Wars - Does God Take Sides?", as part of the series "Heroes in Clay", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Samuel 8: 19-20, Matthew 5:45. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community Diversity History of Israel Justice Samuel https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/29e719464bf5c67d68a27abb47888c1b.mp3 4e3bf42ab268c6297e0416e13e4af7af https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c4c9a98e969cfe5c9f9565c083a8d4fb.pdf fbcb3ac7a3d28454a2194ea5ef036ec1 PDF Text Text Somebody Has To Believe! From the series: Heroes in Clay: Moses Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 8, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? Exodus 3:11 Now faith is the assurance of things hopes for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Two weeks ago, the last time that I was with you in this setting, I told you that I was leaving for Boston for Brandeis University, and for the think tank on Congregational Affiliation, which is funded by the Lilly Foundation and is centered at the Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis outside of Boston. I told you just briefly what I intended to say on Sunday night in the worship that I was to lead - the Protestant worship service for that mixed group of Protestants, Catholics and Jews. You were so very kind. You even applauded, and I left here feeling I hardly needed the airplane in order to fly there. It was a great encouragement to me and so many of you since I have returned have asked me about it that I feel I must take just a moment to let you know it was one of those experiences for which, having looked forward to it with great anticipation, all my expectations were met. So seldom that happens in life - you look forward to something and then it happens and we say, “Is that all there is?” But this was really a wonderful experience, full of stimulation, full of very wonderful people. There were about 50 of us and then a few presenters. The subject was Congregational Affiliation and, as I said a few weeks ago, the reason the study is being made is that many people in our culture are not affiliating with churches and synagogues, and so the purpose was to find out why, and to try to find ways in which to encourage people to return to the churches and to the synagogues. My Reformation Day message to them was a word in due season to the right crowd. I didn’t know who was going to be there and, had I known, I would have been scared to death, I think. There were a few denominational executives, many professors in sociological research in religion, and then there were a few gardenvariety practitioners like myself. But when I said to them at the conclusion of the message that we have met the enemy and it is us - it could not have been spoken more poignantly to a better crowd. My suggestion was that the big problem is all of our divisions, all of our structures and institutions that keep us separated and © Grand Valley State University   �Somebody Has To Believe! Richard A. Rhem Page 2   apart from one another. And so my message was a word of judgment at the purpose of the whole think tank. What a way to honor an invitation! It would have helped a little bit if I had had a little more leisure time. I knew that the schedule was tight, but the plane was late and then the taxicab got lost. I was to preach at 7:30 p.m. and I walked in at 7:30. It is a wonderful way to get ready for divine worship, biting your fingernails all the way. But it went quite well, actually. It was quite well received in spite of the fact that I was suggesting that maybe we were dealing with the symptoms rather than getting down to the root cause. But I did what I promised to do. I suggested that we undo the divisions between Catholics and Protestants, between the East and the West, between Islam and Judaism, and between Christianity and Judaism. Just a mild proposal. (Laughter) An impossible possibility. But it is a possibility, and after being there and associating with priests and pastors and rabbis, I believe it could happen if we would all simply get out of the way. There is really not any good reason why we could not all be children of God - together, except for the vested interest in established institutional structures. I believed that before I went, I said it while I was there, and coming away from the experience I am convinced that it is true. The problem is to find somebody who will believe it. To find somebody who would be outrageous enough to propose it and actively pursue it. That’s what this world desperately needs. Somebody to believe. Somebody to believe that things do not have to be forever as they have been. Somebody to believe that God has dreams and surprises that have not yet entered the human mind to conceive of. Someone to believe. Today, and for a couple of weeks, I want to look at some biblical characters. Heroes. Heroes in Clay. God knows we need heroes. We love heroes, and we have in our past heroic men and women of faith. But, if we are honest, the heroes are always heroes in clay, for the point that I want to make is not that these were gigantic figures, extraordinary people who are able to do great things for God. My point is simply this: that God is able to do extraordinary things through very ordinary people if only God can find a man or a woman to believe. God knows somebody has to believe. Moses is our first Hero in Clay. The story is so very familiar. The situation is the oppression of Egypt. Male children of the Israelites are being killed at birth because of the population growth and the threat that these Israelites posed to the Pharaoh. This mighty civilization of the ancient world was now in slavery, and their children were being done away with. Moses was miraculously rescued, nursed by his own mother, after having been rescued by a daughter of Pharaoh and raised in the splendor and nurture of that marvelous Egyptian civilization, coming to a point of responsibility in a leadership role. But seeing his own people, the Hebrew slaves, abused, he rises up in indignation one day and kills an Egyptian. And, in that moment of wrath, righteous though it may have been, he © Grand Valley State University �Somebody Has To Believe! Richard A. Rhem Page 3   recognizes that his whole life now is changed. He flees Egypt. He finds the wilderness. He tends sheep for a man named Jethro, whose daughter he marries. And for years and decades he broods on the course of his life and that moment that changed everything. He must certainly have gone through times when he said to himself, “Egypt must have it right and the gods of Egypt that seal and bless that whole system must be Gods indeed. The slaves are but animals, worth nothing. My righteous rising up and committing of murder was an irrational moment without foundation in truth.” But was it? As he brooded on it, at other times must he not have been gripped by the conviction that, “No, that can not be right. Slaves are slaves, but slaves are human. Slaves are people. Slaves have feelings. Slaves must not be used as a commodity, as so much chattel. As he brooded in the isolation of the desolate wilderness, I wonder if he churned inwardly. All of his education. All of his culture. Now in that isolated wilderness with hours and days and years to think. Chaim Potok, the Jewish novelist, is the one who gave me a window into the psyche of Moses, how he must have struggled with that watershed moment of his life - that rash action and what it was that caused him to rise up and kill a man. It may have been the culmination of those years of internal struggle that caused him one day to be confronted with a phenomenon - a bush that burned but was not consumed. I think so often in our Sunday School theology we picture a literal bush and a literal flame, and an audible voice and all of that, but I think Potok may be right that, suddenly, all of that that was churning within him came to a point in which God manifested God’s self. There was that inward conviction that the gods of Egypt were not gods, that there must be another God, some other source of truth that was pressuring him and pushing him. Then he hears a voice that comes in a vision, full of mystery and awe, in which he is encountered by this wholly other One who says, “Take off your shoes, for this is holy ground. I have heard the cry of my people. You are right, Moses. Treating human beings as a commodity is wrong. Slavery is wrong. I am the God of people who would have them free and accorded dignity and respect. You are right, Moses, and I call you to go and to lead them out of their servitude, and I will be with you.” Moses says, “Who? Me? Who are you?” “I am that I am” comes the answer. Now that translation is not a good translation. The Hebrew translated by our verb “to be” doesn’t exist in the Hebrew language. There is no verb for “being.” That’s too static. Rather, those who know the language have a nuance which suggests that what God was saying was not, “This is my name,” but “I am the God who will be there for you. I will be truly there. I will be present for you. I will be whatever I need to be in any situation wherever you go.” So in Moses we have the coming together of a deeply held truth about what God would have for human persons, and this sense - this word, “Go. I’ll go with you.” Too often I think we set biblical heroes high on a pedestal as though they were some other breed than the rest of us. We assume that it must have been crystal © Grand Valley State University �Somebody Has To Believe! Richard A. Rhem Page 4   clear. Moses, just go and do it. But it wasn’t so crystal clear as indicated by the subsequent conversation with God. If we had time to go on to the fourth chapter we would find Moses saying, “Can’t we reconsider? Who am I, after all? Not me, please. I can’t even speak eloquently,” and finally, “Could you send somebody else?” This is God’s hero - wanting to pass the buck. This is the man of deep conviction - full of self-doubt, shrinking from the moment of encounter after the moment of epiphany. A Hero in Clay - just like the rest of us. Scared to death. Shrinking from the execution of that which had gripped him in the depths of his being. “But, Moses, somebody has to believe.” “Yes, but not me - please could you send somebody else?” Isn’t that so like our human experience? Can’t you identify with Moses at a time like that? Rather than marching forth in the strength of God on the basis of this revelation, this epiphany, this bush that burned and was not consumed, Moses slinks away and tries to get out of it. If only it could have been nailed down with certainty. Isn’t that the way we wish we could live? I met with a couple this summer. Their life seemed as though it might be coming to a crossroad. They gave me a call, hoping that this man of God could help them determine which way the arrow of God’s will was pointing. (Ah hah.) I just smiled at them. They said, “Well how can we know?” I said, “You can’t know.” How do you know the will of God? You don’t know the will of God. Oh, sometimes some few of us have some kind of mystical experience, some kind of clarity. But for the most part, we live making decisions one after another, so wishing we really knew, but we really don’t know. That’s what it means to be human. We live in the ambiguity of our historical existence where we always have to decide with partial knowledge and limited understanding. And so the decisions, ultimately, are decisions made on faith. Could you send somebody else? Now the deep conviction and the promise of God’s presence are neutralized by fear. That’s our great enemy. We are afraid. What if we crawl out on a limb and somebody cuts it off? “What if I cross the border into Egypt and they still have papers for my arrest?” “What if I go to the people with this message that you purportedly are giving me and they reject me? What if I try and fail?” Are we not time and again stunted by fear? Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of making a fool of ourselves? We don’t expose our deepest yearnings and desires and hopes and dreams. We don’t dare tell anybody because we are afraid they will laugh. And after all, how do we really know? Last week I was in New York at our Perspectives board meeting, and someone suggested that we need to do an issue on angels. One of the members of the board said, “I’m running into people all over the place who are having all sorts of experiences with angels.” And someone else said, “I’m not.” He was told, “You are probably not giving them permission to tell you.” Do you remember the stories of near death experiences that exploded a few years ago? Suddenly, one was reported and then another, and then a whole rash of © Grand Valley State University �Somebody Has To Believe! Richard A. Rhem Page 5   them because most of us don’t dare tell those deepest intuitions, longings and dreams of our life. We are too afraid. Afraid that we will be laughed at, scorned or rejected. Moses said, “I think probably you would probably be there for me, and I do think that it would be right that slaves be set free, but could you send somebody else?” About two or three years ago after one of my Perspectives meeting I reported to you that we had met with Edwin Mulder, the Executive Secretary of the Reformed Church, and suggested to him that perhaps, rather than frantically trying to rescue the Reformed Church in America, we ought to begin a process of orderly dismantling. That was not an easy word for Ed to hear at that time. We met with him again Monday because we have an annual executive review of our work, and the mood was different. Ed suggested that it may be a few years away but, all things being equal, a dismantling may be in store. I heard after he left he had just announced his retirement in June of 1994. So I came home and wrote him a letter and I congratulated him on his decision and affirmed him for his work, and then said to him that I had noticed on election night that John Chancellor, the retired elder statesman, seemed to have so much fun. He was so relaxed. Retirement has a way of doing that to you, you know. When we are in the trenches and have the harnesses on, we are so serious and have such a sense of responsibility. Everything seems so heavy. Our creative juices can get all dried up. But there was old Chancellor having a ball. And I said to Ed, “Now that you have announced, let me suggest that the last eighteen months be the best you’ve ever had. Why don’t you propose some outrageous thing? Why don’t you get the heads of the denominations together, and suggest to all the giants that we dismantle and start over? Why don’t you have a ball in this last eighteen months? Have fun! Be outrageous!” Well, I will be interested to see how he responds to that. (Laughter) But, that is where I began. I am convinced that energy and resources and worry is poured into religious institutions and structures in order to sustain yesterday’s answer, in order to perpetuate anachronistic structures that do not bring together God’s people, but actually keep us all separate in our respective boxes. The thing that needs to happen at that think tank is not that we find ways to make our respective institutions prosper, but that we find a way to transcend our respective institutions in order that we might find a new energy and a new way to carry us into the third millennium. Somebody has got to believe! Somebody’s got to say, “Enough of business as usual. Enough of all of this fearful clinging to that which once was legitimate and necessary.” One of the issues that we will have in Perspectives next year has to do with language, with God’s language. We have talked about that here. I picked up a book on my way home - a book of excellent essays. One author asked whether or not Christianity will be able to sustain itself in the future. She suggested that it may well not make it for, if it doesn’t change, it will be to society too unrelated and irrelevant to where life is really moving.” © Grand Valley State University �Somebody Has To Believe! Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Some of you tease me as though I just like to rock the boat. Well, I do. Some of you think that this is just a game. And, it sort of is, but I’ll tell you - deep down there is something else operating. It is because I believe in God. It is because I believe the Gospel. It is because I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and that we have in our traditions the richest resources that the world so desperately needs, that I don’t want to see them just piddled away, written off as though they are irrelevant and unable to meet the pressing needs of our day in a world that is tearing itself apart - fractured and fragmented, hostile and warring. We have so much to share with the world in terms of the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God that would make people one - if only we could let go and trust God. Dear friends, somebody has to believe. Maybe it’s you. You say, “But how can I know?” And I say, “You can’t.” And you say, “On what basis do I plunge?” And I say, “Trust God. Trust God. Trust – 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 XXII Series Heroes in Clay Scripture Text Exodus 3:11, Hebrews 11:1 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19921108 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-11-08 Title A name given to the resource Moses: Somebody Has To Believe! Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 8, 1992 entitled "Moses: Somebody Has To Believe!", as part of the series "Heroes in Clay", on the occasion of Pentecost XXII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Exodus 3:11, Hebrews 11:1. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Institutional Religion Interfaith Moses Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7575a27801010a5696a18b08f189edd1.mp3 3eab503fed2e7a35620a47b1370139ad https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d0d01b7c305b87b659fa8468e2b5ff73.pdf f6d175d210373acb5329f37a4bef5f41 PDF Text Text Tradition: Instrument of Continuity and Change From the series: Future Edge Text: Isaiah 43:18-19; Luke 2:34 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Reformation Sunday, Pentecost XX, October 25, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Cease to dwell on days gone by and to brood over past history. Here and now I will do a new thing; this moment it will break from the bud. Can you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “This child is destined to be a sign which men reject; and you too shall be pierced to the heart.” Luke 2:34 I have a book with me - I always have a book, but someone went out of church a few weeks ago and said that the message had reminded them of this book. They said, “The book is really about business and corporations but there is a connection and I think you would be interested in it.” So I went out and got it as I always do - I’m always willing to chase down a new book. Sort of like Paul said to Timothy, “always learning and never arriving at the truth,” that’s me. But this book is called Future Edge, written by Joel Arthur Barker. It would be particularly good for some of you women and men who are involved in business and corporations, who are out there trying to make a profit and turn a buck. It’s a good book. It’s interesting. Its subtitle is Discovering New Paradigms For Success. Paradigms is a word that was connected with my sermon, because I often talk about paradigms, models, examples, ways of viewing things, setting up structures to visualize that which is invisible, and to deal with that which is intangible. Future Edge deals with paradigms for success. Thomas Khune wrote a book, The Construction of Scientific Revolution, some years ago, and that book chronicles the history of science. He showed that scientists are not these wonderful, marvelous, open-minded people that simply respond to every new piece of data, but, rather, scientists are just like theologians. They resist the truth, they close their minds to new data until they can’t do it any more and the data explodes in their faces. Then they design a new paradigm and then we have a new revolution. Khune caused quite a stir when he talked about the way science has gone bumping and jerking forward because the data finally compel the scientist to admit that the old model doesn’t work any more and that the new model can accommodate more data and move us forward. © Grand Valley State University   �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Hans Küng, the theologian, took that idea and applied it to the church. He recognized that in the history of the church there have been several paradigms the ancient church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Traditionalism, and then there was Protestant Orthodoxy. Then there was Protestant Liberalism. The difference between the church and scientific community was that, when the scientific data demand that there be movement, the old scientific paradigm has to give way and a new paradigm prevails. The church doesn’t have to do that. You just start another church. That’s how it is done. So you have one paradigm in this particular group and this group continues. And you have another paradigm and another group continues. You’ve got all these paradigms and all these groups. You don’t let the data bother you. When you are in the church you don’t let data bother you; it’s “don’t bother me with the facts, my mind’s already made up.” So all these paradigms can live next to each other in the church. But it’s different in the business world. Those of you who are out in the business world are not in the same endeavor as I am. For those of you who are out in the business world, you are not in a non-profit endeavor as I am. Do you know how you know whether you are in trouble? Very simple. The bottom line. You can’t stay in business very long if you are not making a profit. It’s just that simple. And that makes business people marvelously open-minded and flexible, and able to move with the moving cultural themes, with the demands of the times, with the spirit of the age. Business folk are always tuned in to today, always trying to be ahead because, after all, what they are about is making a buck. In order to prosper you have to be ahead of the game. You don’t have to do that in the church. In fact, there are people who moved out of the business world and got into the church or the public sector because in the church and the public sector, (government service, education,) you don’t have to make a profit. You don’t have to be productive or fruitful. If you are in government and it’s not working, you just raise the taxes. In government you are lucky enough to be able to enforce the tax, you see. So what you can do is you can be in debt. Future generations to the third and fourth generations of those who will come to hate us. Four trillion dollars or something. You can enforce the taxation and, as long as you can keep the money coming in, the debt escalates but it functions - it still looks alive. Now you can’t do that in business. That’s why in business people are always trying to understand where things are moving and what is happening. Someone else saw a paradigm and thought of me and gave me this seminar announcement, called Paradigm Shifting. People resist change. New ideas most often come from the fringe, the unexpected places. They are often rejected by the best-intentioned decision makers. The models we live by every day may be the very roadblocks that prevent our businesses from progressing and staying ahead of competition. Our models filter information, often preventing us from seeing opportunities vital to the creating or improving of products and services. What do we do when our models become counterproductive and must be altered? In © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 3   business you change because you’ve got to turn a profit or you are going to be out of business. In government you can add some more taxes. That’s what we have tried in churches too. The Reformed Church in America is raising the assessment every year because, when things aren’t working and people aren’t supporting spontaneously and don’t really have that feeling that this is really where things are, then you assess. What you don’t get voluntarily, you assess. The church gets in trouble with assessing. The trouble is, it is not as successful as the government at that because we can’t enforce that. I wish there were a way to enforce that, but I don’t know - we just have to depend on your voluntary good will. It’s a terrible way to live for me, but anyway - the church is somewhere between the government and business. In business you change “by cracky.” I mean you are not locked into anything forever if it’s not working. In the government you can keep going for a long time in a wrong path as long as you’ve got the enforcement to raise the revenue. The church is somewhere in between. We’ve got a special problem too. We have our structures and our forms, our liturgical forms and our doctrinal statements, etc. They are not simply something that arose at one time because they worked well or they said it well; they are identified in our minds with God and with truth. So that’s why in the church we perpetuate these forms even when they no longer are really doing it. We kind of cover it over with a cloak of piety, and, if it’s not working any more and people are dropping off or aren’t supporting, we tend to say that people are hard hearted or unspiritual, or they are not as good as they used to be, or they don’t care any more. That’s not true, of course. But it makes us feel good if our numbers are falling off, etc. I’m talking about the larger church now. Denominations are really in trouble. The Reformed Church in America is in trouble. We are trying desperately to find some way to shore up the structures. We try a little harder. We run a little faster. Of course that doesn’t work. You just get out of breath. But the Reformed Church in America is not unique. The denominations generally in this country are in trouble. The reason they are in trouble is that they are yesterday’s forms and structures that cannot do what needs to be done today. But in the church we don’t change very easily. We are not in business. If somehow we could find a way to change this whole religion business into a profit-making enterprise, we would be more ready to change. But here we don’t have to change because we can keep the thing going, appear to be living yet, while it is dead - deader than a “dodo.” Then suddenly one day we wake up and we call a conference, like the conference I am going to. I am going to leave here this afternoon and go to Boston to Brandeis University and there is going to be a conference of Protestants, Catholics and Jews at the Center For Modern Jewish Studies, and the subject is “Congregational Affiliation.” Now you know why you call a conference about Congregational Affiliation? It’s because people aren’t affiliating any more. If you are involved in the institution, you have a vested interest in the institution. You © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 4   may even think the institution is valuable. You call a conference and you say, “Let’s not talk theology - Protestants, Catholics and Jews - but let’s talk about synagogues and churches and cathedrals and why people aren’t affiliating like they once did.” We’ve got a problem, in other words. And so we are going to sit down and talk about it, and you only do that when you have a sense of foreboding, and you finally say, “Something isn’t working any more.” Now you know, we probably ought to be the people that are the first in the whole church to offer some word of counsel about openness to newness. We are the heirs of the 16th century Reformation of the Church, and the one insight in the 16th century that is eternally valuable is that insight that nothing is spoken as eternally true, or timeless. The Church in its forms and utterances, in its life, is caught up in history and must always be moving with history and, therefore, it needs constantly to be opening its eyes and cocking its ears to catch what the Spirit is saying to the Church in order that the Church may be tomorrow what it was yesterday. Now you’ve probably heard a lot of Reformation Day sermons in which the big point was that the Church rediscovered justification of faith through grace, or the centrality of the word of God, or the priesthood of all believers. I mean, you’ve probably already heard that in Protestant churches. You might have heard me preach it on occasion, as though, after the 16th century we discovered that. That’s ridiculous. That’s presumptuous. The Catholic Church had grace. The Catholic Church had the Word. It had a lot of other stuff too. But so do we. Eastern Orthodoxy had grace, and it had truth, and it had Christ, and it had sacrament. The 16th century was not the birth of the evangelical church in the sense of some pristine understanding of Christian truth for the first time. The 16th century was a time when the forms shattered and at least part of the Church recognized that what ought to always be true of the Church is that the Church is being re-formed according to the word of God and needs to be constantly being re-formed. That’s our central insight. That’s the thing that has shaped us and characterizes us at our heart. So we ought to be the Church that leads the pack in looking at the world and studying the word of God and seeking to determine what God is calling the Church today and tomorrow. Because we are an historical institution with a human dimension that is constantly moving and, like I said, if it were a matter of raising a buck or two I would take Joel Barker and we’d study “Paradigms for Success,” and we would make all the adjustments necessary in order to get the job done. But, we are not business. And we may not be able to live forever like the government because we can’t just raise the taxes. Sometime or other we are going to have to come face to face with that which is the very heart of our tradition: that we never arrive, but we need constantly to be in the process of being reshaped and reformed in order that we may be all that God would have us to be today and tomorrow, as we have given witness to God’s grace in the past. © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 5   This is our Reformation heritage. And I do believe that it is incumbent upon us, and maybe Christ Community Church to be a catalyst in the larger church to get the attention of the church to say, “We aren’t making it any more. We are losing money.” You know, Stemple may survive. Gehan is in trouble. Something is going to happen there. But in the church it takes a couple of hundred years to come to that awareness. Now, why don’t we get smart and get honest, and be true to our Reformation heritage and recognize that the church is in trouble because it is perpetuating anachronistic structure and giving yesterday’s answers to today’s questions? Well, there are a couple of temptations that we face as human beings who would be the people of God. There is the temptation to inordinate pride where we see the world as a human project and see this past as something that is dependent upon our ingenuity and our capacity, as though God was on vacation or had taken a furlough, or was some kind of blasé observer and spectator of the human scene and not engaged. There are those who would take the stance of aggressive activism, take the bull by the horns, and consequently they become bulls in china shops. As though anything that is going to happen in the Church today and tomorrow is dependent upon human ingenuity and planning and decision making. But there is an equally deadly peril on the other side. And that is kind of a passive resignation, as though one simply has to wait for God to move; as though perhaps, in 16th-century terminology, there is some kind of divine predestination where the whole thing is set anyway and we just sort of twiddle our thumbs and watch it happen without our involvement and our engagement, and the engagement of our minds and of our hearts, and our commitment. No. The Church of Jesus Christ, you and I, are called to be salt in the world and light to the world, to be a catalyst agent to galvanize the people, the larger populace, in the things that are really significant and eternally important. It is for us to hang loosely, knowing our past, but open to the future. It is for us to know our tradition in order that we may negotiate tomorrow. Tradition. The Christian tradition. Our tradition is an instrument for continuity and change. Now to be an instrument for continuity is obvious. For our tradition had shaped us and made us what we are. We know who we are because of where we come from: those who have shaped us - Reformed us - that stream that is issued in us today. So it is obvious that tradition is an instrument of continuity. It gives us rootage. It gives us a place to stand, a sense of identity. Terribly important. We must never play fast and loose with it. We must know it well. We must be steeped in it. But tradition also must be an instrument for change. I never understood that until a year ago, when Krister Stendahl, a New Testament scholar, and David Hartman, a rabbi, who was born in Brooklyn and now is in Jerusalem, had an all day interfaith dialogue in Muskegon. It was a wonderful interfaith dialogue. Krister Stendahl had just spent some time as a bishop of a Lutheran Church in Stockholm. He had been exposed to contemporary Swedish society, and that was so vivid in his experience. But he had relatives in Minnesota where all the © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 6   “Svedes,” except for Karl Lundgren lived. All the Swedes live in Minnesota. (Laughter) He said, “If you would go to Minnesota and you visit the “Svedes” in Minnesota, it’s like seeing them 100 years ago. He said I used to go visit my grandparents. It’s wonderful because you have all these old customs and they still survive, and they are passed along. It’s like a visit to yesterday. But he said, “If you want to know Swedish tradition in its living form, you don’t go to Minnesota. You go to Sweden.” I could have told him, you don’t have to tell me about the Swedes, I can tell you about the Hollanders. (Laughter) I live in a Dutch ghetto in Western Michigan, but I have lived four years in the Netherlands, and I’ll tell you, you wouldn’t know that the one came out of the other. But that is because an immigrant mentality moves out of its location and into another location and it sets in its heels. It builds high walls. It has certain things that it is fleeing, and certain things it wants to preserve, and so it becomes a very well set tradition and it holds on - it is true of Hollanders and Poles and Germans and Swedes, and whomever you want to call. It is a human characteristic. Tradition needs to be living so that it can lead us into the future. Stendahl says if you want an example of tradition as a museum piece, let me tell you about the boa constrictor. Some of you were here years ago when John Greller was our youth director. John Greller as youth director, in order to force discipline, used to keep a boa constrictor on the premises. It had a wonderful calming effect upon the children. (Laughter) A boa constrictor occasionally wiggles out of its skin. And there’s the skin. So Stendahl says, a sociologist grabs the skin and he examines the skin, the texture of the skin, he stuffs the skin, he puts it in a glass case and he says, “There’s a snake.” Stendahl says, “No, it’s not a snake. The snake has wriggled out of its skin and it’s off somewhere calming the children another day. It’s making its new tradition over here.” Now you go to Minnesota if you want to see a museum piece of Swedish tradition; you go to Stockholm if you want to see living Swedish life. (Speaking in accent) “I willa go to-a Minnesota.” I have heard so many people who went to the old country – as I grew up as a Dutch kid, Dutch people who went to the Netherlands – and came back shocked. They couldn’t get back to western Michigan fast enough. That Godless place. And it isn’t even clean any more, they say. But that’s where the Dutch tradition is. Not here. This is a museum piece. Sweden in Minnesota is a museum piece. Living tradition is always where the edge of the community is growing, where its life is moving. Now the Christian Church in large measure has made tradition a museum piece, and we have been in the business of guarding and preserving and perpetuating rather than seeing ourselves as a catalyst in society to move into the future, to help people learn fundamental trust in the God who created, the God of our faithful past who is equal to the future and beckons us because God always goes before us. God is always ahead of us while we are crouching in the bushes trying to protect ourselves. Living tradition is our connection with our past and © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Page 7   the means by which we can move into the future unafraid - with confident trust in the Eternal God. This Reformation Sunday, we acknowledge that the best insight of the 16th century was that the Church needs constantly to have its ear cocked and its eyes open to see where the Spirit of God is leading it - in the future. This afternoon I will fly to Boston and I will go to Brandeis University to the Center For Modern Jewish Studies and we will convene at 7:00 p.m. The young lady who is organizing the conference called a week ago and she said, “You know, we Jews aren’t too heavy on worship and prayer, and we never even thought about it but we got to thinking that maybe we should have some prayer together.” She said, “We are going to have a Catholic reflection on Tuesday morning, and a Torah service on Monday morning, and would you lead the Protestant worship on Sunday night?” I said, “Yes, I would.” And I thought, it’s Reformation Sunday, it’s to be a Protestant worship, there ought to be a word of God. I said, “Do you have any music?” She said, “No, we don’t have music.” I said, “Well, I’ll be forced to preach.” (Much laughter) So I am going to preach. You want to know what else? Do you have time to hear the sermon? Sure you have. I am going to suggest to this group gathered to study the matter of congregational affiliation – translation: the lack of affiliation – I am going to suggest that what we really need to do on this Reformation Sunday is for us to come from Geneva to go back to Rome. What might have happened if the religious establishment of the 16th century had been open to listen to Martin Luther, to hear what he had to say, to take seriously the critique rather than a defensive posture and cast him out? What might have happened? There might have been no Reformation, because it might not have been necessary. I am going to ask what might have happened if the religious establishment in the 10th century, when the Western Church excommunicated the Eastern Church, had been more concerned about the Gospel and true spirituality than playing power politics. That’s all that the split in the Eastern and the Western Church was about in the 10th century. It was pure, simple, raw power politics. It had nothing to do with truth. I am going to raise the question - What might it be like today if, when Mohammed had his visions in the 7th century and he went to the village 90 miles north of Mecca to plead with the Jewish community to hear him, what might have happened if the Jewish community, the established religious group at the time, had been open to hear his vision rather than cast him out? Out of which casting out arose Islam. And then, I am going to raise the question as to what might have happened if the 1st century Jew, Jesus the Nazarene, had been received as a spokesman of a deep spirituality in the Hebrew tradition rather than as one who was undercutting the tradition of the Hebrew people? Just think about it. What if we could go back from Geneva to Rome, to Constantinople to Mecca and to Jerusalem? I am going to suggest, very simply, this evening that we dismantle it all - Judaism, Islam and Christianity. That we dismantle it all - and start over again as children before one common God and Creator, Redeemer, who calls us to Shalom. © Grand Valley State University �Tradition: Instrument for Continuity and Change Richard A. Rhem Well, it’s a simple proposal isn’t it? (Laughter) © Grand Valley State University Page 8   � 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 XX Scripture Text Isaiah 43:18-19, Luke 2:34 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-0-19921025 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-10-25 Title A name given to the resource Future Edge - Tradition: Instrument of Continuity and Change 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 25, 1992 entitled "Future Edge - Tradition: Instrument of Continuity and Change", on the occasion of Pentecost XX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 43:18-19, Luke 2:34. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives History of the Church Re-imagining the Faith Reformation Tradition https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f507b0cfa1ae854fea576fc16e88a5cf.mp3 eb113abf8e118eb5f28b35087094bf5f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d27d30490657ff2c35fad3e5fdadd494.pdf 2dedcab7843f92308542ca51a12ac7fa PDF Text Text Weaving Our Way Into God’s Story Text: Isaiah 55:11; Acts 11:17 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost XIX, October 18, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon ...so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 ...who was I that I could hinder God? Acts 11:17 The Old Testament text today is Isaiah 55. I don’t generally push you to get your Bibles out, but I might today suggest that it would be a good idea. I will give you a little Bible lesson at no extra cost. If you will open your pew Bible to page 650, you will be at Isaiah 55, I trust, if the bulletin is correct. And then if you would page back a few pages to find Isaiah 40. Biblical scholars believe that Isaiah 40 to 55 is written by a single prophet, not Isaiah of the 8th century, but a prophet who spoke to the people of Israel, the people of Judah, who were in exile in Babylon, having been taken there in 586 B.C. and this word, Isaiah 40 to 55, was addressed to those exiles in Babylon, probably sometime after 550 B.C. To a people who had lost their faith. To a people who had given up on God. To a people who were full of despair. Just ordinary people like us. They figured that their future was behind them and heard that Babylon’s gods must be supreme because the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and David had allowed them to be overcome. They were strangers in a foreign land, a captive people. They simply had lost their faith. It is always to a concrete context, always to a particular people, that the Word of God is addressed. Sometimes we speak about the Bible as being the Word of God, but the Bible isn’t the Word of God. The Bible is a record of the Word of God that once has been heard, and that is heard again and again as the Holy Spirit moves upon the sacred page. But this isn’t the Word of God. We would love to have this be the Word of God, because then we could get it all between the covers of this book and we could master it. We could master the Word of God. But that is not the Word of God. It is a record of how the Word of God in the past has come to expression, around those originating events of our tradition - Israel and Jesus. And that’s all it is. © Grand Valley State University   �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Yet the Word of God is always God’s word addressed to concrete people in their contemporary situation. It is a word of grace, or a word of judgment, but it is always God’s word here and now. This little section of prophecy in Isaiah 40 to 55 is a beautiful example of it. You will recognize how chapter 40 begins, from Handel’s Messiah. “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to . . . etc.” And then in the 6th verse, “A voice says, ‘Cry, and the prophet says, “What shall I cry?” And what he is really saying is, “What’s the use of crying? What’s the use of speaking? All flesh is grass. All human flesh is transient, passive, fading. Why should I cry? The grass withers, the flower fades, the breath of the Lord blows upon it. The people are grass. What is there in this call now to cry? Why should I cry?” Well, says verse 8, that’s right. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. So, now, get back into the cities of Judah and say, “Behold your God. Lift up your hearts. Raise your voice in the midst of that people and tell them that I’m not through. I’m not finished. There’s still something going to happen in the future, and it’s going to be a word of salvation.” It ends beautifully in the 40th chapter, verse 28: “Have you not known, have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the earth, he doth not faint or grow weary, and his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” So you see, this is the Word of God addressed to this people in their situation and they are called to hope. Fear not. Hope in God. Watch. Something is going to happen. I’m not through yet. And then the 55th chapter is the concluding part of this writing, which has many beautiful passages in it. If we start at the 6th verse: “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous one his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seeds to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” This is the word of the Lord. © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 3   And the New Testament lesson from the Book of Acts, the 11th chapter, is Peter’s summary of what he had just been doing because he had had a vision and was sent by this vision to the house of Cornelius, the Roman leader, where he had told the story of Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit fall upon them. Now, of course, for Peter, a Jew, to go to the house of a Gentile was forbidden. And, of course, the Church then being good Jewish people, they criticized him and so he had to give account of himself, and the 11th chapter is Peter relating his experience. “Now the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the Word of God, so when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ And Peter began to explain to them, I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending, like a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles, and birds of the air, and I heard a voice saying to me, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” But I said, “No, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But the voice answered a second time from heaven, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This happened three times and all was drawn up again into heaven. At that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea, and the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brethren also accompanied me and we entered the man’s house, and he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, called Peter. He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning and I remembered the word of the Lord how he said: “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? When they heard this they were silent and they glorified God saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.” This is the word of the Lord. I suppose it’s the campaign, the political campaign, the election coming and all the issues that are constantly before us, and we are bombarded by the media from every angle, but I sense there is a lot of unrest and dis-ease, restlessness and lack of clarity in the minds of many people. Such ambiguity out there. Maybe I’m just getting old. Maybe I don’t remember any more former elections, but I don’t ever remember a time when so many people were so dissatisfied with their favorite candidate - and when it seems that so many people are going to vote for the least unliked person. However that may be, all of the issues are before us and it seems as though we are in a time of social upheaval and chaos. There is just a lot of unrest in the body politic. © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 4   But really that isn’t so unusual. All historical times are messy, full of ambiguity. We only dream of the Golden Age and the Good Old Days and the past; they never did exist really. We are simply in the midst of times that are changing. That is always the rule, because history is an ongoing movement, this ongoing tide. We would love to be able to stop the process somehow or other. We would love to be able to have some absolutes in the midst of all the relativities. We would love to have a place to stand in the midst of shifting ground. There is that lust for certitude in our hearts - that longing for something that is more stable and something that is certain. But it’s really never that way. It never has been that way. The thing that has always tried to dislodge God’s people from that place to stand is the Word of God. The Word of God is always a word that would unshackle and set free and propel, and energize and move God’s people in accord with the purposes of God. And it seems to me that as the people of God, one of the wonderful assurances that we could have is that our life has meaning and purpose, and that our life is being woven into a tapestry that God is weaving. Well, do you believe that? Do you really believe that? Is there the uncanny that laced into our lives that we cannot explain, but in which we trust? Is there a purpose and a meaning that infiltrates history? Is there an invisible hand? Not Adam Smith’s invisible hand that drives the market, but is there an invisible presence powerful and purposeful that impacts the movement of things, that engages our willing and deciding and planning and strategizing? Is there more than meets the eye in the ongoing movement of human history? Is God “a Weaver of a tapestry vivid and warm...?” Is God able because God is a “Spinner of Chaos...” to effect God’s purposes - ultimately? That really is the question. Do you live with that kind of fundamental trust - or aren’t you so sure? Are things just up for grabs; is it chance? Is all human ingenuity and human willing? Or is there woven in and through it all the eternal God? Well, the prophet believed in the Word of God to effect history. In Hebrew it is interesting that the term for word and deed is the same word, because the Hebrew conception of God speaking of God’s word was God effecting that word. A word was not an empty word. A word was an action word. A word was the Word of God effecting the purpose of God, and so the Hebrews have given us the prophets and that dynamic sense of history moving toward its goal. Not the old cyclic eternal return, but this ongoing movement. That’s an Old Testament conception. The prophet as the spokesperson for God was the effector of those purposes. The prophet spoke to the people of God, a word from God. And that word in this case, as we saw in Isaiah 40 to 55, was a word of comfort. It was a word that said to a people in despair, “Fear not.” The people of hopelessness wait on the Lord. And that word is full of hopeful expectation. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and say to the cities of Judah, “Your God is abroad. Lift up your voice. Cry out a word of salvation.” © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 5   This word the prophet says will be effected – it’s going to happen. Oh, you can’t get a neat blueprint of it. You can’t nail it down and be so certain it is just this way or that way, because “my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” God never becomes simply accessible to our human conjure. We can never get it all clear. I smile at those who claim that there is absolute truth. Well sure there is absolute truth - but we don’t have it. We only have an approximation, a relative grasp of that which is beyond us. And we are always groping, always feeling our way, because we can only know within the rootedness of our lives in that movement of history. Sometimes, when you hear preachers talk, you would think that somehow or other they were able to get out of the stream of history and look down and see the whole picture. Not so. The Word of God comes to us and that word is released. God’s spirit breathing through that word continues to effect God’s purposes. That’s why the Reformation insight was that there was the word in the flesh of Jesus and the Word of God written, and the word preached. The preaching of the word was presumptuous. And yet right at the heart of our Reformation tradition was the belief that the Word of God preached becomes again the Word of God because it addresses concrete people in a concrete situation with a word – a word of judgment or a word of grace. So in the Old Testament in the experience of Judah there came this voice, in spite of the fact that the people were despairing, this voice speaking into that transient ambiguous human situation encouraging people to be not afraid - to trust in God. The Word of God is always calling people to trust God, not to know everything that God is doing, but just to trust God. Fundamentally to trust God, to trust that there is that invisible hand - that there is that intangible person - that there is something more than meets the eye that’s going on. But the Word of God is always a word addressed to God’s people trying to get them moving and setting them free and finding their lives caught up in this grander purpose of God. So what happens to Peter living in the wake of that time when God’s people shut down, rejected the “word made flesh,” the one whom God raised up. In the experience of that early church we see that once again that word coming, and nudging and pushing and shoving. Peter says, “Not so, Lord.” The word comes and says, “Yes, Peter.” And so Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and he says, “You know I shouldn’t be here. I am not supposed to associate with you folks. That’s what my religious tradition and my religious training has taught me, but now I am being pushed to do what breaks and shatters my neat little system of ideas.” And so there he is in Cornelius’ house and what does he do? He gives the word. He tells the story - he tells the story of Jesus. And it becomes in the telling the instrument of revelation and insight, and the Spirit of God falls on these people. So Peter goes back and they say, “What in the world are you doing traipsing with Gentiles?” And Peter says, “What in the world was I supposed to do? Here’s my story . . .” And he just throws up his hands and says, “How could I hinder God?” © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 6   I submit to you, dear friends, that it is not the world that hinders God; it is the Church that hinders God. The Word of God has problems with the people of God because the people of God always want to shut down - always just love to have it right here. It’s not right here; it’s beyond us. It’s in things we haven’t yet dreamed of. It is the word that keeps coming to us here, and wherever, because God is always calling us to find our lives being woven into a larger pattern and a grander design in the tapestry God is weaving. We in our Reformation tradition have found our center back in the 16th century, but if you read the somewhat recent biography by William Bowsma, you find that the 16th century was a period of social chaos and unrest, probably not so different than our own period. It was a period when the Renaissance had permeated the European scene, and the Reformation was afoot and it was leading to the Age of Reason. And all of the old forms and all of the old structures were being challenged and were falling away. All kinds of new configurations were developing and our saint, John Calvin, was a man whom Bowsma says was characterized by anxiety. But some reviewer in the New York Times says that, according to the way Bowsma describes it, it wasn’t simply anxiety; it was angst, the pain of the world. John Calvin was a man torn. There were two vivid images that shaped his life: one was the abyss. He was terrified of the abyss - a kind of a free-fall without structure or order. And on the other hand the horror of the labyrinth, being entrapped in all kinds of tunnels and channels and structures. John Calvin was a man who throughout his days was filled with anxiety, with angst, with the pain of existence. He was a great Christian leader, but . . . for us today to imagine that the 16th century was some kind of century of pristine clarity and subtle truth is simply to deny reality. And for us today to think that the answer is for us to somehow or other hark back to that - to reassert it, to reaffirm it, to renew it, to revive it, to cling to old structures and old forms, to buttress them and to shore them up and to buoy them up - is to fail to see that we are God’s people today and the Word of God addresses us today for tomorrow! We’ve always got a choice. It is either to hark back, to shut down, or to trust God and open up. And it is the call of the Word of God for us to be shapers of the future, not the guardians of the past. In gratitude for what has been, it is our task to address the Word of God to shape what will be. We are at one of those interesting points in history - one of those hinge points in history. The Renaissance is past, and the Reformation is past, and the Enlightenment is past. The Modern Age has come to an end. We are in the Postmodern period and its configuration is not yet at all clear, but we are at a time when there is a shifting and a sifting. The word today is paradigm. Everybody’s looking for a new paradigm. And at such times there is a lot of fear abroad and there is a kind of desperate attempt to hunker down and hold on. © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 7   The fundamentals of the word that some of us are looking at on Wednesday nights are indications of that social dis-ease with the chaos and the attempt to get hold of something that is tangible and something that can be grasped, and some place to stand. You can’t stand. You’ve got to move. The good news is that you don’t have to be afraid, for the Word of God is always out ahead of us, and out of the chaos God is able to create beauty. Remember the image of Brian Wren in the hymns that we have sung here “Spinner of Chaos, pulling and twisting, freeing the fibres of pattern and form, Weaver of stories, famed or unspoken, tangled or broken, shaping a tapestry vivid and warm.” Have you not heard? Have you not seen? The Everlasting God is not weary, nor is there any lack of his strength. The Creator of the ends of the earth neither slumbers nor sleeps. God is not dead, and God’s finest word was not yesterday, but tomorrow – and today . . . today. So it’s not all settled. So it’s ragged around the edges. Do you trust God - or not? Are you able to flow with it because you trust God? Or have you no faith? Do you want it nailed down - i’s dotted, t’s crossed? The last word spoken back there? Not so. God’s people are always faced with a choice - to trust God today for tomorrow on the basis of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in the past. But it’s always before us, dear friends. And the Word of God is always “Don’t be afraid.” The best is yet to be - through ups and downs, through valleys and mountains, darkness and light, but God will not abandon us. My friend, Ernie Campbell, in his recent newsletter talks about the urge to shrink the world. And he says, “As I listen to others who speak for God professionally and I listen to the murmurings of my own heart, I am forced to conclude that many of us live with a kind of chronic sense of being overwhelmed.” Can you identify with that? A chronic sense of being overwhelmed - more questions are being raised than we can answer. Old reasoning doesn’t fit. Someone in the night moved all the landmarks. Right? Ministers in their 50s and 60s longing to retire, (Not this one, thank God, but I’ve got a lot of colleagues that can’t wait to get out. That’s too bad.) Couples, so happy that their child raising days are over. Too bad. Can’t God nurture tomorrow’s children? Is God unequal to the future? Fingers pointing in all different directions to the cause of malaise. Ernie pictures a castle turret and people going up with binoculars and one looks out in this direction and says, “The problem with our world is theological; they’re taking our © Grand Valley State University �Weaving Our Way into God’s Story Richard A. Rhem Page 8   God away.” Another looks in another direction and says, “No, no it’s cultural; where have all the values gone?” Another looking this way is saying, “No, it’s economic; the world can’t support what we’ve been used to any more.” And a fourth one looks off in the other direction and says, “No, it’s the ongoing tide of history; what is one to do?” Well, that’s what Ernie asks, “What to do?” He suggests that there is that urge in us, probably all of us at one time or another just to shrink our world. Cut it down to size. To go back inside; the cloister calls. What we ought to do is cut back. Stay home. Build a colony of faith in this benighted world. Doesn’t that sound pious? And then he says that the churches that have gone back inside are faring better, it would seem, than the congregations that are still intent upon making a difference in the world. The world of claimed absolutes tends to be quiet and reassuring, but the charged atmosphere outside where people claw and scrape for a relatively better rather than an absolutely right will always be subject to division and hostility. Shrink your world. To God, yes. To scripture, yes. To prayer, yes. To family values, yes. To growth in grace, yes. Let the church be the church. Ernie says, “I have more respect for this position every day. I watch the Orthodox Jews in my neighborhood, marked by their peculiar dress, simply doing their thing. It’s tempting.” Withdraw. Shrink to size. Shut down. Now I’m just about ready to say, “Ernie, Ernie, don’t leave me there. You know you’re my last hope.” But then in the last paragraph he says, “And yet I cannot.” (Didn’t lose a hero this time.) He said, “I’ve come too far for that. I may be short of answers, but I believe that God’s purpose for the world does not collapse when I’m confused. All change is not decay. The old is shattered that the new may come to birth. I want to help make it happen. To shrink the world to God and myself in the garden alone, or to God and the company of like-minded people meeting with closed minds behind closed doors tortures my theology to an unbearable degree.” We belong outside the camp, with Him who had the whole world in his heart when he lived and when he died. Do we shrink the world to fit our faith? Or do we pray for a faith big enough to match the hour God has given us? I know not what others may choose, but for me there is only one choice because I trust in God - the Spinner of Chaos - who says, if hope will listen, love will show and tell and all shall be well. All things shall be well! © 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 Isaiah 55:11, Acts 11:17 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19921018 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-10-18 Title A name given to the resource Weaving Our Way Into God's Story 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 18, 1992 entitled "Weaving Our Way Into God's Story", on the occasion of Pentecost XIX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 55:11, Acts 11:17. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Intention Prophetic Scripture Trust Word of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b6269ecc664974c50d2abaf7cc23a27e.mp3 b119a4613912656fdae13b856a82bfa2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f8085d700866fa31f7980a7eca4d2f08.pdf eb9a722239ab5c3e869f7a036bc60609 PDF Text Text God Loves People: To Be Human is Enough Text: Psalm 103:14; Romans 5:8 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost XVIII, October 11, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon For God knows how we were made; God remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:14 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ dies for us. Romans 5:8 “God Loves People: To Be Human is Enough,” but it has been rather difficult for the Church to be honest with that fact because the Church is also looked to as kind of the ethical guru of society, the conservative glue to hold things together, and to keep things on the straight and narrow and to address that which is wrong with people and society. So I think there has been a tension within the Church and the preaching in its message, afraid that if it was too warm an embrace of the sinner that it might appear to be condoning of such behavior and, therefore, there is this distancing and this body language that causes the Church to withdraw just a bit. In the Church we have sort of kept that illusion alive that there are some good folk, and some not quite so good. The Church tends to become a society of the righteous because we do want to keep up our public image, particularly at church. And so we keep the vestments on or the mask intact, or the facade up so that it never really comes to full expression and public demonstration. But if you scratch us, I think you will find we are all pretty much the same. So there has been a tension, I think, in the open embrace of the persons who have fallen flat on their faces and gotten muddied and tarnished in the process of living. But, as a matter of fact, to the extent that we do withdraw or withhold, or keep at arms length any person in any condition, we are going contrary to the biblical message. The biblical message is very clear “That God loves People, and to be Human is Enough.” To be human is to be a person filled with anxiety and torn with tension. That’s simply endemic to our human situation. I love Psalm 103, verses 13 and 14, the expression of the Grace of God that grants us forgiveness, and the affirmation of the compassion of God that understands us thoroughly and loves us anyway. © Grand Valley State University   �God Loves People: To Be Human is Enough Richard A. Rhem Page 2   “God knows our frame. God remembers that we are dust. For God knows how we are formed. God remembers that we are clay.” The Psalmist, I suspect, is informed by that wonderful image in that second chapter of Genesis: the creator, the potter who scoops a handful of mud and shapes a human being and breathes into that human form the breath of life, creating a living soul. In the biblical account of creation, in the Hebrew understanding of the human person, we are linked to the earth. We are a part of this created order. We are of the earth earthy. We speak of ourselves sometimes as “earthlings.” That play on words conveys a truth. At a funeral yesterday at the committal I said, “Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.” In the face of the reality of death, there is our recognition that we are not only shaped of the elements, the primal elements, that are a part of the cosmos, but we ourselves are finally dissolved again into those elements. We are of the earth. Sometimes putting ourselves down, we say we feel “cloddy.” Or looking judgmentally at another we may say, “Oh, he’s a clod, or she’s a clod.” Well, there is a bit of reality in that, for we are clods. But that is not all we are. Berkhof, in The Christian Faith, says there is a gravitational pull on us because, though we are a part of the earth, there is also that beckoning call from above. So, we are creatures who live in two worlds. We are part of the earth and part of that spiritual reality of God and the call of God to be in communion with God’s spirit. Harold Ellens in an article a few years ago in Perspectives pictured the human person as full of anxiety, which he identifies not as a consequence of our sin, but as a consequence of being human. He calls it “a generic anxiety.” It is not something that we have encumbered ourselves with because of concrete behavior, but something that simply dwells in us because we are human. He pictures vividly the fetus coming to maturity in the fullness of time, bumping and splashing down the birth canal, being brought into an alien environment, scared to death. And that, he says, characterizes us not only at the moment of our birth but throughout all our lives. We are more often scared to death than we are gargantuan villains of revolt and rebellion. We are not very heroic sinners, really. I suppose that’s why God’s first reaction to us is one of compassion. I think that an honest biblical understanding of the human person should enable us to do what Dr. Kurtz said a moment ago, to listen more sensitively and to speak more compassionately. It should enable us to be compassionate with people, and to be compassionate with one’s self. It’s not easy to be human. To be human is to have a generic anxiety - a given with one’s humanity. There is a fragility - a vulnerability in being human. There is the limited nature of our human existence, the fact that we are always called to make judgments and make decisions on the basis of limited knowledge and insight. We have to decide about things for which we don’t have sufficient data. And we are unable to extricate ourselves for a moment from this human scene in order that we might get a perspective on it. There are those who claim to see things as God sees them, but I’ve never been sure they are right. Our judgments are always human. We are always limited. We live a fragile existence. And finally, we die. © Grand Valley State University �God Loves People: To Be Human is Enough Richard A. Rhem Page 3   There is an inherent anxiety in being human. And I suspect that’s why God has mercy on us. The Psalmist says God never forgets that fact. After all, we are created by God and God doesn’t forget the “stuff” with which he (or she) is working. That’s good news. That ought to give us some encouragement for ourselves and some compassion one for another. Paul writes in the fifth chapter of Romans, in this context, where he speaks about the demonstration of God’s love being precisely in the fact that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In that context, Paul describes us with two different words. One is he speaks of us as being weak or impotent. It was while we were in our weakness and our impotence that the initiative of God was taken to come with redeeming grace. Weakness. Impotence. And then a little later he speaks of our hostility or enmity with God. And those two words characterize our human situation very well. Impotence and hostility. Have you ever known a hostile person? You say you are married to one. (Laughter) Or maybe for a brief stint an adolescent growing up in your home manifests a bit of hostility. I sure hope you don’t work for one. Hostile people are not easy to live with. Hostile people are dealing with some stuff that they may be aware of or they may be unaware of. The most dangerous ones are those who have no self-awareness at all - who don’t realize the pot or the cauldron that boils deep in their gut. But it manifests itself in hostility. And you know the great generator of hostility - impotence, occurs when we feel powerless. It makes us angry. We become hostile. We strike out. Paul says that is a portrait of a sinner. No great, dramatic, tragic villain here, just a powerless, hostile person. Paul says for such persons Christ died. To such people God comes with grace and in compassion provides the healing that empowers and reconciles. In his book, The Spirituality of Imperfection, (If I get it in ten times in this sermon, I get 10% on all copies sold in the next six months.) (Laughter) Dr. Kurtz makes a very significant distinction - a distinction between spirituality and therapy. The end of therapy is explanation. The end of spirituality is forgiveness. We need both. We need explanation. We’ve been short on explanation in the Church. I ream you out for all of your fallibilities, failures, fickleness, faithlessness and what have you, and then say “Repent or perish.” And, of course, you do neither. But you get your back up. Who likes to be addressed that way? The problem is that you don’t even understand what’s going on. We’ve been short on explanations. So we have driven a lot of faithful people out of the Church. People have said, “Something is going on, but I don’t understand it,” and they’ve found a couch somewhere and a psychiatrist. There, they find explanation. Explanation illumines, but by itself it doesn’t heal, because, when we have received all the light that is possible on the subject, what we still need to hear is, “You are forgiven.” Forgiveness is necessary for that for which there is no explanation and no excuse. We are anxious. We are scared to death. We feel our emptiness and we strike out in hostility. It is helpful to get a handle on why. It is healing to know that God in © Grand Valley State University �God Loves People: To Be Human is Enough Richard A. Rhem Page 4   grace forgives us. In fact, has forgiven us already. As “far as the east is from the west so far has God removed our transgressions from us….as high as the heaven is from the earth, so great is His mercy to those who stand in awe.” The Bible is replete with many such beautiful images. God, it says, has blotted out our sin. Like a thick cloud, God has cast it behind God’s back. God has buried it in the depths of the sea. The story was told of Jim who got to heaven one day and fell down at Jesus’ feet and said, “Oh, Lord Jesus, thank you, thank you for forgiving all my sin.” And Jesus looked at him and said, “What sin?” Now that’s good news. It is all because God loves people, and “To be Human is Enough.” And from what I know of you folks, you’re human, all too human. And God loves you! Reference: Ernest Kurtz, Katherine Ketcham. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning. Bantam, reprint edition, 1993. © 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 XVIII Scripture Text Psalm 103:14, Romans 5:8 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection, Storytelling and the Search for Meaning, 1993 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-0-19921011 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-10-11 Title A name given to the resource God Loves People: 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 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 11, 1992 entitled "God Loves People: To Be Human Is Enough", on the occasion of Pentecost XVIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 103:14, Romans 5:8. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Compassion Forgiveness Love of God Non-exclusive https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca4aefcf978a1672a77c9a56d34d3172.mp3 193b754dea9ae232be2c4ebef8d57e38 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a08e728c9a3a7c7c52846f80d75597f3.pdf fa0483f0fd753c11e9fef7dc23cf0b20 PDF Text Text One Church, One World – Always in Transition World Wide Communion Text: Jeremiah 1:9-10; Acts 5:39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost XVII, October 4, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon ...I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. Jeremiah 1:910 ...if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them - in that case you may even be found fighting against God! Acts 5:39 Time Magazine comes to my rescue again. This is a special issue, fall of 1992 – “Beyond the Year 2000 - What to Expect in the New Millennium.” It is a very interesting issue, which deals with some futuring prognostication of where things will be in century 21. It reminds us that we are in the stream of history. Our lives are enmeshed in history, and there is no way we can extricate ourselves from it. We are moving toward century 21 - one day at a time. And, as that hinge point of history comes about, we will celebrate not only the entrance of a new year and a new decade, but a new century and a new millennium. We are in the tide of history and we will move with it - whether we wish to or not. I remember a couple of decades ago a popular song that expresses our human resistance to the inevitability of change and movement. The words went something like this: Make the world go away. Take it off my shoulders. Say the things you used to say, and make the world go away.” We imagine that the Golden Age is behind us. We delude ourselves with the thought that in a former day things were neater, finer, manageable, somehow together. In the midst of the ambiguity and the chaos of our present existence, we long for someone to make the “world go away.” For someone to “say the things they used to say.” But to no avail, for we move in history - whether we wish to or not. And how does one keep one’s balance? How does one keep a sense of who one is? And to whom one belongs? And what one is called to be and to do? In this inexorable movement of history, open-ended toward the future, how do you find your way? Well, let me suggest that, because we are enmeshed in history, we must be immersed in ritual. I have been hammering away at that - the sacramental © Grand Valley State University   �One Church, One World, in Transition Richard A. Rhem Page 2   character of the church. Last week I said that it is the experience of worship that is the medium of traditioning. And don't you think I was excited to have my prejudices confirmed when I read the article entitled “Kingdoms to Come,” by Richard Osling? He is the Religious Editor of Time who prognosticates about the future of religion 100 years hence. Of course, he is imagining, making a guess how it will be. And we will probably not be around in order to see whether he was right. But listen to this paragraph: Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy with their emphasis on ritual are well suited to a world in which few people bother to read. Theology is a dying art. School children are ignorant of the Bible and hence the rest of their spiritual heritage. The Post Literate Era has been especially difficult for Protestantism which depended so heavily on rationalism and reading. Although old style Protestants are shrinking in numbers, they retain outsized influence because so many of them remain book readers and are thus, inevitably, leaders of the economic ruling class on all continents. He is saying what I said last week that – in the case of the Roman Catholic Church under oppression in Eastern Europe - it was that implicit faith, it was that spiritual formation at the core of a person that only comes through immersion in ritual, in the worship that becomes mindless because it is so much a part of our depths. It is that that enables us to maintain the tradition and to keep the tradition alive. Now, I will qualify to say that I am not going to stop thinking or reading or preaching. I don't think one has to do one or the other. I will acknowledge also that ritual can become mindless in the sense of empty, thoughtless, meaningless, and that it can be a manipulative tool. But I will come back to my thesis that I have been sharing with you more and more over the last year or two, and especially in the last months, that it is the sacramental character of the Church ritual – that acts out what we believe, that will allow us, in the midst of the rush of history's inexorable movement, a sense of identity. It can enable us to know who we are and give us a vehicle by which to tradition the rising generation in their enmeshment in history. We need the immersion in ritual in order to continue to be who we are. Now I will also say that the only way that it is possible, in the stream of history, to remain the same is to continue to change. To do the same things, we must do things differently. The thing I love about this congregation is the openness to make those changes as time moves and as history unfolds. In order to do the same thing, a willingness to do things differently. There is more on the fork of this congregation this morning than most churches could handle in a decade. In a few moments we will ordain our Eucharistic celebrants, a new class that has been called and trained and equipped to share the sacrament with you. I can remember the day that the idea dawned on us (not knowing at the time that there were other traditions that had been doing it for a long time!). Colette and I were © Grand Valley State University �One Church, One World, in Transition Richard A. Rhem Page 3   talking about the children. We so wanted them to be receptive to the tradition of weekly Eucharist. Yet the 8:30 a.m. service wasn't really doing it. Parents didn't often attend that service with their children. There was a realization that if it was really going to happen for them it needed to happen in their Worship Centers. In order for that to happen, their teachers would need to be prepared. And suddenly the idea just dawned in a moment of insight. Intuitively we knew that it was right. The consistory approved it and we have tested it for a year. Now they have given us unanimous approval to continue. So again this morning we will ordain a new group of people whose life will be in a special way committed to the sacraments of the church. And as the eucharist liturgy is experienced this morning, the children remain here, in order that they may connect what we do here with what they do in their Worship Centers weekly, in order that when they come to their own years of discretion and adulthood and responsibility, they will have been exposed there and here, to the power and meaning of sacrament in the midst of worship. Traditioning them in the context of worship where the heart, the being, is open to all and to the wonder of God. Not a rational, intellectual, pedagogical, didactic attack on them week after week, but the invitation to come and to worship. To hear the story, yes, but to hear the story in a way that brings it into their present experience - moves them at their deepest level. If you want one more reason to congratulate yourselves on a morning like this where we do these innovative things, come at 11:30 when a new form of governance will be suggested to you. In order that this large and dynamic institution may continue to do the same things it has always done, it is going to have to do things differently. It is always incumbent upon us to move with history's flow and in order to do the same thing we must keep on changing. We hate it. Often we resist it. There is something in us which would love to have all the loose ends tied up. The Word of God has always been addressed to those who would absolutize that which is only relative. To make absolute something which is only temporary is to fall into idolatry. The prophets had always to come to Israel. God said to Jeremiah, “Speak to my people.” Jeremiah said, “Not me.” God said, “Yes, you. I touch your lips. Now go and uproot, pull down, destroy.” The Word of God destroy? The Word of God uprooting? The Word of God pulling down? Yes. Pulling down our idols. Shattering our systems, our comfortable ways of being and doing. The Word of God always comes as a word of judgment in order that grace may come. In order that that word may also plant and build. A classic instance of how God's people always block themselves against the newness of God's spirit is the fact that the Jewish authorities rejected the Messiah and crucified the Lord of Glory. Oh I wish there had been enough Gamaliel's around. In the wake of the resurrection Jerusalem was being turned upside down. With apostolic witness, Gamaliel said to the Sanhedrin, “Look, why are you so overwrought? Why do you © Grand Valley State University �One Church, One World, in Transition Richard A. Rhem Page 4   feel so self-important that the whole world is somehow or other in your hands? Remember Thadeus? Well he was quite a number, but he didn't last long. Do you remember Judas, the Galilean? He had a thing going but it came to nothing.” Gamaliel said, “My friends, if this thing is of human origin it will fail, but if it is of God, you'll not be able to overthrow it. And you might even find yourself fighting God.” Oh, that there might have been more Gamaliel's in the history of the Church when the Church fell into idolatry, making absolute what is only relative, wanting something to be eternal which was only for a certain time. Oh that the wisdom of Gamaliel might prevail in the Church as it negotiates the future and moves toward century 21. There is a way that we can remain faithful and solid and certain in the midst of all the uncertainty. But it is not the risky word of the preacher. It is bread and cup, and water and oil: concrete vehicles of Grace that will allow us to negotiate uncharted waters, to take on any storm, to face any confusion, and to be able to say, “Nevertheless, this bread and this cup speak to me of God's forever neverending love.” These sacraments nurture deep within us a fundamental trust, an implicit trust - in God, in God's Grace, in God's presence with us, in God's Spirit, shattering our forms and renewing our lives: bread, cup, water, oil: sacramental signs which point to God's foundational love deep down in things. So that we can know, come what may, that all will be well - and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well. Trust God. Eat. Drink. Trust. All will be well. © 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 XVII Series Worldwide Communion Scripture Text Jeremiah 1:9-10, Acts 5: 39 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19921004 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-10-04 Title A name given to the resource One Church, One World - Always in Transition 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 4, 1992 entitled "One Church, One World - Always in Transition", as part of the series "Worldwide Communion", on the occasion of Pentecost XVII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 1:9-10, Acts 5: 39. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives All Will Be Well Church Ritual Sacrament Tradition https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fb805c9ca2cacd95423a5ea24355938e.mp3 9ef5c45afba0ecbf5da7f678efe4ea63 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d39a18bb345c4e941570591532f03df.pdf cd839c4cebd5d84356021d26aadb4115 PDF Text Text Worship: The Medium of Traditioning Text: Psalm 137:4; I Corinthians 11:26 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost XVI, September 27, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Psalm 137:4 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes. I Cor. 11:26 On those rare occasions when I get to worship in the pew I like to look at the order of worship, and particularly the scripture lessons. I try to figure out why that Old Testament lesson with that New Testament lesson, and why those two lessons with that sermon subject. I wonder what kind of rabbit the preacher is going to pull out of the hat today. Sometimes I can figure it out and sometimes I am surprised. But, if you had done that today, I don’t suppose you got that far. You probably did not get beyond the Old Testament responsive Psalm? “Crushing little ones against the rock and rejoicing in it.” Did you get beyond the final verses of Psalm 137? Did it shock you a bit or did you miss it? How could you miss it? No, you didn’t miss it. Did you say to yourself, “Is that in the Bible?” Did you say to yourself, “Is that the Word of God?” Well, let me put your fears at rest. That is not the Word of God. I am not going to talk about those verses, but I can’t use Psalm 137 without at least addressing those statements. I wondered whether to even use them in public worship, but then I thought perhaps it could be an occasion to deal rather honestly with some of those expressions in Scripture that seem to us to be so far from what we have learned in Jesus Christ. Those two verses are venomous statements of anger and hatred. And the expression “crushing little ones against the rock and rejoicing in it” is so crude and brutal as to hardly be conceivable. So let me say a couple of things about it. The first thing I am going to say is that it is in the Jewish song book, and the song book, The Psalter, is the expression of the deepest human emotions that are offered in the presence of God. There is a wonderful honesty about Jewish religion. The Old Testament is healthy in its honest statement of the human heart and the expression of human emotions. I want to suggest that if you can not identify with the intensity of the anger and the hatred that come to expression in © Grand Valley State University   �Worship: Medium of Traditioning Richard A. Rhem Page 2   that Psalm, it may be that you don’t really know yourself, because what comes to expression there is a potential expressible by any one of us - if we are sufficiently abused, devastated and defiled. That expression of hatred is an honest human emotion. Not infrequently, I have people come to me and confess their anger or their vengeful feelings, or even their feelings of hatred - they feel guilty about having those emotions. I say to them, “You cannot be guilty about what you feel. You don’t determine what you feel. What you feel you feel. You can’t think it away.” The healthy aspect of the Jewish relationship to God is that ability to bring the darkest emotion into the presence of God and to leave it there. Maybe the Psalmist of Psalm 137 was healthier and had a more wholesome relationship with God than most of us do. It is a bone-chilling statement, but it is an expression of the depths of which we are capable of feeling. What we feel can only be denied with dishonesty. And why be dishonest in the presence of God? What better way to be freed from the paralysis of such hatred than to bring it to expression before the face of God? So I want to say that this is not the Word of God, that it is a human word of response to God. That’s what the Bible is anyway. In the earlier years of my ministry I never would have dared touch that Psalm because I would have thought that I would have to justify it somehow or other as being a legitimate statement. I can’t do that. It is human word. It is an intense, passionate, human word spoken to God. I should say, too, it’s 180 degrees from what we learn in Jesus. Jesus radicalized his religion, the religion of his Jewish tradition, when he said, “Love your enemies.” Jesus modeled it out on the cross when he said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” So don’t hear me justifying that statement as appropriate, but hear me saying that sometimes human beings can be so debased and dehumanized that there arises that kind of vengeful intensity. The thing that triggered this statement was that the tormenters, the Babylonians, who had taken them from their land and from their holy city and from their temple, had brought them to Babylon and said, “Sing us a song.” We read that in the death camp in Trablinka during the Holocaust, the Nazi guards made sport of the Jewish prisoners, having them sing a little Jewish ditty and do a little dance. Well, these devastated people said to the Babylonians, “We cannot sing God’s song in a foreign land.” And that’s really why I chose this Psalm. There is a vivid image of their hanging up their harps on the willow tree by the riverbank and saying, “No, here, we can’t sing.” The Jew was so formed and shaped and determined by the life of worship that happened at Jerusalem and in the temple that to think of bringing the songs of Zion out of that context was unthinkable to them. They couldn’t do it. So, in that vivid image, you have the sense of the holiness of the place and the rootedness of the Jew in that temple where the presence of God was. It was in the worship life, in the great festivals, and the annual events and the offering of the © Grand Valley State University �Worship: Medium of Traditioning Richard A. Rhem Page 3   sacrifices through the priesthood in the temple, in the holy place where the name of God dwelled that the heart of the Jew dwelt. In Babylon they couldn’t sing. They loved Mount Zion. Another Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.” The Psalmist of Psalm 42 says, “Why art Thou down cast, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? When I remember Thee, when I remember Jerusalem, when I remember how I went with the pilgrims on festival, then my soul is cast down within me.” Oh, they loved Zion. They loved Jerusalem because there, in that sacred place, all of their being was centered, because there God dwelt. In the New Testament community, Paul had to write to the church at Corinth because they were abusing the Lord’s Supper. That gave him an occasion to give to us the tradition that he had received: how Jesus broke bread and poured the cup and said to his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” So, for us, the center is no longer the temple in Jerusalem, but the center for us is the table and the bread and the cup. And our life comes back again and again to that celebration - that simple celebration of the breaking of bread and the pouring of the cup, and the remembering of Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us. What these two scriptures do is they give me an occasion to say that what was true of Israel is true of the Christian church as well. Our worship together can be the medium for traditioning. Usually I think we think of tradition as that understanding and way of life that is passed down, the actual contents of what we believe and how we live together, but tradition can also be a verb and I use it thus this morning. We are called to tradition - our children and grandchildren and ourselves. The process of traditioning is the way we are shaped and formed according to the will of God and after the image of Jesus Christ. We noted last week that the Psalmist of Psalm 78 said, “I will tell a story with a meaning,” and then he went on to say that God had commanded that these things not be hid from the children but that the children be instructed in the ways of God. The mighty acts of God in the midst of Israel’s history were related in order that the children, the generation as yet unborn, might come to set their hope in God. The Christian community, like Israel, lives by continuing to tell the story. In our encounter with the word of God and our experience of life we are being shaped and formed. And that spiritual formation of our lives is what we are about in our worship. I want to say to you this morning that worship, I believe, is the primary medium for traditioning the people of God. Now I wouldn’t have always said that. I am only somewhat recently coming to appreciate that. I am growing presently in my sense of the importance of worship as a means of traditioning. That’s new for me. I am a child of the Reformation. I was raised in the Reformed tradition. The Reformed tradition has been characterized by the clear articulation of the word of preaching. Oh, to be sure, John Calvin spoke of word and sacrament, but we have © Grand Valley State University �Worship: Medium of Traditioning Richard A. Rhem Page 4   been Word, Word, Word. Even our worship has not been worship, but has been word - the sermon dominating. Word necessarily addresses the mind. So our faith has had an intellectual bent. We have had a reasonable faith, and we have prided ourselves on the thoughtfulness of our tradition. I want to say to you this morning that, while I would not take away from the importance of understanding and of clear thinking about faith, I want to say, that we’ve been wrong in our emphasis. In the way we have shaped our worship, in the way we have nurtured our children, we have been wrong. We looked to Sunday School classes to pass on the faith. But you can’t teach God. For the adults the worship service itself was primarily didactic. Experience of worship is the key to faith. I am pleased that we as a community are growing, I believe, in a deepening sense of the tapestry of worship. The movement of worship, where color, pageantry, dance, song, prayer is woven around the spoken word and create an experience that is more than simply an intellectual exercise. I think it has always been that to some extent, in spite of ourselves, but we have not always had that centrally in focus or clearly understood. I am only stumbling and stammering in my attempt to grasp after it, but what I would hope in our corporate worship together is that, if you would go out after the service and someone would meet you and they would ask, “What happened?” And if you were able to put into a sentence the sermon theme – (how anyone could put into a sentence a sermon theme after I am done I don’t know) (Laughter)– then I would hope that you would stop and you would say, “But there was something more. I don’t know how to tell you.” There is a book by a philosopher entitled Surplus of Meaning. I like that phrase a Surplus of Meaning. I would hope that on a given Sunday you could get some insight and some enlightenment that was helpful to you, that you could articulate, but then also be aware that there was some Surplus of Meaning, something beyond that you can’t put your finger on, that you simply can’t bring to expression. I would hope in your worship experience that something happened, some encounter with the Mystery of God that is Grace. And who knows from which angle it may come if you would learn - I hope we are learning to worship, to come in with our minds and hearts, our whole being open, expectant, prayerful, waiting. Then maybe a liturgical formula, maybe the sound of water at the baptismal font, maybe the rose or the candle, or a song or an anthem, or maybe just the rumble of the organ would touch you down in your depths. You see, God cannot be comprehended. God must be apprehended. Not by my mind thinking, but by my being receiving - intuitively, through my imagination, through feeling - who knows? Now here, now there. This one or that one, but something that is operative beyond that which we can nail down, some surplus of meaning beyond the rational understanding of every prayer and every hymn, and even the sermon itself, beyond a comprehension of the meanings of a biblical text © Grand Valley State University �Worship: Medium of Traditioning Richard A. Rhem Page 5   - something more. That something more is what seeps into our depths and forms and shapes us more than ideas, I think. You know if you go out of here on a Sunday morning with a new idea count yourself lucky and double your offering. (Laughter) But that’s not really what it is all about. What it is all about is to be touched in the depths by the God who can only be known in the depths. I was moved as I viewed a video that I used in the Wednesday night class. The videos are videos of Christian and Jewish and Muslim fundamentalism. In the first half of the course on Wednesday night I showed the videos of the Polish and the Czechoslovakian churches. The films dealt with the suffering that these people endured in the communist era, forty years of an intentional attempt to stamp out religion. And then the falling away of the walls and melting of the curtain, followed by the coming again of openness and freedom of people to worship. I was moved as I saw that and as I saw the faces of the old women with their babushkas who had kept faith alive in their hearts. But what struck me, you know – it was the Catholic Church that did a better job than the Protestant Church in remaining faithful in Poland. In Czechoslovakia there were faithful Reformed pastors there, but there were unfaithful ones too. There were collaborators there. And the strength that was able to sustain the fire was the church that was imbued in ritual, sacrament and experience! Ideas will not keep you true! Our rational faith can be abated. If it’s only this deep it will not stand you in the flood. It is what has seeped down here that enables one to be faithful. That’s the traditioning of worship where, beyond doctrinal definitions, I have been gripped, grasped by Grace in my depths, and that comes in worship, in this time together where a gesture, a word, a visual translate, through repetition week in and week out, that which is shaping us even without us consciously thinking about it. I am so glad when we bring our children in here; we bring them in here so they can worship with us. There are surveys about congregations where children never came in the sanctuary. Then they grew up and never came in the sanctuary either because they had never been exposed to the awe and mystery of God. So we bring them in and next week we will come to receive the bread and the cup, and they will be with us - our children and our grandchildren. Because, you see, what you teach them is important. But that won’t do it. Bring them with you. Let them feel the fervor of your faith as you sing your heart out. Let them sense the humility of your heart as you kneel. Let them feel the fire of your faith as you pray. Let the tremor of your body somehow or other be communicated to that child – something that words could never, never express or bring to fruition. You want your children to trust? Bring them to worship. © 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 XVI Scripture Text Psalm 137:4, I Corinthians 11:26 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-0-19920927 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-09-27 Title A name given to the resource Worship: The Medium of Traditioning 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 27, 1992 entitled "Worship: The Medium of Traditioning", on the occasion of Pentecost XVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 137:4, I Corinthians 11:26. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Nature of Scripture History of Israel Ritual Traditioning Worship