800 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/41b5ccbba30dc99bb95b475b85d48aa6.pdf a8dbd4eb13137d177876b84e2c92dcd1 PDF Text Text The God Who Heals and Gives Us Peace From the series: If God Be For Us… Scripture: Isaiah 57:19; Romans 8:31 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 14, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon We begin today a four-part series on the theme "If God Be For Us ..." Let me introduce the theme with some explanatory remarks. “If” is “Ei” in Greek and is called a conditional particle. It expresses a condition thought of as real or denotes an assumption relating to what has already happened. This is the case in the text of the morning. Paul set forth his understanding of all God had done in Jesus Christ. He deals in Romans 8 with suffering and hope. He points to the Spirit praying through our groanings that defy utterance. He concludes with that declaration of profound trust - God working in all things for our good. Romans 8:31 is one of the greatest statements of trust ever penned and it begins with Paul's words, "What then are we to say to these things?" His answer to his question: If God is for us, who is against us? Thus, my first comment. The "If" points not to uncertainty but to certainty. We could perhaps better translate it "Since." Since God is for us ... This is not a tentative statement; rather, it is an affirmation of deep trust and solid conviction. God is for us, or as the NEB translates, "God is on our side". That particular translation brings me to my second comment. The claim, the conviction that God is on our side is the source of a very great comfort if properly understood and may be the source of a very dangerous arrogance if not understood correctly. Let me address the latter first: Claiming God on our side can be a dangerous arrogance; it misses the point of Paul's claim. The human situation is full of conflict; conflict between nations, ethnic groups, political parties, cultural movements; conflict between individuals. Our present cultural situation has been marked by the descriptive phrase "culture wars." In human conflict situations, it is presumptuous and arrogant to claim God is on our side. God does not take sides in those conflicts; our human perspective may be sincere and even responsible, but it is too much to claim God on our side. © Grand Valley State University   �God Who Heals and Gives Peace Richard A. Rhem Page 2   A story is told of Abraham Lincoln during the tragic days of the Civil War. A Calvinist minister in a time of prayer thanked God that God was on the Union side. Afterward, Lincoln was heard to say the question was not whether God was on the Union side, but, rather, whether the Union was on God's side. When Paul claims God is on our side, he is pointing to something other than God being for one party over another, one nation over another. Rather, Paul is making the great claim that God is for the human family – even broader, that God is for Creation in all of its wonder and complexity. God is for, is on the side of, the wellbeing of Creation. As I indicated above, Paul prefaces this claim with the question, "What then shall we say to these things?" That is, are the things Paul has been pointing to – the whole movement of God's Spirit to effect salvation - salvation which means wholeness – liberation? Liberation from bondage of every sort. Paul was convinced that God was engaged with, involved in, the whole of creation and the human situation in order to effect salvation or wholeness or Shalom. It is clear from this letter to the Romans that Paul saw the whole world in bondage - the Jew, the Gentile - indeed, in this chapter he even speaks of the bondage of creation, but it is also clear that he did not see the present state of things as the final word. There was plenty of trouble. He lists famine, nakedness, peril, sword. We might make a list with different items - ethnic feuds, religious wars, cancer, terrorism, urban decay, youth gang wars. Paul did not put his head in the sand; yet, he was convinced of something else - an ultimate power for the wellbeing of Creation and the liberation of humankind, rooted in the love of God. That is the ground of the claim of our text. God is on our side - the human side, creation's side - because the ultimate reality of the world, of the whole grand scheme of things, is the love of God. Paul saw this demonstrated in the event of Jesus Christ. Jesus, who died the victim of the world's darkness and evil, was raised from the dead, brought into God's very presence and was there praying for us. When it seemed the forces of darkness had carried the day, that the human No to God had prevailed, God said No to our No and Yes to life, to the future, to the final triumph of God. Thus, Paul says, "What can separate us from the love of God?" And he answers, in a word, "nothing." That is the biblical picture - the big picture. God is love. God is for us. That was Israel's faith. The reading from Isaiah 57 comes from what scholars speak of as Third Isaiah. The whole book in the Hebrew Scripture is called Isaiah, but it is generally recognized that there are writings from three hands and three periods 1-39, 40-55, 56-65. The first is from an 8th century prophet Isaiah; the second from a prophet during Judah's Exile in Babylon - the one who assumed the return © Grand Valley State University �God Who Heals and Gives Peace Richard A. Rhem Page 3   of the Exile to Jerusalem; the third a prophet who wrote during the period of the return, around 530 BCE. Things did not turn out the way the Exile prophet had envisioned. There was no restoration of the glory of Jerusalem. Poverty and despair marked the post-exilic period. In that situation, the one we call Third Isaiah called Judah for laxness in religious observance and failure to create a just and compassionate society. God's anger was experienced as God's judgment on that failure. Yet, true to the spirit of Israel's prophets, it was declared that God's anger was but for a moment with the purpose of turning the People back to the Lord. And the prophet speaks these words that form our text: "I have seen their ways, but I will heal them ... Peace, peace to the far and the near, says the Lord". That is always the last word in the story of God's People - I will heal them ... Peace, peace ... This is the deep substructure of the whole biblical drama - A God Who is for us - A God Who heals us - Who gives us peace. That is the nature of God, according to the Scriptures of Israel, according to Paul as he contemplated his faith in God in the light of Jesus - and it is still the picture that sustains us and heals us and gives us peace. Yesterday I attended the Bat Mitzvah of the daughter of Rabbi and Mrs. Alpert at the Muskegon Temple. Eliza, at age 13, went through the rite of passage; she moved into adulthood. For three years her father, the Rabbi, had been preparing her. She read from the Hebrew Torah (beautifully, I must say). She delivered the sermon - a very thoughtful one. She led the worship of that congregation. The Temple was nearly full, a quite amazing statement of community, of love and support. After experiencing that, I do not wonder that the Jewish People have continued a destined people through the millennia. I was not only experiencing the worship, but also reflecting on my theme for this morning - The God Who heals and gives us peace. I was struck by the fact that God's people are always looking for closure, for God to come and bring things to a proper conclusion. Second Isaiah in Babylon's exile cried, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem ... A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord ... Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem ... say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God." If you would go through chapters 40-55, you would find some of the most moving passages of the Scripture. Judah will return and the glory will return, for God is coming to redeem and glorify the People of God's Covenant Love. The reality: a small remnant returned. They lived in poverty and despair, disillusioned that the © Grand Valley State University �God Who Heals and Gives Peace Richard A. Rhem Page 4   glory was absent. Along comes third Isaiah. He picks up the stirring words of the earlier prophet, but explains the poor situation as the consequence of Judah's disobedience. Yet, he holds before them the promise of our text: healing, peace. Finally a second Temple is built, but they weep because it has not the glory of the first. They remain for the most part an occupied territory, never realizing the promises of the prophet in exile. Five hundred years later and Jesus is born. Again the ancient world senses it is on the edge of the End. And we have noted in past weeks how that early Jewish Jesus movement waited expectantly for the return of the Son of Man, of the Messiah from heaven. But, it did not happen. Yesterday Eliza Alpert spoke of the Journey and the Dream. She spoke of Israel's founding leader, Moses. He led the People to the borders of the Promised Land, but could not go in. Joshua was the one who finally brought them over. And she pointed to Rabin - a man of war who became a man of peace, but in the midst of the peace process was cut down by an assassin's bullet. And she appealed to her people to do Joshua's work - to take up the peace initiative of the fallen leader. Well, as I said, I was thinking of this long, ancient tradition - this people of whom we, too, are a part, for we were born from Israel's womb. We pray, we long for the consummation of God's purposes in history. The images of Shalom play before our eyes. We read of terror on the street, of the awful conflict fanned into flame again in Northern Ireland, of the excavation of more graves in Bosnia, of terrorism in Saudi Arabia and Moscow and who knows where next. Or we have experience of the word "cancer" spoken over us, or of the failure, the disappointment of one on whom we counted. Or we see starkly our own tragic flaw. And where do we turn? To whom? And for what do the groanings of our inward being long? All of this I contemplated in light of the God spoken of in the text as “the God Who heals and gives us peace.” I experienced that healing and that peace in that Bat Mitzvah service. There was a young woman surrounded by her family, extended family, community of faith. The family was smaller than it might have been because her mother's family suffered great loss in the Holocaust. She spoke of Moses who had a dream, led the journey, but failed to enter the Promised Land. She spoke of Rabin, the warrior become peacemaker, cut down by an assassin's bullet. And she called her people to take up the cause of peace and human freedom. I find that quite remarkable. It would seem that the prophetic images of the new Creation, of the reign of Shalom when lion and lamb lie down together and they do not hurt or destroy in all God's Holy Mountain are not really future states of history, but rather, the ever present judgment on our discord and tragic warring – and not only images of judgment on our present, but also promises of present possibility because God is not so much the future binder up of present wounds as © Grand Valley State University �God Who Heals and Gives Peace Richard A. Rhem Page 5   the present healer and peace giver to those who open their lives to the Spirit to love and to grace. I experienced the healing, the peace of God in that moment. The long story of the ages, the images of Shalom, the longing, the yearning, the repeated failure of history's reality to measure up to the promise - all of that coalesced in the moment of a young woman claiming her place in the line of generations of a people who live lives in dialogue, in communion with the living God. It is quite something, this being human. Many are broken on the rocks of human reality. Dear God, the suffering. Many have become cynical, embittered because the prayer was not answered, the promise not fulfilled. Many are hollow persons, empty and void of meaning or purpose. And the usual posture, I suppose, of the Church has been to condemn those whose hopes have been shattered and whose prayers left hanging in the air. But, when I experience God's love and grace and presence so tangibly as I did yesterday in the faith of a beautiful young person supported by the love of family and community - when I let the words of Paul wash over me, then I know a healing and a peace that nothing can take away. Then I know something of the present Presence of the God Whose ways are past finding out, but Whose healing grace and gracious peace are here and now. It is not out there, dear friend, it is right here. Oh, I do believe there is more but God will take care of that. But, the real possibility is the present possession of a peace that passes human understanding. To experience that peace is to be healed here and now in the midst of bombings and strokes and cancer, and all the tragedy that laces the human story. And this is the care we trust because we trust the loving center of things - the God Who said "Let there be," the God Who says, "I will be with you," Whose Presence we experience in the presence of the other, in the community of faith, the God Who heals us and gives us peace. God knows it is not easy to be a creature, to be human. God knows and God promises “nothing shall ever separate you from my love.” So, then, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us! © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/81bb01c687b00ee973e72301c10466d2.mp3 8b98515d34d1223ea3d7a43fce02de93 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VII Series If God Be For Us Scripture Text Isaiah 57:19, Romans 8:31 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-0-19960714 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-07-14 Title A name given to the resource The God Who Heals and Gives Us Peace Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 14, 1996 entitled "The God Who Heals and Gives Us Peace", as part of the series "If God Be For Us", on the occasion of Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 57:19, Romans 8:31. Nature of God Shalom Trust Universal Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/57e3660acefce76ec5188e3e273277ba.pdf 59eef9d0972dbeaf21a3e363c68d0d6a PDF Text Text The God We Forsake From the series: If God Be For Us… Text: Jeremiah 2:13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 28, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon The word of God comes not only from those of ancient time whose words are recorded in the canon of the scriptures; there are contemporary voices, as well, that can set that ancient word in a context. These words, for example, by the wellknown psychoanalyst, Carl Jüng: Among all my patients in the second half of life, that is to say over thirtyfive, there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of these fell ill because he had lost what the religions of every age have given their followers and none of them has really been healed who did not regain his religious outlook. This, of course, has nothing to do with a particular creed or membership of a church. In 1953, Rollo May, a psychotherapist in his book Man's Search for Himself, wrote, The chief problem of people in the middle decade of the 20th century is emptiness. The human being cannot live in the condition of emptiness for very long. If he is not growing toward something, he does not merely stagnate. The pent-up potentialities turn into morbidity and despair and eventually into destructive activities. The experience of emptiness generally comes from people feeling that they are powerless to do anything effective about their lives or the world they live in. Finally, these words from Hans Küng: The whole development, including the problem of addiction, particularly of educated young people for quasi-religious ideologies up to the point of terrorist anarchy is connected in no small degree with a breakdown of religious beliefs and the abandonment of religious rites. And from Jeremiah: © Grand Valley State University   �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 2   The word of the Lord came to me saying, "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, 'Thus says the Lord, I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness in the land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it became guilty. Evil came upon them, says the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, O House of Jacob and all the families in the House of Israel. Thus says the Lord.' What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went at their worthlessness and became worthless? They did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no one dwells?' And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things, but when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priest did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' Those who handle the Law did not know me. The rulers transgressed against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. Therefore, I still contend with you," says the Lord, "and with your children's children I will contend, for cross to the coast of Cyprus and see your sin to Kedar and examine with care: see if there has been such a thing: Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their Glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this. Be shocked. Be utterly desolate," says the Lord, "for my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." The word of the Lord. In a week in which we have continued to witness the salvaging of the horror of TWA Flight 800, and a week which sees the Olympic Games disrupted by a pipe bomb, we are faced as a people with the recognition that we no longer live in fortressed America, separated from all of the disaster that has stalked the world through the ages, from which we have been mercifully spared for so long. We recognize that our world is changing drastically and there is no safe place, and we can rail about it and we can speak negatively about it, we can throw up our hands in despair about it, we can condemn the perpetrators of it, but we will do well to take a moment to ask, "What in the world is going on?" And, "What time is it?" I'm struck with the parallel between our present situation and the time of Jeremiah the Prophet. Walter Brueggemann, in his comments on Jeremiah, says that just as Jeremiah, in 587 BCE, the time when Babylon removed Judah from Jerusalem into exile and Babylon, had been announcing the End of things as they © Grand Valley State University �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 3   had always been - the end of the Temple, the end of the dynasty, the return of Creation to chaos - and every one of these a symbol for a whole complex of social structures and meaning, and Jeremiah was the spokesperson to announce the end. He was saying, in effect, "Folks, it's over." And he was saying, further, that all of the frantic energy that you are expending to shore up these structures, to find some security, and to perpetuate, to preserve that which you've always known, that is not only futile, it is disobedient, because God is in this thing, and we happen to be at a time of dismantling. The prophet of Israel, at its best, was a destabilizer, destabilizing the status quo, announcing the end of things, and the emerging of something on the horizon that was new but could not yet be fully conceived. The prophets were not popular. Jeremiah is spoken of as the weeping prophet, and one time he cursed the day that his mother gave him birth. At another time, he said, "The word of God I will no more speak," only to find that the word of God was like a fire in his bones that he could not contain. And so, he had to announce to a people not so unlike us that their whole religious structure, their whole social arrangement, indeed, the monarchy that had held them together - all of that was coming to an end. And that God was in this thing, and therefore, they should recognize not all of the surface symptoms, but the deep, underlying cause of it all. Chapter two of Jeremiah documents how God had graciously brought them into the Promised Land and established them only to find the people having priests who knew not God, prophets who prophesied not the word of God, people who handled the law who knew not God. God said, "What have I done to you? Has it ever been such? Be appalled, O earth. My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken the fountain of living waters and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." What a vivid image. With all of the lakes around here, we can't begin to appreciate the image in its original context where water signified life so dramatically, and God being offered as the fountain of living water, the very source of life. And the people being seen as forsaking that living water scurrying about with great energy to hew out cisterns, cisterns that were broken and could hold no water. A fatal forsaking, a futile pursuit, a double folly. Jeremiah says to the people of his day, "The problem is we have forsaken God, and all of the rest of the chaos on the present horizon are but symptoms of that deeper, deeper loss." As I was contemplating that, I thought about the contemporary prophets that speak in our day. I read the words of Carl Jüng, who said that all of those who came in with deep neuroses were those who had finally lost the sense of meaning that their religious traditions had mediated to them, that sense of the transcendent. Not talking about a creed, not even talking about a particular religion, but recognizing that there is a spiritual dimension to life, that to which all of the religions would point us, that to which we must be plugged in if we would be fully human and know some measure of human wellbeing. And then, © Grand Valley State University �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 4   thinking about our present situation, where in the words of Hans Küng, commenting on that statement of May, where he says that what we see, particularly among the educated young, is the seeking after pseudo, quasireligious ideologies, but it ending in all kinds of addiction and finally terrorist anarchy. And we think about our world where the danger is not simply from without, but growing from within, and those who have studied the contemporary situation and the human person recognizing there a deep spiritual malady which probably can be expressed no more eloquently than in the words of Jeremiah: "Forsaking the fountain of living waters". Another commentator in the same area spoke about how, when he was used to setting forth all of the problems that he saw, whether it be the gridlock in Congress or potholes in the highways or the infrastructure of society, or the tax system or the welfare system, or the miserable way that we go about electing our politicians - and you could name your own litany of horrors of our contemporary society - and incidentally, these are all the things that the Hebrew prophets addressed – but this particular person said, "When I was naming off those problems that I would see, I was always stopped short when somebody would look at me and say, 'Well, what's your solution?' And he said, I sort of felt deflated and walked away, until I came to realize that it was not my responsibility to find a solution, a new arrangement for every particular problem that I saw about me. But it was enough right now to expose the emptiness, to at least say there is a problem, something is desperately wrong." And then he said to his friend, "We are like those who are singing under the balcony. We are the precursors of a day not yet arrived, but we see that something is happening. We are announcing the end of things," which is precisely what Jeremiah was doing, which is precisely what folks really don't like to hear, which causes us to get into that frantic activity to try to patch it up and hold it together, holding on with a kind of white-knuckled intensity, hoping that the world will stay together long enough at least for us to get through it. I had always hoped that I could get through life without ever turning on a computer, but it's all going so fast now, I don't think that I'm going to be able to make it! But, it's a very normal response for us to say if we can just keep the present structures intact long enough, if I can just get through with my retirement without Social Security going bankrupt, if I can only get through my life without Medicare going to pot, if only we can hold on - you see, it's always that kind of reactive, that sort of fearful response to the fact that things are being chipped away, things are unraveling. Nothing is the same anymore; there's no solidity, there's no security. We live in a world that is blowing up! And those who have observed, not simply just Jeremiah in 587 BCE, but those who have written in the last half of this century, have identified the human problem as a problem of meaninglessness and as one of them has said, ultimately the question of meaning is a question of God. Not a particular creed, not a © Grand Valley State University �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 5   particular religion, but a particular spiritual dimension apart from which the human person is not whole, apart from which the human person becomes neurotic, apart from which human society becomes desperately ill. And so, the image of Jeremiah is not only apropos for that day in Judah's past, but I think very apropos for our day, too, for we can see the symptoms all about us, and the sense of powerlessness, the sense of victimhood. And then the dimensions of the problem and the feeling of helplessness to do anything about it, to make any difference, any dent in it - all of that is characteristic of our day and of many of us. I went to the New York Times Book Review section of last Sunday and found out that the longest running bestsellers have to do with the spiritual dimension. The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck - 662 weeks. In fiction, that kind of "New Agey", interesting story, The Celestine Prophecy - 125 weeks. Embraced By the Light - 96 weeks. And Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul - 131 weeks. Dear God, folks! Our contemporary society is starving, hungry and thirsty and, if we could move back in time about 36 years and I was preaching to you on this text, I would now begin to beat you over the head with it. I would begin to say, "That's your problem. Your life is empty. You have forsaken God." And I would have two or three simple answers for you, all of which would be rather self-serving for myself in this congregation. But, it's very interesting to me that a Marxist, atheist commentator, sociologist, dead a few decades – (Modern atheism is the great critique of religion. If we don't hear the modern atheistic critique of the Church and of religion in general, we will miss the most profound insight into the problem of religion and the Church) – this particular man said, in his latter years, "The problem with the Church is that it has failed in its representation of God to present God as the all-bountiful Creator. It has failed to sense the yearning in the modern person's heart for the holy Other, and rather than presenting God as the all-bountiful Creator, it has rather used its dominance, it has been marked by an exploitation by the darker instincts of the human person to inflict cruelties, crusades, witch hunts, and all of that darker side of institutional religion." This atheist says the problem with us is that, in the face of the hunger of the human heart, we have failed to mediate this all-bountiful Creator, and so I recognize that I, in the past, have been part of that problem, too. Beating people on Sunday, that poor, struggling remnant that still come, decrying their godlessness, rather than all of us recognizing together that that which the world is hungry for, that which our brothers and sisters on the contemporary scene are longing for, whether consciously or unconsciously, is some sense that maybe there is an all-bountiful Creator. © Grand Valley State University �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 6   This is the thing that Paul was so convinced of. That's why I speak of this series about God as, "If God Be With Us," or better translated "Since God is With Us." You see, everything is falling apart and there are lives everywhere that are meaningless, that are empty, and those most profound commentators of the human situation are telling us that that's what it is. That's not from a biblical text; that's from a contemporary analysis - meaninglessness, emptiness. And what do we offer? Well, I hear it all the time in the Church - Let's go back to the good old days. Let's go back home when it was safe. Let's turn back. Folks - you can't turn back. You can't go home. It's only the future we'll be entering into. It is the future uncharted. It is a future that is unfolding with a drama and with a rapidity and with a profound change never yet experienced in the human story! Now, how will you enter the future? Will you enter the future with hope in your heart, deeply trusting the God of the past, knowing that the future will not outrun the God Who beckons us from the future? Ironically, Jeremiah the prophet, who was the destabilizer and the dismantler, was also the great prophet of hope, because Jeremiah the prophet believed in God! Jeremiah believed in the God Who created and Who redeemed and Who sustained and Who would finally bring to consummation. Therefore, Jeremiah could say to the people of his day, "Will you let it go? Will you let the Temple go? Will you let the dynasty go? Will you let the whole social arrangement that's given you security go, and will you find your security the only place it can be, that is in the living God? If you will quench your thirst at the fountain of living waters, you will find, drinking deeply there, that you will be able to deal with all the symptoms out here." That's the task of the Church. The Care of the Soul is not pop psychology and it's not fluff, and Thomas More cannot believe that it has sold so broadly and has hung on so long, because he says to people, there is no quick fix, but would you pause long enough to experience your own depths? Would you listen to what your body is saying? Would you listen to your heart? Would you take time out, take a step back and find out what time it is? And then rest in God? Trust Creation, dare to move with hope into the future?" The God we forsake is not angry with us. The God we forsake pleads with us, "Drink deeply. You are a people with whom I contend, and I will contend with your children's children; I will be there for you; I will never abandon you; I will never give up on you. Return to me in your frantic chase, hewing out cisterns that can hold no water, leading to addictions and to emptiness and weariness in boredom. Come unto me and find rest for your soul. That's the all-bountiful Creator. You may have forsaken the fountain of living waters, but God has not turned the fountain off, and He invites us to embrace our neighbors, as well, and together to drink deeply of living waters and find peace, even in the midst of a world that's © Grand Valley State University �The God We Forsake Richard A. Rhem Page 7   blowing apart, trusting that there is something out there that is emerging, and it will be good, because God would have it so. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0b274fcc250d6e225cb436f8e13fbdf2.mp3 187c12f7d7a512a7b3b799f9ab268900 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series If God Be For Us Scripture Text Jeremiah 2:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960728 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-07-28 Title A name given to the resource The God We Forsake Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 28, 1996 entitled "The God We Forsake", as part of the series "If God Be For Us", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 2:13. Hope Meaning Nature of God Prophetic Voice Spiritual Quest Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f8d9dffd16d55d2e46a79eedfdb6b8b5.pdf a43783504610be0e3930aae802a82ee6 PDF Text Text The God Who Never Gives Up On Us From the series: If God Be For Us… Text: Hosea 11:8-9; Romans 11:32 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 4, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon Hosea was a prophet who learned in personal experience the nature of the love of God, for Hosea loved a woman and married her, only to find her eventually falling into prostitution and unfaithfulness. And yet, he loved her. And then he heard the Word of God that said, "Keep on loving her. Reclaim her. Redeem her and take her to yourself." Out of that experience of personal love, he understood the love of God for an erring Israel, a love that would not give up. The great Jewish thinker, Martin Buber, comments on Hosea's experience in these words: That a particular person should be bound to love another particular person in utter concreteness - is there such a thing as this? The word can only be spoken to one who already loves. He loves. He still loves the faithless one. He cannot suppress this love, but he does not want it, for he feels himself degraded by it.... Into this state of soul, God's word descends: Continue loving. Thou art allowed to love her. Thou must love her. Even so do I love Israel. The lesson from the 11th chapter: When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet, it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love. And I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws. And I bent down to them and fed them. They shall return to the land of Egypt and the Assyrians shall be their king because they have refused to return to me. The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates and devour them in their fortresses. My people are bent on turning away from me, so they are appointed to the yoke and none shall remove it. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How © Grand Valley State University   �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 2   can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst. And I will not come to destroy. The Word of the Lord. The Epistle Lesson, Romans 11, commencing to read with verse 25: Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers and sisters. A hardening has come upon part of Israel until the full number of the Gentiles come in. And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As regards the Gospel, they're enemies of God, for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience that God may have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are God's judgments, and how inscrutable God's ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been God's counselor? Or who has given the gift to God that he might be repaid? From God and through God and to God are all things. To God be glory forever, Amen. The Word of the Lord. We conclude this morning the series, If God Be For Us..., taken from the 8th chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans and the 31st verse, which is a paragraph between all that Paul had said about the grace of God that appeared in Jesus Christ and that terrible struggle that Paul had with the Jewish people, his brothers and sisters according to the flesh, and their rejection of the grace of God in Christ. If you had asked me about the outline of the Epistle to the Romans, I would have most all of my life told you that, as far as I was concerned, it could have stopped at the end of the 8th chapter. There is no more profound or beautiful statement of the love of God than Paul pens in those words. And I had always assumed that that's where he came to a grand climax. Chapters 9 through 11? Well, that struggle between the Jews, Israel and the Church and Christ - I've never made much of that. Paul's argument is labored, torturous, tedious as he struggles with the mystery of his own people not seeing Jesus as he saw Jesus. And then, of course, there's some good ethical stuff in chapters 12 through 16. But, I wouldn't have minded too much if we lost the last half as long as we had the first eight © Grand Valley State University �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 3   chapters. Give me the eight chapters and give me that final paragraph and that letter comes to a magnificent climax, I had always thought. Then I came across a little book by Krister Stendahl, the New Testament scholar, who will be with us in October. Krister Stendahl has a little, thin book called Paul Among the Jews and the Gentiles, and as I was reading, I came to his assertion that the heart of the Letter to the Romans is chapters 9 through 11, that Paul's struggle with Israel's failure to see Jesus as the Messiah was what that letter is really all about. And therefore, that my grand climax at the end of chapter 8 is rather a critical prelude to the real heart of that Letter to the Romans, for Paul was so distressed by the fact that his brothers and sisters in the flesh did not come to faith in Jesus and see there displayed magnificently the grace of God. I reflected on that and I had to conclude that Krister Stendahl is right; that really is what the letter is all about. And what that last paragraph of the 8th chapter is about is a summation of God's grace in Jesus Christ and the foundation for Paul's confident faith that, in spite of the fact that at the present moment Israel was blind to Jesus, nonetheless God was not done with Israel, that the promises to the fathers and mothers of the faith, that covenant of grace that had bound Israel to God's self, was not to be revoked. That God was of such a nature that God could never give up on Israel. Israel in its present disobedience, Paul says, is beloved for the sake of her forebears. Out of covenant faithfulness to Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob and all of those who had gone before, God will not now give up God's people. It was the foundation of the love of God, which is expressed so beautifully in that last paragraph of chapter 8. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" As we have noted, it's not really "if", it is an assertion - "Since God is for us," or, as the New English Bible translates it, "Since God is on our side." Not on our side as over against those who are against us. Since God is on the human side, since God is for people, since God is for people as is demonstrated in all that God has done in Jesus Christ, therefore, since God is for us, who can be against us? And then, he goes on to say, who can lay any charge to God's chosen ones? He recites the events of Jesus' life and death and resurrection and enthronement and Jesus' intercession for us, and he says, what then can separate us from the love of Christ? Can all of the things that can go wrong in the world: famine and peril and nakedness and sword - all of the disasters that are possible in the human scene? Can any of that alter that foundational reality of the love of God in Christ? No, he says. No, not anything in our present experience, not anything in the past, not anything in the future, not anything in the heights, not anything in the depths - nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That I thought was climax. That I find, is prelude, foundation for what he is going to finally conclude in the 11th chapter and the 32nd verse, which is that Jews and Gentiles alike are all consigned to disobedience in order that God may have mercy on all. © Grand Valley State University �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Those chapters are tedious and strained and they are worked out under the supposition that very soon Jesus will come and the end of the age will be brought to pass. Nonetheless, what was deepest down in Paul was the conviction that God would never give up on God's people. He admitted his bafflement that his own people did not see Jesus as Messiah, as he had experienced Jesus. He acknowledged the fact that now they were blind to the Gospel; they were in a state of disobedience. But, was it all over for Israel? Not on your life. I don't think that Paul had figured it out accurately, but he was struggling with it. He didn't really know what God was doing, but of this he was certain - God would not let go of that people. God would not abandon that people. And so, he says, well, maybe it's this way. Maybe the disobedience of the Jewish people has given entree to the grace of God to the Gentiles, and he really speaks to Gentiles here. He warns against arrogance. He reminds them that, in the analogy of an olive tree, if Israel is the natural branch ripped off in a state of disobedience, the Gentile believers are grafted on, but they're grafted on to the pre-existing tree whose roots are Israel. And he reminds them, also, to have a proper humility because, he says, if grace has reached you, then Israel's return will be life from the dead. All Israel will be saved. He had recognized the universal human situation. Earlier in the letter he had said all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, which is another way of saying if anything good is going to happen to people, it will be by the pure grace of God. And now in chapter 11 in verse 32, he sees Jew and Gentile alike, consigned to disobedience in order, he says, that God may have mercy on all. That's the way Paul struggled through in order to make some sense of what to him made no sense at all; that he who saw in the face of Jesus the heart of God, that he who saw in the face of Jesus the revelation of the glory of God, when he presented that story to his own people, they saw it not at all. Could he conclude, therefore, that somehow or other that covenant of grace with the forebears, that long history of God nurturing that people, had come to an end? Paul said, "I can't believe that. I can't believe that God ever gives up on us. I don't know exactly how, and I don't know when, but I believe that, just as all are disobedient, so all will experience the mercy of God." Where did Paul get that kind of an idea? Well, Paul was a Jewish scholar. Paul had sat at the feet of Gamaliel. Paul knew the Hebrew scriptures, and I could go most any place in that old book in order to demonstrate that what Paul was holding forth here for Jew and Gentile was rooted in that Hebrew conception of the love of God. But, let me take you to what may be my favorite story, my favorite prophet, Hosea, whom I said had that poignant experience of loving a woman who proved faithless, and of having the sense of the Word of God coming to him saying, "Love her still; bring her back; claim her for your own. Love her into faithfulness." © Grand Valley State University �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Hosea was an 8th century prophet speaking to the Northern Kingdom in those years before the Assyrian empire came in, conquered Israel and dispersed the ten northern tribes. He was an authentic prophet in the best sense of Hebrew prophecy. Hosea was no pansy. Hosea was a prickly prophet, as are all prophets. He accused Israel of faithlessness, of forgetting the God Who had brought them out of Egypt and through the wilderness and into the Promised Land, Who had healed them and fed them and nurtured them. In tenderest phrases he describes the relationship of God with Israel. "I picked them up. I held them to my cheek. I bound them with bonds of love. But they have forsaken me. They are bent on turning away from me." And he pointed out all that was wrong with the society of those ten northern tribes that would eventuate in the judgment of God, for the Hebrew prophets saw historical events as the movement of the God Who judged and graced, and so he spoke quite directly to that society of which he was a part. If he had been in the United States of America this past week, I think he probably would have taken a jet to Washington. He probably would have stood on the steps of the White House and held a press conference and then moved to the Capitol building and held another press conference, and CNN would have been there. And he would have said, "Nice going, Mr. President. Nice going, members of Congress. You have ended welfare as we have known it. Congratulations. You have dealt with a problem that measures 1% of our national budget. You have done it under the cloak of not wanting people to be spoiled by welfare, and thereby, you have saved enough dollars to build one wing of a Stealth bomber. Congratulations, Mr. President. Congratulations, members of Congress, for you are hailing a new day. You have dealt with the little problems. Now when will you deal with political action committees and the pandering to favored classes and election practices and all of that that is so deleterious to our democratic processes?" And, of course, he would not have taken a jet back to Michigan to run in Ottawa County for anything. (And don't expect me at the door following worship. I'm slipping out the side.) But that's the kind of stuff the prophets did. That's why most of them ended up slain; not many of them died in bed. So, Hosea was no sweet, simpering voice laced with sentimentality. There was none of this kind of superficial love, you know, chirpy "God loves you and I love you, too." There was sweat and blood and tears in Hosea! And he spoke to his people the Word of God, he addressed them in their concrete reality, and, as he was portraying all of their sin and as he reflected what must have been rising in the heart of God, he said, "They'll go back to Egypt; Assyria will be their king; they are bent on turning away from me." And what would be the logical next phrase? "I will give them up!" But, what is the Word of God that the prophet hears? How can I give you up? How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I make you like the cities of Abmah and Zobeiim, the cities of the plain that perished with Sodom and Gomorrah? My heart churns within me. My © Grand Valley State University �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 6   heart grows tender. My compassion warms. I will not give you up, for I am God and not human. In his own experience of a compelling love that he could not deny in spite of the faithlessness of the one loved, Hosea gained a window into the heart of God Who will never give up on us, in spite of the fact that the exercise of justice and even good judgment would simply cut us off. That is Hosea's conception of the unrequited, unconditional, unrelenting love of God that will never give up, never give up on us. Paul, steeped in that tradition, when he struggled with the fact that his own people were blind to the grace that he saw, could nonetheless not bring himself even to begin to think that that blindness would result in a final rejection. And so, I've learned that his statement at the end of the 8th chapter of Romans, "since God is for us," was the prelude to his tortured, labored, tedious argument on behalf of his own people because he did not believe, disobedient that they were, that God would give up on them. For Hosea, it was Israel. For Paul, it was Jews and Gentiles. And Paul thought the end of the age would be very soon, when Israel en masse would move into the grace of Jesus Christ. And that, of course, didn't happen. Paul, along with the whole New Testament, was wrong in that expectation of an imminent end. So, what are we to do? It's 2000 years later, now. Would we see the love of God differently than Hosea and Paul, and would we claim at this point in history that the 30% of the global population that is Christian is the exclusive focus of the love of God? Has God changed? Has God narrowed focus? Has God now crimped God's love to become very particular in the life of the vast human family? If Paul were here today, 2000 years later, he would struggle not only with Israel's immediate rejection of Jesus as Messiah, but with what in the world the Spirit is doing in the world today. He would struggle with the fact that 70% of the world's population does not see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. And yet I suspect that the same kind of fundamental consideration would move him to find a way to suspect that the Spirit of God was blowing in ways that we've not yet dreamed of, for as Jesus said, the Spirit blows where it wills and we know not its whence nor its whither. But we can be sure that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of God whose unquenchable, relentless love Hosea experienced in his own personal experience and applied to Israel, that Paul experienced in regard to Israel and the Gentiles, and it wouldn't be a great feat for him simply to embrace this whole globe and say, "I don't know how. I don't know when, but I believe that God's love is such that God will never give up on anyone." On my way here this morning I saw the billboard of a church. The sermon title was, "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames." I suspect the message was a bit different from the one you've just heard. But, let me ask you - Where is the © Grand Valley State University �God Who Never Gives Up On Us Richard A. Rhem Page 7   powerful, persuasive, compelling news? Is it to make you inside feel secure that you are loved and lucky, that you are not outside where the flames of Hell lick? Or, might it better be for us who have experienced the love of God, to go out of here with a body language that is set free by that love and to embrace our brothers and sisters everywhere? And even in their unbelief, to have a spirit over against them such as Paul had over against his own brothers and sisters? Would not the most powerful, compelling evangelistic effort in the world be to let the world in on the magnificence of the Love of God? Is it any wonder that when Paul was all through with his contorted reasoning and strained thinking - is it any wonder that he could not but break out into doxology? Who has searched the mind of God? Source, Guide and Goal of all there is - to God alone be glory!" Worship, lost in wonder, love and praise, in the light of such love. Can we help but respond, "O God, we love you?" © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e552d7e8d0422bc870dd37721d597f6f.mp3 6009d26561288660e4c9bb25391d4c97 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Series If God Be For Us Scripture Text Hosea 11:8-9, Romans 11:32 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-0-19960804 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-08-04 Title A name given to the resource The God Who Never Gives Up On Us Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 4, 1996 entitled "The God Who Never Gives Up On Us", as part of the series "If God Be For Us", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Hosea 11:8-9, Romans 11:32. Inclusive Grace Love Nature of God Prophetic Voice https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/345c6580f5f4d6192048901e67fe3f0a.pdf d11253dfd9b7a9e2f5eb563ec40e8910 PDF Text Text Religion Can Be a Monkey on Your Back Text: Romans 14:23; Isaiah 46:4 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 11, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon It's been suggested to me that there are those of you who keep wondering what's happening in the saga of Christ Community and the Classis of Muskegon - let me just say that on Tuesday evening there is to be a meeting of the Classis of Muskegon, and it would appear that the separation document which has been prepared will be passed. That seems to be the opinion. We're not lighting off the firecrackers yet, but nonetheless it would seem that we should soon be beyond this nightmare of the soul. It looks very favorable for us, and as if all things that we had hoped for would be in place, plus we would be in touch with the national offices of the Reformed Church in the next five years in a continuing conversation, which I think is also a positive thing. You'll probably get the press reports before I could tell you again, but if that is the case, we will have a brief meeting next week following the ten o'clock service. Well, all of that is about religion, and religion can really be rotten. Religion can be a monkey on your back. Religion can be one of the most depressing, dispiriting, draining, oppressive, manipulative, coercive, negative forces in the world. That's quite a confession for a preacher. When I was young and growing up, thinking about becoming a minister, I was worried whether or not God would last, whether or not God could be adequately defended, whether or not people would continue to practice religion. I guess I was worried that I might get to this point in my life and be out of work. But, as a matter of fact, I have come to conclude at this advanced age that the religious human animal is alive and well on Planet Earth and that religion is endemic to the human person, that there is something within the human being that will always make that person reach out in some fashion for something or someone who is beyond, some transcendent realm, some Beyond, some person, force whatever it may be - there is something within us that can only be filled with a connection with something that is beyond us. Here in the Church, we speak of God, and when we speak of God, we speak of the God Whom we've seen in the face of Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, the God of Jesus Christ. © Grand Valley State University   �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 2   But, I'm talking about religion more broadly this morning. It's not just the Christian religion; it is religion as a phenomenon that I want to think about with you this morning. I have been thinking about it a lot in these past weeks and months - Religion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when he was in the darkness of the Second World War, incarcerated for his conspiracy against the life of Hitler, wrote his Letters and Papers From Prison, in which he plays with that idea a lot and he talks about what form would a religionless Christianity be. He recognized that religious practice can become religiosity, and he recognized that in the modern period, after a couple of hundred years of the development of the human sciences, that God was being edged out of the world, and so he talked about "Man come of age." Now, that statement became almost a model for the post-war decades, but it just shows how contextual our thinking is, mine included. But, any good preaching or any good expression of the word of God needs to be the word for that moment and that context, and so I'm not faulting Bonhoeffer for, in the depths of the darkness of the 20th century, speaking about man coming of age and God being edged out of the world. As a matter of fact, fifty years later, religion is alive and well, and while some of the traditional religious trappings have gone by the way, we find that we live in a day when there is a conservative religious reaction on the one hand and then, on the other hand, there is the New Age manifestation of a spiritual hunger within. A couple of weeks ago I used a few statements which we typed up in the bulletin insert last week - Carl Jüng's statement that in his practice of psychoanalysis there was not a case of people in the last half of their life that he could not trace back to their lack of meaning, and that lack of meaning was the consequence of the failure of any religious mechanism, religious ritual, religious practice, which ritual and practice was the means by which the person is put in touch with that which is beyond. And some of the statements about the youth, the younger generation that have been led into self-destructive behaviors and addictions and even violence because they have no frame of reference, no rooting in a religious tradition that is able to mediate to them that which is beyond them. I'm reminded of Hendrikus Berkhof, my old mentor, who once said, over against the youth of his day a couple of decades ago, that in The Netherlands, in Europe generally, he couldn't talk to that generation about Christian faith because they had absolutely no basis on which to make connection, and he said they're not the prodigals, they are the children of the prodigals, you see? The prodigal son left home and knew that there was a home and there was a father and, as we'll see in the next couple of weeks, he eventually went home. But, if the prodigal has children in the far country, the children don't even know there's a home. So, how do you begin even to engage in that discussion which can lead to a religious practice that is positive and that becomes a means for relating the individual to God, to that which is beyond? Because, if it is true that to be © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 3   human is to have a hole in us that can be filled only by God, then we, being human, will be in trouble if we have no place in which to rest our souls, if we have no mechanism, no means, no space, no place, no community in which to experience that connection – not that that connection cannot be and is not sustained and ought not to be sustained in our own personal and private lives, in our moments of solitude and so on. But those moments alone and those moments of solitude, I believe, are cultivated, are experienced only if we have been given some kind of frame of reference and if we are connected with community that corporately comes into the presence and acknowledges that presence - indeed, that worships, that occasionally is lost in wonder, love and praise. So, to begin with, I would simply say that I think religion is a potentially very positive and necessary part of human experience. Have you ever thought of giving it up? Have you ever thought of just chucking it? Have you ever wondered if you will keep at it? Or, have you taken a long sabbatical and maybe you've come back? I think if we think, if we're honest about our human experience and our religious experience, then probably there are those times when you say, "Hmm, Sunday morning again. The Chicago Tribune and a cup of coffee doesn't sound too bad. I mean, to have to shave and shower and show up…." Religion can be burdensome, it can be heavy. The prophet recognized that: Second Isaiah, the one who was prophesying in the sixth century before the Common Era. The reading that I did was a kind of mocking piece - "Bel bows down. Nebo stoops." These were the top gods of the Babylonian pantheon. And Babylon ruled the world - magnificent city of Babylon, the Babylonian Empire, the forces of which came in and decimated Jerusalem and brought the Jews into exile. And in that day it was just the conventional wisdom, the common understanding, that the winners must be in touch with the most powerful gods. And so, these Jews, rather dispirited, away from their own land living as exiles, said, "Well, the gods of Babylon must be it." But, the prophet of Yahweh, the God of Israel, had another vision of things. He could see that Babylon had its day. But, Babylon would soon cease to be, for on the horizon was Persia, and the Jews had all experienced on the New Year's Day celebrations how the Babylonians would take their chief gods and load them on floats and have their own little Coast Guard Festival, you know? The gods would parade through the city and people would bow down and throw flowers - "These are your gods, O Babylon." But now, the enemy's at the gate. Now there's panic in Babylon. Now they run to the temple, grab those statues and haul them out and put them on beasts of burden and sort of balance them precariously as they try to get out of town with their gods. So, the prophet of Israel said, "Look, the gods are going into captivity!" © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 4   A little humor there. They're dragging their nose in the dust as they're being dragged along by the oxen and the people are trying to save their gods. Now, that's an irony, isn't it? People have to save their gods. And the prophet says to the Jews that they're going to go home; he's announcing the salvation that God's about to bring. But he can't do it without this little aside, this little mocking picture of the gods of Babylon who cannot save, but need to be saved, who cannot bear, but need to be borne, who are not the God who lifts the burden, but who are gods that become a burden. I'm using that image this morning just to say to you that religion has a shadow side, and that religious practice, which at its best can lift and inspire and heal, can in the expression of its shadow side, become coercive and manipulative and become an end in itself, and it can become a burden, rather than a burdenbearer. We may not do as the prophet went on to say, we may not take some wood and some gold and some precious stones and fashion ourselves an idol and then fall down before it. But, let us not be deceived. Our religious practice also, in the Christian Church and really in all of the religions, can become an end in itself rather than being a mediating agency by which the grace and the peace of God are brought to people. Bad religion is one of the most destructive and potentially dangerous powers in our world, and I would have to say after all of my years of ministry, even though most of my contacts have been with Christian people in the church, I have to say in all honesty to you, I have seen people as damaged by religion as helped by religion. And I run into people all the time who have given up, have given up on the Church and given up on religious practice because of some hurtful, painful experience or some disillusionment with the exercise of religion in its institutional form. And I want us to think about that clearly this morning, because I want us to recognize that if we will be an authentic institution of religion, we must practice it so that its positive power is uplifting and inspiring, helping and healing people and not manipulative and controlling and destructive of the human spirit. You know what I'm talking about this morning? I'm talking about a God, the God of heaven and earth, the God Who is beyond us, the God Who is beyond our wildest dreams or our ability even to contemplate, the God Who has been revealed to us, the God Whose heart we see in the face of Jesus, but the God that we cannot pull down and domesticate in order that we might manage. But, do you see that that's the danger of religion, that we get a human form and a human ritual and the human institution and then we make it absolute? We identify it with the Absolute as though what we have in our religious view and the practices of our religious exercise, are identical with God, God's self, and then we become coercive and manipulative with that religious experience. What I'm trying to say this morning is that we may be incurably, inevitably religious. But, if we fail to see that religion is a human product, and if we absolutize it as though © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 5   it's divine, then we become dangerous people, and then our religion becomes something that's oppressive. Where did we ever miss the boat, anyway? Why can't we hear the word of God as it was read this morning, after mocking the gods Bel and Nebo who are being dragged through the dust out of the city in order to be rescued, in order to be saved? Why have we not heard Who God really is? "Listen, O House of Jacob, all the remnant of the House of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth. I have borne you, carried from the womb, even to your old age, I am God. Even when you turn gray, I will carry you. I will carry. I will save." Five times over, I is repeated - I, I am the One, I will carry, I have made, I will bear, I will carry and will save. You see, religion that is good, that is positive, that is true, is religion that will say to people, "You are loved by God. You are being borne by God. You don't have to rescue God; you don't have to worry about God. You don't have to get panicky and in a frenzy about all of your religious exercise and all of your religious duties, so that sometimes you'd just like to kick it all over, you'd like to leave it all, you get weary of it." Don't we get weary of it? We have to support everything. We have to support the PTA and Easter Seals and the Church! We have to support the youth group and the Worship Center and we've got to keep worship alive. What if I don't come today? What if everybody decided not to come today? There wouldn't be anyone there. Poor Dick would stand on his stool all by himself. All of that heavy duty and obligation, all of that "ought" and "should", all of that "must", all of that musty religion that becomes oppressive and burdensome. I'd give it up, too, if I believed that that's what it was about. But, how do we miss the word of God? "I am He, even when you turn gray, I'll carry you. I made, I bear, I carry, I save." We get so hung up with our religion. Paul had to struggle when he wrote to the Church of Rome. He said, "Some of you keep one day, some of you keep another, some of you eat vegetables, some of you eat tenderloin. For goodness sakes, what does it matter? Why don't you just do what you do out of faith? Why don't you do what you do out of conviction? Why don't you be a person that lives out of your own center rather than by some template that's placed on you? Why don't you live out of faith, out of trust, why don't you be who you are and all the time know that, whether you live, you live unto the Lord, and whether you die, you die unto the Lord. So, whether you live or whether you die, you are the Lord's." Why hasn't the Church let people know that God is the One in Whom they live and move and have their being? Why have we threatened and condemned, judged and cast out? Why haven't we said to people, "Rest in the Lord"? Practice the sacrament of baptism, because in that beautiful moment, we are helped to know © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 6   that that child, a gift of God's love, is connected. We're connected. The water isn't magic. Elliot Brown was loved before church this morning as much as he'll be loved after church this morning. Can't we see the value and the beauty and the wonder of this sacrament without us getting into a great panic because some child failed to get baptized? We break bread and we take the cup and we experience in that moment a ritual action because it's filled with tradition and it's history and it becomes for us a moment of connection. But, would I be disconnected if I never took bread and never took cup? I wish we worshiped seven days a week. I'd make about six of them. I love it! I love it! The organ begins. Something happens to me. I need this place; I love this place. But, if I could never worship again, would I be less loved of God? For God's sake, no. Religion, when it becomes duty, when it becomes obligation, when it becomes coercive and manipulative, when it instills guilt and claims it alone can open the door of heaven - then religion has gone awry, then religion is rotten. Then it's a monkey on your back; you ought to take a sabbatical for a while, until you get good and hungry, until you can't stand it any longer. Then you come and eat bread and drink wine and let water flow down, and then, then you relax and you listen to the word of God who says, "From the womb, I have borne you. I will carry you. I will bear you up. I will save." Go out and tell your neighbors how good it is when religion is good, because a lot of them aren't here because they got a taste of it when it was bad. And when it's a monkey on your back, it's a disgrace to the Eternal God Who created us, Who keeps us, and Who will never let us go. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/78cb196dece63d44d34574758e0778d8.mp3 9aef241877ebf5fe31913d060b3fee86 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XI Scripture Text Isaiah 46:4, Romans 14:23 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-0-19960811 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-08-11 Title A name given to the resource Religion Can Be a Monkey On Your Back Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 11, 1996 entitled "Religion Can Be a Monkey On Your Back", on the occasion of Pentecost XI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 46:4, Romans 14:23. Faithful God Inclsive Love Nature of Religion Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9e42196ca7c3dcc96759a710c953a116.pdf 54a09586e19db8459ea6b76f27313c6a PDF Text Text Take Care How You Kick Over the Traces Scripture: Isaiah 1:1-6; Luke 15:11-16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 18, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon We're thinking, in these days, about organized religion, its institutional forms, and last week I noted that it can be an oppressive and de-humanizing force in one's life. Bad religion has destroyed a lot of people. But, we also noted its importance, its critical importance, because religion is that which relates us to that which is beyond us, and puts us in connection, in communion with God. So, it's not a matter of ridding ourselves of religion, but it is a matter of understanding religion's true function and what its true message really is. I clipped an article from yesterday's Grand Rapids Press. The headline says, "Church Attendance Reaches 20-Year Low." It's the research of a certain George Barna who has written a number of things about the contemporary scene, at least over the last decade, maybe two, and in this news report, he tells us that we have perhaps been lulled to sleep by the fact that the percentage of people who attend church has remained rather constant, but to remain constant in a growing population is like feeling good about the fact that I'm still making just as much as I made in 1960. The Church is losing ground and this article says that we are at a 20-year low. His comments about it reveal that all denominations, including conservative Protestants, have grown slower; there's been a very large decline in institutional religion. Young people especially are confused about morals and not familiar with religious tradition, and the global youth culture has become pluralistic and relativistic. I don't think anybody's doing much to help them sort it out. And then the commentator said it's not just a phase they're going through. There's less reason to say they'll come back when they never went in the first place. The reserves of religious tradition are dwindling. I believe that's true, and I believe that the frantic activity of much of the institutional church is an attempt to stem a tide and not very successfully. A few weeks ago in The New York Times Magazine, the magazine that's included in the Sunday edition of the Times, there was a brief article on the Willow Creek Church west of Chicago, which has become such a phenomenon in our day and has spawned so many look-alike congregations called "seeker congregations." It's been a very successful movement. But, the insight of the columnist in this particular magazine article was that the truth is in the packaging. In other words, © Grand Valley State University   �Take Care How You Kick Over Traces Richard A. Rhem Page 2   the success has been a success in marketing, and while marketing is not unimportant, it is not what is ultimately important, for in this little article, a representative of the Willow Creek Church said with some pride, "And we have not changed one article of our belief." And I want to say, "Shame on you." If you think you can take that old core and not re-examine it and bring it to new expression in a new day and in a culture that is radically changing all about us, if you think that you can take that old core and simply dress it up and put it in a shiny package and sell it, the success will be temporary because you have not dealt with the issue in depth. Good religion needs to be very clear about the message it presents and about its function, which is to be an agent, a means, not an end in itself. Good religion is a means to enabling the people to come into communion with God and to experience God in the depths of their being. The message is critical, and what is the message? The message is that God is love. Well, ho-hum, right? Haven't we always heard that God is love? But, I mean God is love in the deepest biblical sense, the most radical sense of love, that which came to expression in Israel in its best understanding. My text says that the "ox knows its owner and the ass its master's crib, but Israel does not know; my people does not consider." This is the portrait of God throughout the whole of Hebrew scriptures, the God Whose hands are always outstretched, the God Who pleads with God's people, the God Who never turns away but always beckons. In this context, a little further along the chapter - "Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Farther on in that same prophecy: "Come, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous one his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Throughout the whole of Israel there was this pleading note of a pleading God with outstretched arms, waiting only to embrace the one who would return, coming to one's senses, coming home. But, of course, the consummate expression of it is in the parable of the Prodigal Son, which is terribly misnamed. It's not a story of a prodigal son; it's not a story of a son at all; it's the story of God, of a father, of an unquenchable love, of an irresistible grace, of a love that is unconditional and irresistible in its appeal to God's children. The context is important. It's the third of three stories. The first is the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep. The second, the woman who searches the house for a lost coin. And then this story of a father who had two sons. Jesus was responding to the criticism of his life and ministry. In the opening of the 15th chapter, those who represented institutional religion in the day of Jesus © Grand Valley State University �Take Care How You Kick Over Traces Richard A. Rhem Page 3   were grumbling. They were grumbling because they said he receives and eats with sinners. And as you've heard me say many times, the mark of Jesus' ministry, the way in which he embodied his message, was in the table fellowship that he practiced. Even for us to break bread together, to sit at a meal together is an expression of intimate friendship. But, in Jesus' day it was especially the case. You did not break bread with that one who was not friend. You did not share a meal with the outcast or the alien or the estranged. And in the temple religion of the day with its code of holiness, it was very clear who was in and who was out. There was a kind of exclusion practiced. And the reason that the temple authorities were grumbling at Jesus was because Jesus went against the conventional wisdom, he went against what everybody else was doing. He opened his heart and he opened his table to all comers. No one was excluded. And that was threatening to the institutional religion of the day, and they grumbled. And so, as Jesus always did, he responded with a story: There was a father who had two sons. There was a younger son who was a rebel who asked for his inheritance early on and who left home and wasted his life, ending up in decadence and despair. And there was an obedient son who followed the letter of the law, but grudgingly so with a kind of inward resentment over against the father that was as painful to the father as was the rebellion of the other. There was a father who had two sons, both of whom broke the father's heart. So, for two or three weeks, let's think about this old story. Maybe you say, "How can you say anything new about that old story?" Well, I wonder myself, but let's try. Let's focus primarily this morning on that younger son. For him to ask for his inheritance and to leave home was a radical request that was unheard of. In his culture, in Jesus' day, what he was really asking for was the death of his father. He was cutting himself loose from his whole legacy, everything that was sacred and holy, everything that was home. For in that day more than our own, a person was identified by a father's house, by the village from which he stemmed. All of his life, that was his identity. His total social security was in belonging to a house and to a village and to a community. That's who he was. And so, the request of this young man was a horrible request that implicated him in the wish for the death of his father. I don't know whether Sigmund Freud ever talked about this parable or not. I've never seen a reference to it, but I think he could have done a lot with it because, according to Freud, the origin of religion is in the wish for the death of the father which then creates guilt which then needs atonement. I don't think Freud had it all right by any means, but I wonder without reading Freud back into Jesus or taking contemporary psychological insights that we do have from the behavioral sciences and reading them into the parable, I wonder if Jesus was not essentially, intuitively, instinctively understanding that there is within us that which would leave home. © Grand Valley State University �Take Care How You Kick Over Traces Richard A. Rhem Page 4   As a matter of fact, I think the two sons are not two different sons; I think the two sons live in all of us, whether it be two sons or two daughters, both reside in the heart of each of us and there is in each of us that which would leave home, that which would rebel, that which would cut loose. And I suspect that Jesus understood that as an observer of human nature and human behavior. He didn't need Freud to tell him about that; he didn't need our modern psychological insights to know that. Truth and illumination were not born in the 20th century. And if we walk around that for a moment, I wonder if Jesus was really condemning that leaving of home altogether because we have learned, have we not, that it's necessary to leave home. Now, in the maturation process of every individual, is it not true that we must go through a process of individuation? Must we not separate? Doesn't every parent want a son or a daughter to move from under their roof and to find that kind of independence that will bring to expression the fullness of that person? I shake my head at how in earlier years I preached this parable and it's still being preached that way all over the church, as though this is the parable of the Prodigal Son and as though it is a warning to young people that there are great dangers in loose living. That is to trivialize this story. As a matter of fact, aimless freedom or autonomy, in this case, can lead to decadence and destruction. There's no question about that. But, that's not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about that within us that necessarily and normally and naturally must find its own independent expression. And I think what Jesus is saying is that's a very perilous journey. Well, it is a perilous journey, isn't it? Is there a parent among us that doesn't hold their breath when our youth are going through that process? A few weeks ago my elderly sisters came up to visit Nancy after her surgery and one of my sisters is here today, but I talk about my sisters once in a while because they hear the tapes and they feel good just to know that I'm still thinking about them, but my sisters were remarking about what a nice boy I was, what a nice child, and the fact that as a youth I never brought any grief to my parents. The years of adolescence when one ought to be separated, I just sort of lollygagged along and didn't cause any particular concern, to which Nancy responded that she sort of wished that I would have gone through my adolescence when I was with my parents rather than with her. I don't know whether we just go through our adolescence one time. I was comforted hearing one psychologist speak one day who said for the male, adolescence is from 17 to 47. But, as a matter of fact, folks, it is necessary for us to move away from home in order that we can be at home with who we are, and it is a perilous process. My sermon title this morning is, "Be Careful How You Kick Over the Traces," because the pitfalls are many and potential disaster lies around every corner, and there is no parent that has not had sleepless nights over a son or a daughter who was struggling to find themselves. And it isn't just the adolescents. Those of us who are old enough to have children and grandchildren © Grand Valley State University �Take Care How You Kick Over Traces Richard A. Rhem Page 5   know that there is never a time when our children get beyond the pale of our concern and are not the subjects of our prayers. To be human isn't easy, and to find that kind of independent expression of the fullness of our own person - that doesn't come without some struggle and some serious mistakes and often some pain and some dreadful hurt. But, that's really enough about that younger son, because that's not the focus of the story. As I said, the focus of the story is the father. That father in the story is a window that Jesus offers us into the very heart of God, and if good religion is to reflect accurately the nature of God, then it must listen to Jesus in this story, because if the son's request is outrageous, then the father's response is incredible! For, what does he do? He gives him the goods and lets him go. And that is the point at which it is most difficult for us to emulate the behavior of God, this God reflected in this story by Jesus. He loves him and lets him go and stands by the side of the road, trembling, watching and waiting, hoping that this one will return. That is the picture of a love that is unconditional. It is the story of a relationship whose bonds are love with no other strings attached. And even those of us who love our kids find that there are times when we get into a tug of war and a battle of the wills and, love them as we may, our own egos do get involved. There is a power struggle often before parents and child come to reconciliation and peace. But, that's the amazing thing about the biblical nature of God - that God loves and lets go and keeps arms outstretched, waiting for the free and uncoerced return. This is where the Church has failed so miserably and not just the Church, but institutional religion, period. For institutional religion moves into the role of parent, not after the model of God, but after the model of the human parent, the stern, demanding parent, the parent that, if Freud has any truth at all in him, is the parent that we would kill, the parent that we must flee, the parent that we rebel against. The Church becomes the upholder of virtue and of morals, the guardian of society's values; the Church condemns and excludes, draws lines, and to that extent conveys a distorted image of God and sets forth altogether the wrong message, for that message is being rejected en masse! Institutional religion is being left in droves because there is that within the human person that simply will not remain in that position of childhood and servitude and, consequently, God is dishonored through God's own people. I said the message is God is love and you said, "Ho-hum, so what else is new?" That is new, that God is that loving, that love is that unconditional, that love is finally irresistible, that to the rebel, there is finally nothing against which to rebel! There is no barrier that needs to be overcome; there is no seawall against which to break one’s waves, for God stands with arms outstretched and the only thing that can break the rebellion is a love in which there is no fight, and if I read this story accurately at all, that's the amazing news of that which Jesus taught and in his life embodied - that God is love, period. © Grand Valley State University �Take Care How You Kick Over Traces Richard A. Rhem Page 6   How do you fight love? When the son comes home, no questions are asked, no condemnation is offered, just salty tears and arms that embrace. Because all that God is ever about is to bring God's children home. Years and years ago I read an old sermon illustration; it's about as musty as the book in which it now resides. It's about a son who left home with brokenness with his father and went out and got rid of all of the rebellion and came on hard times and sent a letter to his father saying on such and such a day I will pass by the house. If I would be welcome, tie a white handkerchief in the branch of the old apple tree in the front yard. And as he approached the homestead with heart pounding, he saw not a handkerchief tied in the apple tree. He saw hundreds of white handkerchiefs tied to every branch of the apple tree, because finally, all the divine parent wants is for you to come home. I invite you this morning, whether you're young and rebellious or old and crotchety, why don't you come home? Come on home. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/20040fa0f427ae2ec56ac12b2cd6cfe7.mp3 c62eb01261940b58ba78f89dff12a047 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XII Series Prodigal Son Parable Scripture Text Isaiah 1:3, Luke 15:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960818 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-08-18 Title A name given to the resource Take Care How You Kick Over the Traces Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 18, 1996 entitled "Take Care How You Kick Over the Traces", as part of the series "Prodigal Son Parable", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 1:3, Luke 15:13. God is Love Inclusive Grace Nature of Religion Prodigal Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4a107a18add49469fa889d93f0b09e9c.pdf da105f13faa7299291aeaab9eb8fe17a PDF Text Text It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Text: Isaiah 40:27; Luke 15:28, 31 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 25, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon The parable of the Prodigal Son, as I indicated last week, is misnamed. It is really a story of a father with two sons, and it's not really about the two sons so much as about the father. It is about the incredible, amazing love of the father who is, in the story Jesus told, a symbol for God. This story is about the love of God, and it was told, initially, because there were those of the religious leadership that were grumbling because Jesus was receiving all kinds of people without condition, sitting at table with them, breaking bread with them. He told this story in order to respond to that criticism and that condemnation of his ministry. Last week we focused on the younger son who was a rebel who sought his freedom, or better, his autonomy. And we noted that Jesus just might have been saying it is necessary to separate and to move out in the natural, normal maturation process. But, it's a very perilous move and it can lead to selfdestructive behavior, decadence and despair. But, he told not only of that younger son who left home; he told, also, of the elder brother who stayed home. And just as the younger son in his move from home cut himself off from that whole spiritual legacy that was his and became homeless, so Jesus says in this story, the elder brother living all of his days at home righteously, responsibly, faithfully, seriously, nonetheless was just as homeless as his younger brother. For Jesus was saying that it is possible to be homeless by leaving or by staying, but failing to delight and to bask in the love of God that is the mark of the house of God. The younger son broke the father's heart because he left. The elder brother just as surely broke the father's heart because he stayed without joy. And so, for a bit this morning, having focused on the younger son last week, let's linger with that elder brother a bit because, as I said last week, probably Jesus was not talking about two kinds of persons so much as the two persons that live within us. Is there not the rebel in us whose recklessness can lead to decadence, as well as the diligent, elder brother whose serious obedience is given grudgingly, without joy? Don't we know moments in our lives when we are the one and the other? So, for a time, think with me about that elder brother. © Grand Valley State University   �It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Richard A. Rhem Page 2   The story is a sad story. It's a sad story because it's always a pity to pout at a party, and there was a party going on. There was a celebration. The elder brother coming in from the field hears the sound of singing and dancing and he calls a servant to say, "What's the meaning of this?" I wonder, what do you think? I suspect he knew what was going on, don't you? Don't you suspect he knew the father well enough to suspect that maybe the young rascal came home and all of the joy and celebration was about that? And I wonder if he didn't call the servant to confirm his suspicions in order not to have to go too close and be drawn into the circle of light and celebration. It's a sad story because, hearing the news, we're told that he was angry and he would not go in. He stayed outside the party, paralyzed, as it were, by that anger that welled up within him and erupted, probably surprising him, himself. There he stands. Can you get into his skin? The best way to hear the word of God is to put ourselves in the characters. Have you been there? Have you felt that kind of resentment and anger overcoming you in a moment, so unexpectedly that it absolutely paralyzed you, and you were consumed with a fury and a wrath that even scared you a bit? That's the sad story of the elder brother. I suspect that we've all been there on occasion, because I suspect that there are more elder brothers and sisters in church than younger rebels who have returned. Well, in a congregation like Christ Community, there are some rebels who've returned. But, by and large, we are the folks who stayed home, aren't we? We are the folks who've been serious and responsible and diligent and faithful, while the masses have left, seemingly rather carefree and reckless. Apparently they could not care less about whether the church lives or dies. I mean, we've stayed home, haven't we? We've taken upon ourselves the heavy burden for keeping the church alive, for God's sake. So, I suspect that when I ask you to get inside the skin of the elder brother, probably many of us here have been there a time or two. The elder brother is a type that is found often in church, because the elder brother was a good and righteous and serious and faithful and diligent and responsible person. But the thing that he didn't realize was that underneath, he was also a very angry person, full of resentment. I have a large library and I love books, and one of the most beautiful books in my library is a book by Henri Nouwen, the Dutch Catholic priest. You've probably read some of Nouwen's works; he's written a number of things - contemplative, meditative, about the spiritual life. Very fine writer. This book is called The Return of the Prodigal, and it's bound beautifully, and it is a meditation on his contemplation of Rembrandt's painting of the return of the Prodigal, and there are several colored plates of that painting in various scenes sprinkled throughout the book. That text is Nouwen's encounter with that painting. He tells about a time in his life when he was worn out, he had been carrying on his ministry, he had been teaching and traveling, he had been engaged in Latin America, concerned about the injustices there. He was really burning out and he came to a point when he knew that it was time for him to take a sabbatical or change his © Grand Valley State University �It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Richard A. Rhem Page 3   course or something, and he went into an office and there he saw a poster of this painting of the return of the Prodigal, and something in it drew him and he was drawn to it and struck by it and he saw the embrace of the aged father embracing the son, kneeling, weeping at his feet. Nouwen said, "I saw myself in that return of the younger son. I so yearned and longed for the embrace and the touch of the father. I needed to come home." It was a short time later that he was invited to travel to Russia and he went to St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, where in The Hermitage Gallery, is the original of the Rembrandt painting. Through special arrangements he was enabled to spend hours sitting in front of that painting, just contemplating it, seeing himself in the painting, thinking about Rembrandt, thinking about all of the dynamics of that painting, finding in himself that longing to be held by the father and to go home. He did change his career, of course, and he settled in and things began to move for him again and he shared with a friend one day that he identified with that younger son who'd been embraced by the father, and the friend said to him, "Henri, don't you really think that you're the elder brother?" And it took him aback. Then he began to think about it and he began to study the elder brother and think of his own life, and he said, "I had to conclude I was the elder brother." He said, "At the age of six I was already committed to the priesthood. I was the oldest child of the family. All of the expectations of the eldest child were upon me. All of my life I had tried to please; I had tried to measure up. All of my life I had been serious and responsible; I had obeyed my parents; I had obeyed my teachers; I had obeyed my bishops. I had given my whole life to the service of God. And as I thought about myself as the elder brother, I had to admit that there was some subterranean stream in me of resentment and of anger." He said, "I never cut loose, I never kick up my heels, and yet as I thought about my life at that point in my life, I recognized that there was a subtle anger within me and a resentment over against those who had been reckless and careless and seemingly to have gotten away with it. I was resentful about those who could go out and turn the tables upside down and then come back repentant and receive all grace. The more I thought about it, the more I recognized that it was me in that picture, that I was the one, underneath, resentful and angry for all of the diligence and all of the faithful service I had rendered." And Nouwen identified that which is the central characteristic of the elder brother, which is an anger that manifests itself in resentment. And it is a serious disease, and there are few of us who escape it totally, for whether we be the elder child like Nouwen or some other scenario is written over our lives, as a matter of fact, most of us at some time have to own up to having held a pity party, that "poor me" syndrome, the fact that I've tried so hard, I've worked so hard, I've been so faithful, I've been so righteous, and nobody really appreciates it; nobody really appreciates me. Who would ever throw a party for me? So, if there's a party around, I'm going to pout at the party because I'm feeling sorry for myself. © Grand Valley State University �It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Richard A. Rhem Page 4   I think Nouwen put his finger on that besetting sin of good people. It is doing everything right and hating it. It is being absolutely square and resenting it. And it doesn't take simply a child-parent relationship. The elder brother was resentful against the father, but those of us who are parents can pull the same trick on our children. Now, I'm sure there's not a father or a mother here that has ever given even a hint to a son or a daughter that, in light of the sacrifice that we've made for our sons or daughters, one might think that a phone call or a visit might have been in order. I'm sure that there's not a parent here who has ever felt sorry for themselves over against the tremendous job we've done in nurturing and raising and working hard and scraping and sacrificing for our children, and look what we get! And, it doesn't even have to be within the family. It can be among colleagues; it can be among friends. "Look what a friend I've been to so-and-so. Do you think that there's any reciprocity, any appreciation? In fact, as I think about it, nobody really appreciates me and I really do feel sorry for myself, and when somebody's having a good time and celebrating, I'm going to be outside, pouting at the party, because I am so angry." And the problem is no one can do anything for you because the problem's inside. It's a kind of feeling of inadequacy, a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem. And so, it doesn't matter how much affirmation we get. It doesn't matter how many kudos are sent our way. It's because we don't love ourselves and respect ourselves enough and we can't believe anybody else would love and respect us. I think that's sort of what's going on with the elder brother syndrome. I see this in the Church because, again, I think we in the Church tend to be more the elder brother than the younger rebel. I ran into it in 1988 when I wrote that article on the extent of God's grace, and I found that people were really angry to think that perhaps the grace of God was broader than the scope of our human imagination, that maybe the grace of God could embrace even those who were outside our serious, dedicated, diligent, faithful, responsible commitment to the kingdom of God. At that time, a colleague of mine was quoted to me as saying, "If he believed the grace of God was that broad, he would give up the ministry and start selling used cars." We've experienced it recently again, haven't we? The Detroit Free Press headlines said, "If Dick Rhem Is Right, the Heart of the Gospel is Cut Out." That sounds to me an awful lot like those grumbling people who condemned Jesus for breaking bread with those who were outside the acceptable parameters. What is there about the Church? Do we feel put upon because we have stayed home? Do we feel jealous of those who have simply left? Do we resent the fact that we have a commitment to be faithful to the mission of the Church and to the broader kingdom of God? Do we do it, but do we hate it? It's such a pity, because the kingdom of God is about dancing and singing and feasting. It is to be a banquet. It is to be a ball. And it's a pity to pout at a party, but the Christian Church members are not the most spontaneous, joyful people in © Grand Valley State University �It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Richard A. Rhem Page 5   the world, but we should be. So, whether it's in our individual lives or whether it's in our corporate lives, it's a rather sobering thing to size up the elder brother and then see the contours written in our own hearts. But, again, this story isn't about those two boys at all. It's about God. And the thing I think I never really appreciated in this old, old story, although I would have thought that there wasn't another phrase in it that could have passed me by in the many years of my life, but the thing that amazes me is that the love of God is absolutely consistent over against the younger rebel and the older pouter. For, just as God the father runs to meet the youngster who is returning, so the father leaves the party and comes out into the darkness to plead with the elder son, and the word he uses in the Hebrew language does not mean "son," but "my child;" it is the word of affection. The father comes out to this elder son and pleads with him to come and the elder son begins a tirade, listing all of his credentials and all of his responsible actions and behavior, holding up to the father the dissolute life of "this son of yours," whom he doesn't even claim as "my brother." The anger just spews out of him! He can't contain it anymore. The dam bursts! To which the father says, "My child, all I have is yours. You are always with me." No accusation. No condemnation. Not of the younger one. Not of the older one. Just, "Look, look, I love you and I value you, and everything I have is yours." Unconditional love. If it's amazing that over against the younger one, he could let him go and love him still, this is absolutely incredible. I mean, it's not so hard to take a rascal back, is it? Particularly when the kid's weeping at your feet? One can embrace such a youngster. But, this elder brother standing stiffly in his selfrighteous pride, resentful and angry, spewing out to the father all of hurts over all of the years - to love that one? Well, I might have gone out, but I sure would have let him know how disgusted I was with his behavior. And then if he wouldn't have come in, I would have said, "Then stay there and rot!" But, you see? That's the amazing nature of the love of God. Jesus couldn't portray it any more vividly. It's not simply a greater degree of our love. It is a love divine. It is the love of God. And right now I think there's some of you that may feel a kind of constriction in your innards because you know that it is your nature to pout at the party. And I wish I knew how to set you free. I wish I knew how to set your tongue to singing and your feet to dancing, to lead you into the spontaneity of joyful celebration. I know what you need, what you yearn for - it is to be loved, it is to be valued. And I wish for just a moment this morning you could really hear Jesus, really hear the story, really put yourself in the skin of the elder son, acknowledge it, confess it, own it and then let the love of God wash over you. I tell you, it is so transforming, if once you feel it. Friday night Nancy and I were invited to the Sabbath service of the Muskegon Temple where I was invited to give the sermon. In 1984, in Schenectady, that congregation that I served for three months had an annual exchange with the Jewish community in Schenectady and, while I was there, that exchange took © Grand Valley State University �It’s a Pity to Pout at the Party Richard A. Rhem Page 6   place and we went to the Sabbath service in the temple. I have to tell you, I couldn't be free. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to pray. I wasn't even sure if Jesus' name wasn't attached to the prayer, if it was ... I mean, that's where I was. I was thinking about all of these things, and what I want to say to you is that, in that experience, I wasn't present with those people. I was there in body, but I wasn't present with them. Friday night it was quite different, because I know, I have experienced enough now to know those are God's beloved children, and I could rejoice when the candles of the Sabbath were lighted and when the bread was blessed and when the wine was poured. It was such an enriching, warming, human experience. And I could sing. And I could dance. And I could be there. Because, you see, the Kingdom of God is about a love that is so incredible that it far exceeds the measure of our lives, and God would have each one of us know down in our depths that we are valued and loved and hallowed, whether we've kicked up the traces or kept plowing the furrows. Whether we've been wild and decadent, or righteous and resentful - God wants us home. God wants us to know we're loved, and if you could believe that this morning, if you could feel that this morning, it would be wonderful, because it's such a pity to pout at a party! Reference: Henri J. M. Nouwen. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. Doubleday, 1992. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3244b2d75715702d2c2fa0555c27d47a.mp3 378c350cf56df29a107db7c7d751760f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIII Series Prodigal Son Parable Scripture Text Isaiah 40:27, Luke 15:28, 32 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Henri J. M. Nouwen. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, 1992 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-0-19960825 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-08-25 Title A name given to the resource It's a Pity to Pout at the Party Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 25, 1996 entitled "It's a Pity to Pout at the Party", as part of the series "Prodigal Son Parable", on the occasion of Pentecost XIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 40:27, Luke 15:28, 32. Inclusive Love Transforming Love Unconditional Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/acaa4444137c5609f10cc5295954d3c9.pdf 1c004d35dc58cf552853a85a5bd69844 PDF Text Text Love That Puts You Out of Control The Nature of the Love of God Micah 7:19; Luke 15:20 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 1, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon The religious people were grumbling at the life and the action of Jesus. They were grumbling because his attitude and his behavior were breaking down the lines that they had drawn that indicated who was "in" and who was "out." His behavior and his attitude embracing all, as the text says, receiving tax collectors and sinners, was distressing to the religious establishment, because they had set up a purity code so that everyone was clear on the rules. Those who were" in" knew they were "in" and those who were "out" knew that they were "out." Those who were "in," even if perhaps with some protestation of great humility, nonetheless were effected with an almost inevitable self-righteous satisfaction, while those who were "out" also received that message and considered themselves "out," unworthy. In the arrangement of that day in which the lines were clear, Jesus' manner of receiving all sorts and conditions of humankind was terribly confusing, and those who were in authority were afraid that there might be those who were "out" who might attempt to come in. And so, in response to this criticism, Jesus told three stories, and in telling these three stories, he was seeking to create a window through which could be seen the amazing love of God. These three stories have as their central thrust the nature of the love of God. Now, as I have said often enough, we have failed to focus on the central thrust of this parable as is indicated by the very name by which it is known - The Parable of The Prodigal Son. It's not a parable about a prodigal son. It is a parable about the love of God. It is a parable in which Jesus portrays a love divine, a love that stands in sharp contrast to all human loves, a love that dumbfounds us and confounds us because it is so strikingly in contrast to the love that we manifest in family and in larger community. It is a love that causes us to catch our breath and wonder if it can be true, and if indeed it is true, a love that certainly makes our human society impossible. Jesus, in this parable, was responding to his critics in order to justify his behavior on the basis of his understanding of God, of the love of God, which, if I understand the story correctly, was his understanding of the nature of reality that at the very heart of things, deep down at the core of things, there is a love © Grand Valley State University   �Love That Puts You Out of Control Richard A. Rhem Page 2   such that it continues to cause us to stand in amazement. It is a love, I would suggest, that puts us out of control. In saying that, what I mean is that it is a love that causes us to loose our grip on the reins. It is a love that finally dissolves that frantic grip on the reins of our life, because if there is anything that threatens us as human beings, it is to be out of control. I don't care if you are wild and wicked like the young one, or stiff and righteous like the older son, there is a commonality that binds them together and, indeed, I believe, is a thread woven through the fabric of the lives of all of us, and that is a desire to be in control. "Don't surprise me." Now, we have not only misnamed that parable, thereby missing the central focus of Jesus' story, the love of the Father, but we have also, in its preaching, focused where Jesus' focus was not. We have focused on that younger son and we have (I'm talking about we preachers. I have been guilty of it in the past and I have heard it preached this way often enough.), we have taken this marvelous story of Jesus about the love of God, and made it a story about this younger son who went off into the far country. Then we made some moralistic applications appealing to youth not to kick over the traces, not to leave home, showing the dangers thereof and the decadence that's at the end of that road. But, then, we come in with our evangelistic appeal saying that the conversion point of the young son is when he came to his senses. Have you ever heard it preached this way? He was in the far country, he came to a deep misery, but thank God he came to himself, he came to his senses. Well, I want to suggest to you that's not a critical point at all, for that young rascal was just as much in control in the far country, in the pigpen as he had been any moment of his life. That young boy woke up to the fact that, while things were boring back home, at least there was a bunkhouse with a bunk and three squares a day, and he analyzed this situation in an ongoing, calculating human fashion and said to himself, "You know, it may be boring there, but I'm very hungry here." And so, simply adding up the pros and cons, coming to take account of things, what does he do? He just sits down and says, "You know, I think it's better at home." So, he goes home. He writes himself a speech, he memorizes it, he rehearses it, and all the time he's still in control, still writing the script, throwing in a little regret and remorse for effect. But, as a matter of fact, in coming to himself, that's precisely what he came to - he came to himself and his ongoing desire to survive and to make it with the reins still well intact in his own hands. The young rascal was still in charge. And it was true of the elder brother, as well. He may have been seething with anger throughout all of the years of his responsible, faithful, diligent service to the father. He may have done it all without joy. He may have grumbled and been resentful underneath, but there's one thing about it - it was safe. He was in control. He was his own person, miserable person that he was. I think that's so characteristic of all of us, isn't it? Isn't maybe our greatest fear that we'll spin off into free fall, that we'll lose control, that we'll lose our grip? Wouldn't we be © Grand Valley State University �Love That Puts You Out of Control Richard A. Rhem Page 3   willing to do almost anything, go almost anywhere, bear almost any burden if at least we could say we are in control? Isn't there something deep in the human person that longs for that kind of autonomy? And again, it doesn't matter where on the spectrum of human personality you fall. I find it in all of us. "Don't surprise me. Let me write the script." Some risk a bit and pay the price. Some play it safe and never play at all. But, depending on the personality type, the commonality is the desire to be in control. I'm suggesting that Jesus confronts us with the love of God that is the only thing that can finally dissolve that tight rein with which we hold our lives in tow. It is love that puts us out of control, and it is love that brings us into an arena of vulnerability where we can relax and rest in the abyss of divine love. Love is the only transforming agent in the world. Threat can keep us in line for a bit. Fear can keep us somewhere down the straight and narrow. There are control mechanisms by which we control one another, our families. The Church has been heavily into control, thereby justifying everything that Freud has ever said about the anger over against the father, the father complex, because the Church has played the role of the stern parent. Control. That's the name of the game. We try to control and we try to stay in control. That word is so common that I wondered where it came from, so I took my big, fat dictionary and looked it up. It comes from the French language, made up of two French words, neither of which I can pronounce. But, it means against the role. And then I was reminded that when I travel through Europe, Germany for example, go across the border or go into a bank or something, one sees this word, Kontrol. And what that means is that you are checked against the role. Guard the borders. Make sure nobody slips through. Check against the role. And we spend so much of our time making sure we measure up against the role that there will be no surprises for us, either. Control, that my life is checked off on the list. Jesus gives us a picture of the love of God that absolutely decimates control, dissolves that frantic effort to hold on that tight grip, allowing us for the first time in our lives, once we taste it, to let go and to rest in the love of God. That's what his critics didn't understand. They had made it very clear who was "in" and who was "out," and those who were "out," as I said, considered themselves "out" and had given up on themselves. And those who were "in" considered themselves "in," never understanding the fact that they could be totally alienated within, homeless at home. Jesus was painting the picture of the love of God, which dissolves those distinctions and transforms. The young rascal came to himself, to his senses in the far country. But, that was not the point of his conversion. It was the beginning of his movement toward home, but he wasn't transformed until he allowed himself to be embraced by the father, whose arms had never been anything but outstretched. © Grand Valley State University �Love That Puts You Out of Control Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Threat can control us. Fear can control us. Reason, less successfully, can control us; but love alone can transform us. That's the love of God, and that is the deepest reality of the cosmos, and that's what Jesus was trying to say as he explained his action of welcoming all comers. It's a powerful story, isn't it? Vivid story. The only drawback is that it's so powerful and so vivid that we begin to think about God as the Divine Parent and we forget that this is a parable and that the father figure is a symbol. God is person but God is more than person. The father symbol must be seen through to the larger reality. Jesus is not talking just about God as a Super-Parent; he's not talking about God as one more person, be that person bigger than life. He is not pointing to God as the CEO of the Universe. Jesus uses the symbol of the person of the father in order that we may see through that symbol to the vast background of reality, to that ground of all being. Jesus is trying to say, "Look! This is the way things really are at the core." What Jesus was trying to convey is the fact that in this brief life that we live, our three-score years and ten, or four-score years, or less or more, in this brief human experience of ours, what we are struggling to learn is what is true all the time - that we have come from love and that we move toward love and that we are, in the meantime, embraced by love. We have come from God and we will move to God and it is to God that we belong. I think what Jesus was trying to say was that what the younger son was seeking "out there" and the elder son missed at home was true for both of them all the time. It was demonstrated in the non-accusing, non-condemning, nonquestioning, warm embrace of the father of the younger. It was expressed by the father to the elder in the words, "My child, you are always with me. All I have is yours." Jesus was saying to the religious leaders of his day, the guardians of institutional religion, "My manner of life, what I am seeking to embody, is a picture of the nature of reality, of the heart of God. And it is true for all, all the time, always, for we have been created by love and we will move into the abyss of love, and, in the meantime, we are loved, because that's the deepest truth, and it's the only truth that can do for us the only thing that God really wants to do for us and that is to transform us into those who catch a glimpse of being loved and love in return. I mentioned last week Henri Nouwen's marvelous meditation on Rembrandt's painting of "The Return of the Prodigal," and how he had, at a point of his life feeling so burned out, longing for home and yearning for the embrace of the father, identified with the younger son, until a friend said to him, "Henri, you are really the elder brother," and he had to say, "I am the elder brother, having done it all right, all my life, and being a little resentful of it." And then sometime later another friend said to him, as he was speaking about that painting that had become such a part of his life, "All your life you've been one of the sons, whether the younger or the elder. Don't you think it's time you moved into the role of the father? All of your life you've been seeking recognition and friends and accomplishments and proper performance - all of your life, Henri, all of your life © Grand Valley State University �Love That Puts You Out of Control Richard A. Rhem Page 5   you have been on a quest. Isn't it time that you simply accept the fact that you are deeply loved in order that you may ask no quarter, but simply love in kind?" We never love supremely, obviously; always partially, often half-heartedly. But, isn't that really what God is about with us? If ever we could sense that the deep underground is nothing but love, and from that we have arisen, and to that we will return, and in that we can rest in the present. Ah! If we could taste it, I do believe we could share it. And if we could taste it, we would be home, we could create home. So, the deepest word of the Gospel is, "My children, come home." © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9ec3172efd9725fe222fdea7c7d2c4d1.mp3 be0f115168b26c07092fd9572e268c37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIV Series Prodigal Son Parable Scripture Text Micah 7:19, Luke 15:20 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960901 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-09-01 Title A name given to the resource Love That Puts You Out of Control Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 1, 1996 entitled "Love That Puts You Out of Control", as part of the series "Prodigal Son Parable", on the occasion of Pentecost XIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 7:19, Luke 15:20. Love at the core of reality Nature of God Prodigal Love Transforming Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9b1b06d567bb308ae88a36e5c1731a15.pdf f4d4c3b3527d907a676051cf97310ed7 PDF Text Text Holy Smoke: Ancient Forms; Fresh Expressions Text: Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 5:13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 15, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon I remember it as though it were yesterday. I had occasion to visit overnight the city of Pittsburgh and, wandering down in the midst of the metropolitan area, there was a church and I rather naturally walked into the church. As I walked in, however, I had an experience for which I was not prepared. Something happened to me. I was overcome with the beauty of it all. I still remember the pillars that soared heavenward, melting into high, vaulted arches. I remember the stained glass window through which filtered the soft light of twilight, predominantly blue. I remember the altar, the candles. That was sacred space. And in that moment I was transfixed; I was transported out of myself; I had an aesthetic experience that mediated to me the Holy. The Holy Other. It was my first experience, even though I had been in the ministry some years by then – it was the first time that I had ever stood in awe, affected thus by space, sacred space. The experience changed me because I had grown up in a tradition that prided itself on having thrown off all of the trappings of the Roman Catholic tradition in the Reformation of the 16th century. I think the only thing the Dutch Calvinists didn't throw out was the organ. Thank God for that. The Heidelberg Catechism said God's people will be taught, not through images and pictures, but through the lively preaching of the Word. The architecture of the Reformation Church was symbolic; the pulpit was in the center on which lay the open Word of God, which was the means by which the congregation was to be nurtured. There was an almost total lack of sense of how beauty, architecture, well-crafted, and symbols, well-appointed, can be a means of communicating the Holy. Not a word was spoken on that evening in Pittsburgh, but it was a transforming moment for me. I learned something. And it caused me to reflect on my own experience. Some years ago in the city of Leiden in The Netherlands, I was wandering about and I went into a church. It was a Reformed Church, the Highland Church, a great big structure that towered over the town. It had been redone inside. It was stark and sterile. It was whitewashed. It was stone; it was simplicity itself, and there was a certain strength and power about it, but the best word I could use to describe it is sterile. I wandered on down the street to the Roman Catholic © Grand Valley State University �Holy Smoke Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Church and it was like entering a warm, embracing womb, and in that experience I understood the contrast between my tradition and the tradition that had been repudiated, and I recognized that the Reformation was a reaction, and reactionary movements always lose more than they gain. I had come to Pittsburgh from Midland Park, New Jersey. My apologies to those who are present from that congregation this morning, but let me say, in coming there, I found exactly what I had been used to in the Reformed tradition, only worse. There was this little church and then they needed more room, and so they knocked this wall out. Now the church was wider than it was long. But, if you knocked the wall out, how do you hold the ceiling up? Well, you plunk a couple of pillars right in the aisle. We called them Aaron and Hur, the two guys who held Moses' arms up in prayer while Israel fought the battle. There they were. Ugly, iron poles! And it was rather low-ceilinged. You'd walk into that church and there was absolutely not a chance in the world that you would ever say, "Ah!" No, if all depended on the preacher, there's no preacher that is equal to a task like that. I went to a seminar down at McCormick Seminary a few years ago, a Presbyterian school. The Lutheran theologian, a great, great scholar, Joseph Sittler, was lecturing on the Apostles' Creed, and as an aside, he said, "You know, you Presbyterians always come at it through the head, whereas the Catholic tradition comes at it intuitively, through pageantry, through color, through scent and sight." And it was like a light bulb went on for me and I recognized the possibility of combining the best of the Reformation tradition with that which had always characterized the Roman Catholic tradition, and characterizing the Roman Catholic tradition would be also characterizing the Temple of Israel where the space, the sacred space already preached, where the sacred space communicated a sense of the Holy, and that entering the space, one was immediately aware that one was in a place set apart where now and then, here and there, God would be met, as it were, face-to-face. Mine has been a long pilgrimage of having to come to understand that the experience in which we are now engaged is an experience which potentially offers us an encounter with God, an encounter with God which is an experience unspeakable. Now, you see the ridiculous nature of what I am presently engaged in. I am speaking about the unspeakable. I am trying to portray the ineffable. I am attempting through reasoned discourse to point to an experience that is beyond conceptual description. And what I am trying to do is to invite you to reflect on what we are really engaged in in these moments. I don't denigrate preaching, for I believe that it is important that there be a reflection on experience. I do not believe that the heart can long rest where the mind cannot follow, and if we have feeling periods, it can soon degenerate into sentimentality and maudlin mush. I am not denigrating the thinking dimension of faith. But, I want to say to you this morning that the very heart and center of a community of faith is an experience in which we open our lives to the touch of the © Grand Valley State University �Holy Smoke Richard A. Rhem Page 3   living God Who is not at our disposal, Whom we cannot manipulate, Whose touch we cannot command, but before Whom we open our lives in prayerful anticipation that there might be a transforming moment such as I experienced quite unexpectedly walking into a magnificent holy space. Such that might happen to you this morning through the phrase of a hymn or the sound of the organ or a line of an anthem or a paragraph of the prayer, or the moment of placing baptismal water on a beautiful child - that moment when there would be a catch in your throat and a tear in the eye. Last Tuesday there was a journalist here from The Chicago Tribune who wanted to cover our story, and I spent a couple of hours with him. He's an Orthodox Jew. He said to me, as all of us feel we must confess to priests and pastors and rabbis, "I'm not as observant as I ought to be." "But," he said, "when I go to synagogue, I go to the orthodox synagogue, because when I go..." (I mean, like he was saying, "If I am going to go, after all, I want something that will grab me.) And then he told me a bit of his own story, how he shares his life with a woman who is a pure rationalist, born of Communist parents, committed atheists; she herself is atheist, who believes anything beyond the parameters of human reason doesn't exist and isn't valid. He said, "Do you know what it's like to share your life with a pure rationalist?" I said, "No, not really. My wife cries easily." But, coming to Christ Community, he had read all of the news reports, and so he was expecting to meet in me someone similar to his wife, a kind of a rationalist, a reasoning sort, one heavy on thought and short on mystery. And I tried to say to him that's not who I am and that's not who Christ Community is. I said we are a passionate people with deep commitment, and we bow before the Mystery that is beyond us and we acknowledge the mystery of human suffering and that whole dimension of human experience, which is beyond our ability to reduce to a neat formula. We had a wonderful conversation for a couple of hours, and then I took him through the building and we ended here, in the sanctuary. I turned the chancel lights on; we walked through the doors and down the center aisle, and about in the middle of the center aisle, he stopped and said, "Oh! This is beautiful. This is a Christian Church!" And I said, "Yes, it is." I was so pleased that this sacred space, even without all of you beautiful people, but with its appointments, with its height, with those symbols that speak to us of long-treasured traditions, that it grabbed him and he could identify this place as a place where just possibly one might be grabbed. And that's really rather a good description of that which we pray happens to us as we come here without our being able to predict it or guarantee it, coming upon us unexpectedly, sometimes in the strangest ways. © Grand Valley State University �Holy Smoke Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Have you known it? That moment when suddenly there was that which washed over you and you were quite overwhelmed, when you, as it were, lost control, when you experienced vulnerability, recognizing the fragility of your existence, and then, because we have been nurtured in the grace of God and in that grace manifested in Jesus, we know that that Mystery into which we are caught up is a gracious, loving Mystery, and yet an awesome Mystery, full of majesty. It doesn't happen every Sunday. I know that. And for some, it may almost never happen. But, now and again, here and there, with this one or that one, there are those moments when we are taken out of ourselves and stretched beyond ourselves and experience ourselves being uplifted, transported. And an experience like that is enough. Just a moment like that will do quite well. An authentic moment like that, once in a while, will do for a lifetime. And we may return again and again and never be able to duplicate the experience. And yet, because we deal with the living God, we stand always in the potential of that inbreaking, or that emerging, or that overwhelming. It seems as though crises enable us more readily to be thus encountered. That's the way it was with Isaiah. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the whole temple shook in its foundation." Can't you see it? The vivid imagery; the temple filled with smoke, the smoke of the incense? The altar, the priests in their robes, and suddenly that whole space was filled with the majesty of God, the One Who sits on the throne, Whose train filled the temple. "I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and I heard the angels sing, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.'" And then, of course, that immediate response: "Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Ah, but in the vision, the angel takes tongs and a coal from off the altar and touches his lips and says, "Your guilt is removed." And then, as again is a very natural, normal kind of scenario, thus encountered, thus transformed, thus cleansed, the voice is heard, "Who will go for us? Whom shall we send?" The only authentication of a genuine experience of God is that which follows in the wake of it. The prophet says, "Here am I. Send me." The worship in heaven modeled after that worship in the temple, I'm sure. The writer John, in his vision, sees into the very heaven of heavens and he hears myriads and myriads and thousands and thousands of angels singing, "Worthy is © Grand Valley State University �Holy Smoke Richard A. Rhem Page 5   the Lamb, and Power and Glory and Wealth and Honor to the One Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever." You see, the Bible is full of that imagery. It's imagery! It's the only way one can stammeringly give witness to the ineffable experience of being caught up and overwhelmed and over washed with the Holy One. The journalist from The Chicago Tribune had followed the mega-church phenomenon; he had been to Willow Creek outside of Chicago, probably the most successful church in the country with masses of people coming, fantastic programming reaching a broad spectrum of human need. Don't hear what I'm going to say in any sense as a critique of that or a criticism of that, but as he said to me and as I have read myself, when you come up to the campus, you wouldn't know but what you were coming to the corporate headquarters of IBM. No cross, no banners, no organ; none of the traditional trappings of the Christian tradition or the Jewish tradition because there is an intentional attempt to reach those for whom all of this has no connection. We're at a point of new beginnings at Christ Community. We're on the threshold of a wonderful, new experience. But, I want to say to you at this point of new beginnings, that we will not jettison the ancient forms. We'll always seek to bring them to fresh expression. We'll always attempt to have the voice be contemporary, but it will be the ancient tradition and the old symbols, because I am not sure that every medium and mode can carry the weight, the weight of the glory of God. I am not sure that all of the present experimentation in much of the Church is not a desperate flailing in an attempt to find a way to success when, finally, there are some postures, there are some modes, there are some media that lend themselves to creating the transcendent moment. And there are others that I suspect can only be called pure entertainment. On the threshold of new beginnings, I am committed to worship that is full of grandeur, that is alive with glory, that will lift us into the presence of the Holy One, for I do believe that, finally, in the depths of our soul, what we long for more than anything else, is just a moment in which we are held in the gracious embrace of the Eternal God, and we know that whatever other hell is breaking loose, nonetheless, all will be well. This place is committed to worship that ushers us into the Mystery and the Majesty of the Eternal God, and there is nothing more wonderful. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e2b530d115da81c8c7d532b70898cec.mp3 1f1f547b13ee1fc34af98a6e4e3bb514 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 Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 5:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960915 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-09-15 Title A name given to the resource Holy Smoke: Ancient Forms, Fresh Expression Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 15, 1996 entitled "Holy Smoke: Ancient Forms, Fresh Expression", on the occasion of Pentecost XVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 5:13. Divine Mystery Sacred Transcendence Worship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1ad295160c13adbdf800f133ae15de0f.pdf 83d69ba76376ccf621e50dd3bd9fa7f0 PDF Text Text Sola Scriptura: The Living Word From the series: New Wine for Century 21 Text: Mark 2:22; John 1:14 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 6, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon September was a time for team participation in the preaching, speaking about New Beginnings, the dimensions of life that are before us. October issues in the month of Reformation, and Reformation, as we have celebrated it here for 25 years, has not been a celebration of our over-againstness, over against the Roman Catholic tradition out of which the Protestant tradition arose in the 16th century, but it has been a celebration of that which I think has been central to the Reformation at its best, and that is that the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is not the Reformed Church; it is the Church of Jesus Christ, re-formed according to the word of God and always being re-formed. I have enjoyed preaching in the fall; I've often addressed doctrinal or theological themes out of our tradition because I think it's a time between the seasons, and that is who are, that is whence we have come, and therefore, to rethink the faith that's been a fall menu around here. This is an especially good time to do that, this year, 1996, October, 1996. For, even though we have been operating as an independent congregation with our life and our ministry before us, nonetheless, the news that we have, finally, closure from the other side and that all of that can be put behind us, even in the sense of the dangling details, makes this a special October, and a wonderful season for us to think about the Church in terms of its dynamism and its always being in a state of reformation and renewal. We were born out of a period of radical revolution. One of the interesting, fascinating things about human experience is that there is, again and again, an outburst of renewal, of new energy, of new life, of creativity, new vision, and everyone is excited and tastes a new wine. Then, the children's children's children, who lose that fresh blush of newness, begin to build an idol out of that which was once so dynamic and alive, and they miss the joy of that explosion of the Spirit and begin to bow to forms and structures that are simply the aftermath, the consequence, of that burning new life that came to expression. So, in this moment in our life together, we have a rare, rare opportunity to re-imagine the Church. © Grand Valley State University   �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 2   You know, this is a fantastic time in which to be alive. Everything is changing; everything is spinning wildly out of its course. The breakthroughs in science and the technological developments, the electronic age, the fact that the whole globe becomes a neighborhood - all of the interconnections and networking around the globe - nothing, nothing is stable, nothing is the same. Everything is up in the air! What an exciting time to be alive, isn't it? You might say, "Well, I could handle it a little bit slower paced, thank you very much." But we don't have that choice. As a matter of fact, we are a part of a time in history when everything is being re-negotiated and when there is nothing that is solid and secure. That can be anxiety-producing. But, if we could only get our mind and our heart set, and if we could only understand our human situation as it really is, a very limited and finite and partial view of things, but secure in the eternal God, the eternal God Who is a substratum and Who overshadows it all, we could then enter in with zest to this exciting time in which our whole world is opening up new possibilities, closing old doors and breaking through to new vistas. We at Christ Community have what is a very rare opportunity to reimagine the Church. This noon your governance groups are going to begin the first stage in planning the future, and what we are really focusing on today is October 27, an afternoon planned after our Stewardship Party in which your governance groups (and I hope there will be a hundred or more of the rest of you. Any of you that are interested, any of you that want to be a part of it, will come with us) will meet for a period of about four hours and think the Church, think Christ Community, think in a way we've never thought before. Re-imagine the Church! Think about Century 21. Think about our times, our community, our situation, and how we can re-imagine this church so that it will be in 2001 what we want it to be as we contemplate our future. October is Reformation month and I have often used it as a time to revisit some of the great central themes of the faith. So, I'm going to begin today with a new wine that needs to be poured into fresh wineskins, looking at some of the old, central themes that have made us what we are. A little Latin for our palate this morning: "Sola Scriptura," sola - only, or alone; scriptura - scripture. Sola Scriptura: the scripture alone as our authority for faith and for life, for what we believe and how we live. That will be followed in subsequent weeks with Sola Gratia, grace alone, Sola Fidei, faith alone, and Sola Deo Gloria, to God alone be glory. Those were great themes that arose in the 16th century. They were those great insights that came out of the tragic break of the Christian Church, forming, then, out of the Roman Catholic tradition, the Protestant tradition of which we are a part. But those Reformation themes, tragic though the split and the rending of the body of Christ was, those great themes brought forth fresh insights that were © Grand Valley State University �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 3   very, very critical, and we want to look at them together for a few weeks just to see how they look from this perspective and what they say to us and how they will continue to inform and shape our lives, as we move into a future in which we are re-imagining together what it means to be the Church of Jesus Christ. Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone. That is, that it is the holy scripture that gives us the content of our faith and that shows us the way of life. This book has been central in the life of the Reformation tradition. Historically, the pulpit was in the center and the open word in the Bible was an architectural statement about the centrality in the word of God, and we have been a part of that tradition that has taken seriously this written word. Now, let me begin by saying that the greatest living American historian of Christian doctrine, Jaroslav Pelikan, in his volume on the Reformation, in the preface to that volume, says "Sola Scriptura. It never was true." Never was true in the sense that in the 16th century the Reformation Party went to the word of God without any preconditions or any preconceptions or any biases or any prejudices as though they could go with a blank sheet, fresh to the Bible, find out something totally new and then live by that alone. Pelikan, a good historian, an honest scholar, says, "Come on, Reformation people, Lutheran and Reformed, let's admit it. There never has been a time when it was simply the Bible." The Reformation of the 16th century was highly contextual; it was coming out of that medieval structure and all of the dominance of that religious institution. There were actions and reactions, charges and counter charges, people with passion, people with jealousies, people with vested interest. There have never been any saints that have been absolutely pure and clear. There have only always been people who have been played upon by pressures from the left and from the right, who have been limited in their judgment and limited in their commitment, who have tried to find their way. So, Sola Scriptura, in the sense of the Protestant tradition being totally shaped by this book and this book alone? No. Never has been true. But, that doesn't mean that that claim or that ideal is not terribly important. And how did it arise? Well, you know a little Reformation history. You know about the good Roman Catholic monk, Martin Luther. Luther never intended to break the Church, never intended to leave the Church. He was a scholar, a good German monk, a very devout and pious man. He nailed his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg in order to engage in a discussion. There were points he wanted to debate. He thought that dialogue in the Church was important and necessary. What eventuated was far beyond anything he had ever conceived. But, in the process, he did get into the debate. There was a Dr. Eck, extremely acute, representing the Roman Catholic institution. In their debate, Eck, with all of his debating skills, put Luther into a corner where Luther had to admit that he believed that the Church in its council, had erred. And to say that the Church in its council had erred was to say that the Church could err, and therefore, that the © Grand Valley State University �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Church was not infallible, not infallible in its institutional expression, not infallible in its Papal head. And you can do a lot of things and get away with it, but you'd better not challenge the infallibility of a formidable institution like the Church of Rome. And so, in daring to stand up against the massive power of that institution, Luther eventually was excommunicated and we have a Protestant tradition now and an ongoing Roman Catholic tradition. But, Luther, in his experience, not as though he sat down and figured this out in his study, but just in the concrete experience, recognized that the Church in its human form, its historical form, had to be called to account. How do you call the Church to account? How do you call its leadership to account? How do you challenge its theological formulation or its ethical practice or its political organization? How do you call the Church to account? You have to have something over above; you have to have a normative principle. And I think it was out of that that we have that Reformation insight, sola scriptura. It was a radical insight. It was not, as it has become in our day, in conservative circles, that the Bible becomes the instrument of conservatism. The Bible became the hammer that broke open the conservatism of the Church. The Bible, in Luther's view and as the reformers came to understand it generally, was that instrument that held the Church accountable. It was that instrument that held the tradition accountable. Now, no Pope or Cardinal or Bishop could say, "But, the Church thus and so ..." because there was now a counter principle, and according to the Reformation insight, this counter principle was superior to, over against the ecclesiastical organization. This counter principle was superior to all creedal formulations and all traditional organization. The whole Christian tradition was held up to the light of examination that flowed from this book. Now, again, it wasn't the book as book, but it was the book as the container of the story. It was the book as the agent, the instrument through which the ongoing Word of God came to expression. What Luther was going through in the 16th century is no different from what Jesus went through in the first century. In the first Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus is criticized because his disciples don't carry on an ordinary fast. In that whole section he is criticized because they don't keep the Sabbath; he's criticized because he heals on the Sabbath and they pick grain on the Sabbath and so on. One would think, just between us, don't let it get out of this room, but, one would think if one read the Gospel, and if one tried to follow Jesus, one would think that one could never accuse another of being radical or of challenging tried and true ways, because isn't that the whole tension of the Gospel? Was not Jesus bringing to bear on his religious institution, on the conventional wisdom and the organizational structure, a critique from the Word of God? © Grand Valley State University �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 5   You see, the Word of God is never in a book. The book is the conveyor of the Word of God. But, the Word of God is the Word of God; it's living! It is powerful; it is creative; it is the breath of the Spirit here and now; it is always, always dynamic. It is always addressing us, encountering us, judging us, healing us, comforting us. Jesus was representing the tradition, which certainly was all wound up with what the prophets had spoken and Moses had written. That was the story. Not that its written form was so sacred, but the written form was that which conveyed the story. But the story was the story of the living God. The Word of God is something more than the book. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things that were made were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." This Word of God or this idea of God or this intention of God, this purpose of God was in the beginning, creating, effecting, and all things were made by the Word. This was the light that was coming into the world, the light that enlightens everyone coming into the world. This light. He came to his own, and his own didn't receive him, didn't understand, but to those that did hear and receive, to them gave he power to become the children of God, to be born anew, not by a human action, by a human will. But this was an action of God, you see, the living God. And in the fullness of time, at just the right time, this Word, this eternal Word, this eternal intention, this eternal purpose, this movement of God took on flesh and dwelt among us. The Word became flesh. The Word of God can never be captured, can never be put in a book as though somehow or other, if you've got a text, that's it. This book is the consequence of that encounter with God. The living God through the Spirit, speaks. And then, according to the good pleasure of God, there were those prophets and apostles who wrote it down, who gave witness to that encounter. And so, the Church says, that's our story, and we read it. We read it and, lo and behold, here and there, now and again it strikes fire in our hearts and in our imagination. The Church has a storybook. It doesn't worship the book. We don't say a lot about the Bible. You'll find a lot said about the Bible where people are rather insecure about whether or not it's really living and powerful. You only worry about the source of authority when you've got to thump somebody over the head or you're not really convinced about what you're doing. Insecurity is measured by the degree to which people pound this book. We don't say a lot about the book, but we try to turn the story loose every week, because we know that this is the means that God uses to address us. That is, to address us in our church structure, to critique us, to shatter our forms, to address us in our doctrinal formulations, to help us clear the ground so that sometimes in the light of new experience and new developments, we can have a new formulation, a deeper understanding. There is no creedal formulation that is sacred. There is no ecclesiastical structure that is sacred. We may not absolutize and make ultimate anything that human heart or mind or hand has constructed. That's the Protestant principle. God alone is sovereign. God alone is ultimate. And this book is a storybook that the living © Grand Valley State University �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 6   God uses, through the Spirit, through the foolishness of preaching like this, now and again, here and there, to shape us up, shake us up, make us new, create us again, call us to dance and to sing and to find some grand new future that we haven't yet dreamed of. You see, the book is radical. It will keep us from finding a resting place. It will keep us from being comfortable. It will keep us on the move. It will open for us and interpret for us the ever-changing landscape of a world that is spinning wildly out of orbit. It will continue to be that reference point that will help us to remember our past and to find our way into the future. And when we say sola scriptura, what we're really saying is that it holds a place in our life that no creed can hold, it holds a place in our life that no ecclesiastical structure can hold, it holds the normative place in our life so that, wherever we go in the future, however we shape ourselves, whatever we confess, however we live, it will be in dialogue with this storybook and with no other reference point. Now, this thing isn't read in a vacuum. We read it in the total complex of our lives. But, finally, prayerfully, humbly, openly, we place ourselves before this book and, sometimes, it's Bingo! The Jewish scholar, Martin Buber, suggests a way that I wish could be true for all of us as we approach the Bible. "Read the Bible as though it were something entirely unfamiliar." (That's our problem, you know. We already know before we go there what the answer is. And we generally go there in order to buttress the answer, rather than to be unmasked and undressed by a strange word). But, Buber says, "Read the Bible as though it were something entirely unfamiliar, as though it had not been set before you, ready made. Face the book with a new attitude as something new... let whatever may happen occur between yourself and it. You do not know which of its sayings or images will overwhelm you and mold you...." Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't it be great to read this book with fresh eyes so that something reached right out and grabbed you, made you cry or made you laugh? Or broke through to you like you never believed possible? Wouldn't that be wonderful?" But, hold yourself open. Do not believe anything a priori. Do not disbelieve anything a priori. Read aloud the words written in the book in front of you; hear the word you utter and let it reach you." Sola Scriptura. This book is loved and is a part of our devotion and our worship. We don't worship it, but we know that it tells the story and keeps the story alive and keeps us always potentially targets for the living voice of the living God. Sola Scriptura. There's no need to defend it, to try to buttress it beyond just simply opening ourselves to it. I'm accused of not taking the Bible seriously, but only by those who already know its contents before they ever open it afresh. Let's © Grand Valley State University �Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Richard A. Rhem Page 7   never be too sure we have it all wrapped up, because it is the living God with Whom we have to do, and this is the place, this is the book, and by the grace of God, God keeps meeting us as we open our lives to it. That's not going to change, because there is enough, there is enough newness and dynamic power for any future of which we can conceive, and that future will always be structured in conversations with this book. Sola Scriptura. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7a4ffd698879ce8247f726b6d0c395ba.mp3 506f95f8141ecc564b83cb9b5ce09d95 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 Series New Wine for Century 21 Scripture Text Mark 2: 18-22, John 1:1-14 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-0-19961006 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-10-06 Title A name given to the resource Sola Scriptura: The Living Word Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 6, 1996 entitled "Sola Scriptura: The Living Word", as part of the series "New Wine for Century 21", on the occasion of Pentecost XIX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 2: 18-22, John 1:1-14. Re-imagining the Faith Reformation Revelation Scripture https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/417428d2d5fdc317369782343e68f7ff.pdf 43d13a3d31a9193b1383a0af6cabbbcc PDF Text Text Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone From the series: New Wine For Century 21 Text: Isaiah 45:22; Romans 11:36 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 20, 1996 Transcribed from a tape recording of the spoken message. This is an exciting time for us as we re-imagine the Church; we have an opportunity to think again about the Church of Jesus Christ and what it means to be the body of Christ. Actually, we aren't the first to have that opportunity. In fact, we stem from a movement that was a total rethinking and reshaping of the Church of Christ, for, in the 16th century, the Church became reformed according to the Word of God in its Protestant manifestation and, although that had all of the tragedy of human cussedness, division and brokenness, nonetheless, the 16th century was a time in which the Church was re-imagined and it was reformed and there was a new vitality and life that flowed into the body of Christ. So, in this month of October, this month of Reformation, I thought it would be well for us, on the threshold of new beginnings as we search for that new wine for new wineskins, to revisit some of those great old themes that came to expression in that re-imagining of the Church in the 16th century. The theme of the morning is Sola Deo Gloria: To God Alone Be Glory. The glory of God was the very center of that movement of reformation, and the churches that flowed out of that rupture in the Church. The glory of God - all of life lived before the face of God and the totality of life lived for the glory of God. In the expression of the Westminster Confession which came a century later, after the Reformation itself, the first question and answer which some of you Presbyterians learned was, "What is the chief end of the human person?" The answer: "To glorify God and enjoy God forever." And so, that was very much a central theme that came out of that renewal of the Church. As we seek to find a fresh expression of that theme, we want to try to understand what it was that brought that renewal movement in the Church to that central focus on the glory of God. Sola Deo Gloria. The Protestant Church in its reformed expression has been particularly characterized by that theme, and that theme is perhaps identified not only with the reformed branch of the Protestant movement, but especially with John Calvin, the founding figure of the Reformed expression of the faith. When I say John Calvin, I suppose there are all kinds of images that are conjured up in your   © Grand Valley State University �Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone   Richard A. Rhem Page 2   mind because, although he is one of the truly great figures of the human story, I think no one has had a worse press than John Calvin. Perhaps this morning, as we revisit this theme, we can try to do some justice to Calvin, try to give a fair overview of this church leader, and also recognize that that which has shaped us in our past is something that we would not want to lose as we move into a future that is uncharted. The new wine and new wineskins, fresh expression - not simply a slavish imitation of that which has been said or thought or brought to expression, but nonetheless, the intention, the intention behind that central insight is as important for us as it was for them. All of life lived before the face of God, all of life issuing in the glory of God. The word glory has been cheapened. Everything is glorious, from an outstanding fielding play in the World Series to some great touchdown catch this afternoon in the National Football League. Everything is glorious nowadays. Words get coopted; they lose their original intention and meaning. The word glory is a word that we get from the Hebrew word, K_bõd, which means weighty, or heavy. The glory of God was an expression of the radiance of God, which conveyed the sense of the weightiness of God. I think we still understand that use of weight. That's a weighty thought, a weighty idea. Or, how do you weigh the suggestion that ...? Maybe we get an understanding of Calvin's sense of God's glory if we think about some of the youth language of our day when they say, "That's heavy." Well, in our Calvinist tradition, God was heavy – and heavy in the sense of weighty, in the sense of to be revered, because God, in God's godness, is beyond description, awesome. But also heavy in the sense that the shadow of God was cast over our lives, not always setting our feet to dancing, but often binding the human spirit. The heaviness of God creating, as it were, heaviness in the human person. As I look out over this congregation, I think I could call on any number of you who could tell me horror stories about how the heaviness of God marked you with a certain heaviness at some point in your Christian experience. As I said, John Calvin is one of the great spirits of the human story and probably has as poor a press as anybody. I am not here this morning to exonerate him from all of that which has been attributed to him over the centuries, but I do want to say that John Calvin in his heart was a pastor. He never was a theologian, per se; he never was a systematic theologian; he was, first of all, a preacher and a pastor and he had the lives of his people in Geneva on his heart. It was his intention to bring the greatness of God to bear on the lives of that people in order that their lives might be lived seriously and responsibly, fruitfully issuing in the glory of God. That was his intention at its best. The 16th century was a century of great unrest. It was not unlike our present historical period. Everything was in ferment. There were movements among the nations, the national groupings, ethnic groupings; there was economic ferment; there was social disruption and, obviously, there was the breaking apart of the established Church, the Roman Catholic Church. It was a time in which the foundations were being eroded. Calvin was a man, according to William Bouwsma, in his classic work, John Calvin, who was full of anxiety, torn between   © Grand Valley State University �Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone   Richard A. Rhem Page 3   the images of the abyss and the labyrinth. The abyss, for Calvin, meant that, as everything seemed to be shifting, there were no boundaries. The disorientation that comes into human life when there are no boundaries distressed him. He was afraid of that sense of free fall. He was a humanist scholar and that attracted him, and yet, all of that new ferment that was seething into life in the 16th century gave him great anxiety. But, on the other hand, the person alienated from God was entrapped in self-concern and that entrapment called the labyrinth, the image that Calvin used, also was something from which he wanted to steer clear, and so he found himself a person not without doubt and anxiety, seeking in his trust, his faith in God to find a standing place in the midst of that time that was full of turmoil. As a pastor, he was seeking to bring the impress of the image of Christ on his people. He did that with great seriousness. You cannot read Calvin, you cannot be exposed to any of that history without having that overwhelming sense that God was big for Calvin, God was heavy, and Calvin was serious. Calvin was a second generation, really. He was later than Luther. Luther's experience erupted in the Reformation and the Lutheran experience of grace we'll look at next week. It was a freeing experience; it was an experience of transformation. Calvin didn't ever have his toes tingle, wanting to dance. He was, however, very concerned to understand the Word of God and to know the will of God and he wasn't so interested in personal experience. He was far more interested in calling people to obedience, to the serious and responsible execution of the will of God and to live all life to the glory of God. I am not so sure I would have wanted to be a part of his Geneva. Krister Stendahl was here last week and, in the Perspectives hour on Sunday, he shocked me with an analogy that I never would have made myself. In fact, what he said in this Reformed Church - I would have thought the roof would have caved in, because, in talking about comparing religious faiths, he said, you know you have to compare apples to apples. For example, if you want to talk about John Calvin, you have to talk about the Ayatollah Khomeini, and I said, "Oh, my goodness, Krister! You may be a bishop, but that doesn't mean you couldn't go to hell for something like that!" But then I thought about it. Khomeini to us is a bad man, associated with all of the worst of Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, with the coercive, forceful change of society. That's how I see him. But, if you are a devout Muslim who believes that the world has gone to rot and that its salvation lies in the transformation of society according to the serious Islamic code, then Khomeini is a man who is simply living out publicly in the political structures that which was the deep religious devotion of his heart. Yes, I would have to say I guess that's probably just exactly what John Calvin was about. John Knox, the Scottish reformer, came to Geneva and left, saying there has never been a more perfect school of Christ than the city of Geneva under John Calvin. I mean, the impress was there. It was worked at intentionally but, lacking the exuberant experience of grace of a Luther, having a tendency or a proneness toward legality and rules and obedience. That concern became, in   © Grand Valley State University �Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone   Richard A. Rhem Page 4   much of its expression, oppressive, and that's about as honest an appraisal as I can give it while at the same time recognizing that here was a pastor who was really concerned to have the image of Christ shaped on his people and on his city, and who was concerned to have all of human life under the aegis of Christ, to live all of life before the face of God. I only know Latin in a few phrases, and one of my favorites is Corum Deo, before the face of God. That was central to John Calvin. That carried right down through the generations - to live before the face of God, the whole of life. That means I don't take care of the Sunday obligation and then go out and carry on my business any old way I please. It means I don't do my ritual service and then carry on my personal life in any old way I please. It means that I don't have a closet, a compartment that is not accessible by the God before Whose face I live. That brings a certain seriousness into life. And God knows, most of us probably do better by living with a consciousness that we are living before the face of God, so that’s to the credit of that intention. And I would suggest that any new wine that we discover and any new wineskins into which we pour it we will want to give place for a fresh expression of what it means, on the threshold of Century 21, to live before the face of God. That being granted, we can also see that it is the God that we conceive of that will make the difference whether or not that life is one that is bathed in grace or one that is bound with legality. And that's the critical difference. Calvin gave us much. One of the things that he gave us that has so marked our tradition is that probing to know too much. Not unlike the apostle Paul who tried to figure out God's thoughts. He forgot the word of the prophet, the Word of God that came through the prophet that said, "My ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are higher than your ways, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts." Paul, in the midst of his ministry following his encounter with Jesus Christ, became the Apostle to the Gentiles. The Gentile mission was flourishing, but his own people did not see what he saw; they did not see Jesus as the Messiah. So here's Paul, the Jew, bringing the grace of God to the Gentile world, trying to figure out what it is with his own brothers and sisters. That's what he's struggling with in Romans 9, 10 and 11. I think Krister Stendahl is right; that's what the whole letter is about. Paul is trying to justify his bringing the grace of God to Gentiles, not demanding that they become Jews. Paul had that transforming insight - God is embracing the nations without the nations becoming Jewish. But, what about his own brothers and sisters? They didn't see it; they were blocked against what he saw in Jesus. And so he wrestles with it, not very successfully, I think. What he said in the passage we read is that the Jews were hardened against Jesus so that there would be a door open to the Gentiles, and then when the Gentiles come in, the Jews will be jealous and come in, too. He was trying to figure out what he, himself, knew was a mystery. He used the word mystery, but thought he understood the mystery. In fact, he was warning the Gentiles against pride over against the Jews. He said, "I tell you a mystery,   © Grand Valley State University �Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone   Richard A. Rhem Page 5   lest you become conceited." He knew it was a mystery, but isn't it human to try to "explain" the mystery, anyway? But, when he comes to the conclusion - a wonderful conclusion - all are disobedient that God may have mercy on all. That which was at the heart of Paul's experience was a God of grace who would not abandon and would not give up. So he comes to that conclusion of this broad swath of the grace of God, and then he throws up his hands and breaks out into doxology! Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?... To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33ff) That is where John Calvin's insistence on the glory of God best comes to expression, in that worship when one is lost in wonder, love and praise. As our own mission statement says, "We live together in the awe of worship in the Presence of the Mystery of God..." John Carmody, in How to Handle Trouble, writes, The basic fact that we dwell in the midst of a reality we cannot understand has been my fulcrum. If we would get to the roots of our troubles, we must come to terms with our radical ignorance. We shall never master life as if it were a mathematical problem. We shall always need to cast ourselves upon its waters as pilgrims living by faith. The masters of spiritual life show us why we always depend on the mystery and how we may come to love our constant dependence. What I have loved in contemplation is the relief it offers. My mind clatters along, hour after hour, entering into the cloud of unknowing. Finally stops my mind. It is in that rare experience where our minds are blown (that's Krister Stendahl's definition for transcendence - that which "blows your mind"), that which is beyond our conceptual possibility, that which is the experience of the holy, that is the moment when we best bring glory to God. John Buchanan, the pastor of The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, tells the story of the Thanksgiving service that was held in the downtown area last year. He said it's a Monday night service and all of the pastors of the respective congregations come, and their families and a few friends, to support the ministers. But, as a matter of fact, it's on Monday night and it can't compete with Monday Night Football. A year before they had invited a Jewish congregation and that was fine. A few members of all the congregations were there again. And last year it was their turn and they decided to invite also an Islamic group and a Buddhist group. He thought to himself, "What are we doing? Are we just trying to spice this thing up? After all, we'll never make it anyway; it's the Dolphins against the 49ers tonight, you know." But, he said, he gave the greeting, and the Catholic priest from the cathedral read a lesson and the Buddhist a litany, and then an   © Grand Valley State University �Sola Deo Gloria: God Alone   Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Islamic chanter went to the lectern and, in rich, melodious tones in his beautiful voice, began to chant in Arabic lessons and prayers from the Koran. Buchanan said it was amazing. Something happened in that congregation worshiping - they were moved. The rabbi's sermon followed, and then a soprano sang Leonard Bernstein's "A Simple Song." He said afterwards, "We all knew that something had happened!" It had occurred in the beautiful chanting of an Islamic cantor, in a foreign language to most, from another culture, but something that transcends our thinking, that touches us deeply, moving us out of ourselves, bringing us to what Paul must have meant when he said to God be glory forever and ever. In the face of this thing I can't figure out, in the face of this tragedy that I'm struggling with, in the face of the difficulties of life that seem so overwhelming - finally there comes that moment of being lost in wonder, love and praise, when from the depths one expresses what is the intention of one's life, that all of life would be glory to God forever and ever. Sola Deo Gloria.   © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1b914b52667e58c294b4f8cf66b3d37a.mp3 85d347bf68e50a9f5ad7ae3c7eee3040 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XXI Series New Wine for Century 21 Scripture Text Isaiah 45:22, Romans 11:36 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-0-19961020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-10-20 Title A name given to the resource Sola Deo Gloria: God alone Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 20, 1996 entitled "Sola Deo Gloria: God alone", as part of the series "New Wine for Century 21", on the occasion of Pentecost XXI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 45:22, Romans 11:36. John Calvin Nature of God Re-imagining the Faith Reformation Worship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a85245e92a86b6158267a234cdaeff7e.pdf 2784e1d1ade7beb1ce52fea0517dbfd1 PDF Text Text Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone From the series: New Wine for Century 21 Text: Matthew 20:15 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 27, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon By Grace Alone. Christ Community has been marked for 25 years by grace. Grace has been its hallmark. Some of you have been here all that time, and you know it, and probably you've gotten sick of hearing me say it. Nancy has threatened to put it on my tombstone - Richard "Grace" Rhem. One string on the banjo. But, you know, I flip it around so often, I say it in so many different ways, I say it so continually that maybe it would be good just to stop for a minute and say, "Do you know what grace really is?" And, if you happen to be new here and you don't know the eruption of Christ Community in its early history, maybe you don't understand the context of my overuse of grace. So, let me take just a minute to say that there are really just two kinds of religion in the world. The first and most common kind is a religion by the performance principle: you do certain things and you are rewarded. You say certain prayers, follow certain rituals, execute certain practices, live in a certain way, add it all up and say, "Grant me my reward. I deserve your salvation, O God, Your favor. I have merited it. I have earned it." That's what most religion is, and there's something deep in the human person that likes it that way, because we would much rather pay our own way. Wouldn't we rather not be indebted to anyone? The other kind of religion is a religion of grace. There you get the favor of God, undeserving, not through doing something, executing certain work of righteousness, offering certain prayers, being regular in worship, tithing your income, name what you will. The grace principle is that free bestowal of God's favor on us for nothing in ourselves, simply because God, at heart, is love, and that loving soul of the universe overflows in a fountain of grace because grace is simply love active, love poured out. The religion of grace is a religion of those who, through no effort of their own, no doing of their own, no achievement, no merit, but simply because God is the way God is, are freely accepted, given the gift of life and eternal life. © Grand Valley State University   �Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Just two kinds of religions - either a do-it-yourself brand, or that which God does for you, quite apart from yourself. And Christ Community has been marked by the latter. And, in being marked by the latter, it has been consistent with, I believe, that understanding of God that came to expression in Jesus. Jesus knew human nature pretty well, and he knew that it was human nature to think somehow or other we could bargain with God and cook up a deal with God and carry our own weight with God, and so he told a story, as he always did, the familiar story of the farmer who goes down to the unemployment office early in the morning, first watch, gathers all those that are available and sends them out into the field after bargaining with them for a day's wage. A fair day's wage, a fair day's labor. They go off and begin their work. But, he stops by the unemployment office two or three more times, at noon, at 3 o'clock, each time sees a few stragglers, sends them out into the field never saying well, let's bargain on the wage, just "Go, work." Along about five o'clock, there's only an hour to whistle time, he sees a few stragglers there and he said, "What are you guys doing?" They say, "No one hired us." He said, "Well, don't be worthless. Go out and finish the day in the field." Now, the whistle blows; they all come for their checks. He begins with the last bunch who've only been there for an hour, and he gives them the amount that he had agreed in the beginning in the morning with the first workers. And then those that came at three, and those that came at noon - they all get a day's wage. So, those who had come early in the morning were beginning to think, "Well, I wonder what kind of a bonus we'll get." And they got exactly what they'd bargained for - a day's wage. Well, that really upset them, and it would have upset me, and it would have upset you, too, because that's not fair. I mean, their complaint was justified. "Look, we labored all day; we labored through the heat of the day, and here we get no more than those who came the last hour." And the farmer says to them, "Oh, really? That makes you angry, eh? Does my generosity make you angry? Have I done you any wrong? Did we not agree? Did I not pay you a fair day's wage? Is it not my right to do with my own as I will?" Jesus blows your mind, doesn't he? I mean, that's not fair; that wouldn't work in the real world, would it? Lucky if you came at five, of course. Jesus was saying, "Look, folks, God is not human. God is God. And you can't put God into our little boxes and box God up as though God is restricted to our ways of merit and reward, of work and reward. God is God, and God is grace, and grace doesn't keep score; grace doesn't keep books. Grace is wild and unruly." And thereby Jesus was suggesting that there is a mystery about the love and grace of God that will never be at human disposal, never be for human manipulation, never be for human control or institutional control. Krister Stendahl gives me some insight into that parable, why Matthew selected that one to tell. Matthew was writing to Jewish Jesus people. These were people who had been a part of Israel throughout all of their lives and, in fact, reflected the generations of Israel's service of God. And now there were some Gentiles © Grand Valley State University �Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 3   coming into that community and there were those who had been there all the time who had said, "Well, what are these folks doing coming in? Certainly they can't be given the same status we have." And so, Matthew tells the story that Jesus told to say, "Look, the Gentiles, those who came at five in the afternoon, are received equally and treated the same way by the all-merciful God, because God makes no distinction." And Paul picked that up, as well, and he began to see that God's grace is embracing the Gentile as he struggled with that in his Letter to the Romans, as we saw last week. He finally came to see that God was creating one new humanity, the same grace of the same God, now for the whole wide world, and it caused him to say, "To God be glory forever and ever." It's the word that Martin Luther picked up. This is Reformation Sunday, and we remember the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century and the catalytic event that ignited it and sent it into orbit was Luther's own personal experience. Luther was one of those odd ducks that took God seriously, and he couldn't find any peace with God. He was a part of his Roman Catholic tradition, he became a monk, he was a serious biblical scholar, and he was a part of the Augustinian Order, which did their prayers seven times throughout the course of 24 hours. He beat himself, pummeled himself, denied himself, sought through all of the means available in the piety of his day and the institutional forms that were there, to get a sense of having peace with God. And you know how it is when you're trying to measure up, when you're working on the performance principle, when you're trying to impress a parent or a spouse or a colleague, when you feel somewhat insecure and inadequate and so you keep running faster and trying harder and jumping higher? Doesn't work, does it? You never, never get to the point where you say, "Now, that's enough." So, Luther struggled. He had this intense, personal struggle. He felt the anger of God, not the peace of God. He came to his confessor one day and confessed that he was struggling so hard and couldn't find peace, and the confessor said, "Martin, you must love God." And Martin said, "Love God? I hate God!" Because, you see, try as he would, he could never come to that sense that he had done the last thing that would give him that peace with God, and in his biblical study he contemplated Paul's statement to the Romans: "The just shall live by their faith, the just shall live by their faith." Finally, in a moment of illumination, one of those miracles that happens now and again, Martin Luther found that registering with him: The just shall live by faith, not by what they do, not by the prayers they offer, the rituals they do, the good works they offer - not by anything they do. The just will live by their faith because salvation is a gift; it is grace! It is given by God, not by what we do, but by what God has done. Martin Luther experienced a moment of grace. I love the way Paul Tillich expresses the experience of grace: It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility and our lack of direction and composure have © Grand Valley State University �Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 4   become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness and it is as though a voice were saying, "You are accepted. You are accepted." Accepted by that which is greater than you and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now. Perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now. Perhaps later you will much. Do not seek for anything. Do not perform anything. Do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted. If that happens to us, we experience grace. And that experience, again Stendahl said, in Martin Luther has become the paradigm for the whole western Protestant tradition, moving away from the concept of God having a people, to that very personal relationship between the person and God by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. But, that personal experience for Luther did not remain just personal, because he looked about him at the Church, he looked at the structures of the Church of his day and he saw the corruption, he saw the abuse of people, he saw the Church selling forgiveness, for God's sake! They were building St. Peter's in Rome; they needed a lot of gold, and so the Pope would write an Indulgence. For a little bit of money you could take care of the past. For a little more money, you could even take care of tomorrow. For a little bit of money you could spring free from Purgatory the loved ones you had lost. It became a terrible system, greedy and abusive. Luther had experienced grace. He knew the grace of God and salvation had nothing to do with the Church somehow or other funneling this grace, holding the spigot, turning it on and off, depending on the flow of gold. And so, he pounded his 95 Theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg. Thesis 62 said, "The Church has its treasure not in its wealth and its power, but in the Holy Gospel, the Holy Gospel that speaks of the free grace of God which is not for sale." He didn't want to break the Church. He did want to change the Church, because he could see that the Church had encrusted that grace and made it a commodity to be sold, abusing the people. So he made his protest, which eventuated, because the institutional church structures would not bend, in brokenness. The protest burst open into the Reformation of the church, and we are the children of the Reformation five centuries later. Luther's question probably isn't your question, at least with its intensity. I listened to Harvard professor, Harvey Cox, who's had generations of student go through his course on "Jesus at Harvard." He always asks them to tell him who Jesus is for them, and he says Generation X (that's the group about 22 to 35) simply is not buying the institutional church package as you and I have. He said these young people are picky, they're selective, they're deeply spiritual, they're deeply hungry and they admit they're confused. I don't know what their question is, but I know they're human and I know that down deep they long for meaning. I don't know if the mainline church is going to be able to fill the bill. It may even be © Grand Valley State University �Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone Richard A. Rhem Page 5   that the mainline church as we've known it, has to fall on real hard times in order for God to get a foothold and create some newness that will be able to capture the imagination of the generation yet unborn. I'm not really worried about that. That's always the trouble with institutional church leaders - they worry about preserving what they have and perpetuating it into the future. And then we get nervous and anxious and become coercive. We get abusive and manipulative, and we forget that, after all, finally, it is the good and gracious God Who will continue, by God's Spirit, to draw to God's self all those who hunger and thirst. I don't know just what the question is. I don't know just what the configuration of the future will be. Someone came into the church this morning and said to me, "You know, I walked under that banner, 'Unleashed for Ministry,' and I thought to myself, 'That has never been so appropriate as it is this year.'" Unleashed for Ministry. Free of structures that are anachronistic and baggage that simply gets in the way. A community of people who've been marked by grace. Out of Luther's experience and the Reformation of the 16th century, the hallmark was Sola Gratia, Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Not by institution, not by law, not by some abusive prescription - by grace alone, because God is grace and God will grace, because it is God's nature to grace. If only we could put out sails to catch the fresh breezes of the Spirit to find which way the ark of salvation should be moving into Century 21. Paul, in his Letter to the Corinthians, appealed to them and to Corinth to join in an offering for those who were suffering in Jerusalem. But, he was very clear there's no command; there's no demand; this isn't a tax, but you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich. In the light of that grace, may I call you to a meaningful, significant investment of your life into the ongoing movement of the kingdom of God? All is grace. Salvation from God and the response of God's people, and the way we relate to each other, and the way we govern each other - the whole Church must be marked, characterized by the ambience of grace. If not, it's become a human product; it's become an institution that will too soon become abusive and coercive. Grace frees. Grace gives wing, and you are a people who have responded to grace, and who have found that the most meaningful investment of life is in that gracious self-giving in return. So, I don't know the questions for tomorrow. I don't know the taste of the new wine or the shape of the wineskin for Century 21. But, I know this - there is no people poised more poignantly to find the taste, to find the shape and set it free than a people who have been set free. Sola Gratia! Sola Deo Gloria! Hallelujah! © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8a734f16c2f7e45220509e4819c8e9a8.mp3 0b2b3c051989e4ed511e73b07d2877c1 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, Reformation Sunday Series New Wine for Century 21 Scripture Text Matthew 20:1-11 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-0-19961027 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-10-27 Title A name given to the resource Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 27, 1996 entitled "Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone", as part of the series "New Wine for Century 21", on the occasion of Pentecost XXII, Reformation Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 20:1-11. Grace Reformation; Nature of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/032c65f035803d86e0e726dae59ef79d.pdf 3f2f08d473aeca0c75135ae977831739 PDF Text Text Sola Fidei: Trust From the series: New Wine for Century 21 Text: Psalm 16:8; Romans 8:38-39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 3, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon All of those wonderful children that emptied out of here a few minutes ago are God's great gift, and one of the greatest gifts that we can give to them is to create in our homes and in our faith community the kind of environment that will build within them fundamental trust. Fundamental trust has been defined by the developmental psychologist Erik Erickson as that total orientation of life that views all of reality in a positive fashion so that one can live almost instinctively, trustfully. And I say that, not because fundamental trust is a religious category, it's a general human capability or possibility, but I say this on the final week of our Sola series, "Sola Fidei: Trust," because trust, while it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, is a gift of faith. The kind of trust beyond fundamental trust that gives us that consciousness of relationship to God is a gift from God, but received with such difficulty if our lives are not oriented to be trustful. I think, for example, of Martin Luther, whose name is synonymous with justification through faith, who recognized that the whole of the Gospel was with the open hand of faith to receive the gift of God, the gift of God's grace. But I think of Luther, whose name is synonymous with that great theme, but who had such a terrible struggle in his own life. We heard the story. I referred to it in the previous weeks, but let me remind you again of how Luther's God was not a gracious and loving God, but in his mind, an angry God. And in all of his seriousness he struggled with a terrible torment of his conscience as he went through his religious exercises, trying to appease the demons that assaulted him, failing to find a resting place, blessed assurance eluding him at every turn; finding himself absolutely miserable to the point of his frustration, as I said last week, when he said, "Love God? I don't love God. I hate God." Luther, thank God, is an example of one who in adulthood broke through by the miracle of grace by the inspiration of God's Spirit, and was able in his adulthood to come to that place of trust. But it's so very difficult to do it that way. It's so much easier if we have been nurtured in an environment that has led us to trust instinctively out of the depths of our being. Thank God if that has been our experience. The spirit of God can create that faith and trust in us so that no one is © Grand Valley State University   �Sola Fidei: Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 2   a hopeless case, no one need despair. But how much better it is if we can come to that trust almost as a flower opening to the rays of the sun, than through the anguish and the crisis through which a Luther had to go. He came to great clarity, however, and out of his great clarity, the whole Reformation, the whole Protestant Christian faith understanding was shaped and formed. Listen to his words, which express that to which he was able, finally, to come by the grace of God. He said, This is the reason our theology is certain. It snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside ourselves so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, person or works, but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God which cannot deceive. You see, he got the focus out of himself; he got his obsession with his own doings loosened and he came to realize that it was not through his performance, but it was through that which God had done for him, but apart from him. He did learn to cast himself and rest himself on the good and gracious God Who was revealed in Jesus Christ, and not the high and mighty God. He said in his very earthy fashion, "Don't climb up to the heights of heaven, to the majesty of God, and don't bother with all of the philosophical and theoretical speculations about God. If you would know God, go to the crib that holds a child. Go to the mother at whose breast a child is nursed. Go to the cross at which that one suffers and dies. There you'll find the gracious God. Thank God he came to that peace. He learned to trust and, out of his experience, down through the centuries since that Reformation of the Church, we have sung the song, "Sola Fidei: by faith, through faith alone," the hallmark of our Reformation Christian faith. I don't think that many of us know the anguish that Luther knew, and I doubt that many of us struggle to the extent that he struggled with the sinful conscience that he felt was resting under the wrath of God. I think that was part of his own setting, his own environment, maybe his inability to trust early on was reflective of his very early experience. Whatever that may be (sometimes it can just be the genetic makeup; some of us trust more easily than others), but, whatever that may be, he came to trust. But I think not many of us will come the way he came, struggling with that particular question of our sin and our guilt and our fear of an angry God. And yet I think that all of us have those moments when we wonder about the meaning of life and we struggle with the mystery of life. I was reminded, reflecting on all of this, of when I went to the University of Michigan in 1983. I was there that fall term and Hans Küng was the guest. He gave lectures that were subsequently published under the title, "Eternal Life?" © Grand Valley State University �Sola Fidei: Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 3   And here was a Roman Catholic theologian who was dealing with the end questions, the existential questions of death, of heaven, of hell, of purgatory. I couldn't believe it! The University of Michigan is not much into religion, having only a half-time program in studies in religion. A great, secular, educational institution, but very little regard to the whole dimension of religious faith. But they brought in Hans Küng, and during that term he spoke on these questions that I had not preached on because I didn't know how to handle them in the pulpit. I wasn't satisfied with the pat answers about heaven and hell and purgatory and death, and what a preacher does, when a preacher doesn't know how to handle it, is simply not to handle it. And, frankly, I was embarrassed. Here, in the middle of that secular campus, this man stood up and spoke about heaven and hell and purgatory, grace, death, life. It was a wake-up call for me because those lectures were attended by overflow crowds - the university crowd, the community crowd, standing room only, and I thought, "Dear God, people may be highly educated, sophisticated, quite secular in their whole life, unaffiliated with the institutional structures of the Church, but they're all going to die. They all have questions, and they have loved ones who die, and they wonder." And from that point on, you've heard a great deal about life and death and grace and that which lies beyond, because I came to see that it is in the moment of our death that we encounter God. It was the 500th anniversary of Luther's birth and there was a weeklong conference of international scholars gathered there to celebrate the birth of Martin Luther. Ironically, it was Luther, whose attack on the Church was at the point of indulgences and all of the apparatus used so abusively surrounding purgatory that made it for us a non-subject. Yet, it was at that time from this Catholic scholar, Hans Küng, who spoke about Luther in a magnificent lecture, affirming justification by faith, who also caused me to go back and think about Purgatory. What was in the mind of the Church that said maybe everything is not all over at the point of death. Maybe God is not done with us at the moment of our death. Maybe the moment of our death will be the moment of illumination and the beginning of purification and the preparing of us for further in and farther up and the shining presence. And from this Catholic theologian, as he spoke about Luther, I heard these words: To believe in an eternal life means in reasonable trust, in enlightened faith in tried and tested hope, to rely on the fact that I shall one day be fully understood, freed from guilt and definitively accepted and can be myself without fear. (Is that beautiful? To believe in eternal life means with reasonable trust, enlightened faith, tried and tested hope, to rely on the fact that I shall one day be fully understood, freed from guilt and definitively accepted. Would not Martin Luther affirm his brother priest 500 years later? It would be hard to say it more clearly, more fundamentally.) © Grand Valley State University �Sola Fidei: Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 4   That my impenetrable and ambivalent existence, like the profoundly discordant history of humanity as a whole, will one day become finally transparent and the question of the meaning of history one day be finally answered. My impenetrable and ambivalent existence. I don't think so many of us will struggle just where Luther struggled, but don't we all yearn to understand, to penetrate the mystery? Do we not experience our ambivalence, the equivocation of our lives? Do we not wonder why and wherefore and whence for ourselves and for those we've loved and lost a while? And to be able to trust that I, personally, will be definitively accepted – to that, Luther would say, yes, yes. Because of that which has been done for me, apart from me, that which God has revealed to me in Jesus Christ, that heart of God that I see in the face of Jesus - that I can trust. And also for those I love and lose, that they, too, in the mystery that surrounds their going, whether it be the normal passage after many years or the tragic loss too soon, that this impenetrable mystery of ourselves and this discordant history of humanity as a whole will one day be transparent. To be able to live thus is to trust. As the Psalmist expressed: "I have set the Lord always before me; because God is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." And a little farther on – “Not now the Lord before me, but I in the presence of the Lord. Thou wilt show me the path of life. At Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.” In the presence. In the presence. God at my right hand; I in the presence of God. For the Psalmist, all within this present existence, but for the apostle Paul, more than that. For he, too, spoke out of that deep confidence. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "What can separate us from the love of Christ?" Well, any number of things, Paul. Famine or nakedness or peril or sword or cancer or tragic loss or deep suffering. No, Paul said. No. No, no, no. To all of that I must say, Nevertheless. “Nothing in this life, nothing in death, nothing in the whole creation will ever sever us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” That's to live trustingly, you see Ah, it helps so much if, as a child, we have been nurtured even from the womb to experience the totality of things with a positive regard. But even if not, here and there, now and again, like a Luther, the Word finds rootage, the Spirit opens the mind and, with a Luther, we can say it was as though the gates of paradise were opened. Or, with a John Wesley hearing the same word and the testimony of Luther can say, "I found my heart strangely warmed." And then we can negotiate life's passages, trustingly, and we can face our end trustingly, and we can let go of those we loved and lost trustingly, for beyond it all, behind it all, underneath it all is that understanding of God full of grace, God, the abyss of love, and the conviction that nothing of love will ever be lost. That, therefore, for ourselves and those we've loved and lost, it will be like © Grand Valley State University �Sola Fidei: Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Stepping on shore and finding it heaven, like touching a hand and finding it God's, like breathing new air and finding it celestial, like waking up in glory and finding it home. Believe that. You can trust that, and you will be wonderfully free. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8ddcc5655a7d1630c8efe5c88d31326f.mp3 d123732566a306f763dec572c12de4c8 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 New Wine for Century 21 Scripture Text Psalm 16:7-11, Romans 8:31-39 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19961103 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-11-03 Title A name given to the resource Sola Fidei: Trust Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 3, 1996 entitled "Sola Fidei: Trust", as part of the series "New Wine for Century 21", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 16:7-11, Romans 8:31-39. Grace Nature of God Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b599dfb08cd3e91d52462c112b3d2d1.pdf 41047aa1621d9bf010fde77fb856d445 PDF Text Text A Song of Quiet Trust Text: Psalm 131:1, 2; Matthew 11:28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 24, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon In this Sunday between seasons, I don't know why, but Psalm 131, a Psalm on which I've never preached, never even thought much about, seemed to strike me. Its simplicity and its beauty washed over me, and it is the text of the morning message. Listen to it again: O Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great for me or things too marvelous. I have calmed and quieted my soul as a weaned child with its mother. My soul within me is as a weaned child. A Song of Quiet Trust. A beautiful expression of deep trust in God. "My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I'm not involved, engaged in things too great for me" - three negations that point to a kind of candid honest, selfevaluation. This is who I am. I think it's a rather wholesome acceptance of creaturehood. Not a putting down of oneself because one is human, but an acceptance of oneself as human, therefore as limited, as a person on the way, vulnerable, flawed, yet one who has come to self-awareness and self-acceptance before the face of God. My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great or too marvelous for me. I don't think that's a resignation that simply throws in the towel and says, "Well, whatever will be, will be." I don't think it bespeaks a lack of passionate engagement with life, but I think it is a healthy coming to terms with the fact that one is creature, one is human, and that that is all right. Some years ago, Ernest Kurtz was here and spoke to us. He is the author of what has been the classic statement of Alcoholics Anonymous' philosophy and understanding, and the book in which he gives that rather profound analysis he entitled Not God. Strange title. Not God, because it was his understanding that, at the root of our human dilemma, is the fact that we would be God and that the thing that is imperative for us to discover is that we are not God and that, rather, © Grand Valley State University   �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 2   we must live one day at a time in dependency on a Higher Power. Translate that as you will. My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I'm not caught up in things too great for me. Just, here I am; this is who I am; God knows. That kind of wholesome self-acceptance and self-declaration is elicited from the person who has found that one can trust God. The image that is used for God is a bold image. It is very likely that the Psalmist was a woman. How could any man write of the intimacy of the mother with the weaned child on her hip or on her lap or embraced in her arms? The weaned child, literally, the child perhaps two to five years old that had been nursed at the breast but was there no longer, who had known enough, however, long enough to return there again and again for nurture and security and feeding, the weaned child. The Psalmist says, "My soul within me is as a weaned child in the embrace of her mother." It's not an isolated reference to God as Mother. Another Psalmist said, in Psalm 103, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust." So, it's not as though it is motherhood against fatherhood, but there is something about motherhood; it is the ultimate, it is the ultimate in that inter-human relationship of utter dependency and utter trust. Only a mother. God as Mother. Isaiah understood that. He said, in the 49th chapter, "Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me. My God has forgotten me.'" To which the Word of the Lord comes: "Can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion to the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. I have engraven you on the palms of my hands." That God is the God in whom the Psalmist trusted so much that he could come to a healthy self-acceptance and a total resting dependence. He could say, "I have calmed and quieted my soul." A wonderful place to be. Walter Brueggemann says life is lived between orientation and disorientation and new orientation. He groups the Psalms in those three categories. This is a Psalm of orientation. God guarantees the solidarity of things and the solidity of things. Life secure, serene. The first verb in verse two in Psalm 131 is to even or to smooth. This is life when everything is going smoothly and I simply come to an awareness of my total trust in God Who is Mother. It's interesting that that kind of God has often been lost sight of. Sigmund Freud points to most of the dysfunction within our human existence as being the consequence of that hatred of the father, that father complex. In fact, Freud says that God is an illusion; God is the projection of our earthly father, the father against whom we rebel, the father from whom we must be liberated, set free. Much of our problem is because there is a secret desire to kill the father in order to find our autonomy. Well, Freud didn't make all that up; he observed acutely © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 3   the human situation. He saw what is there for anyone to see, that bad religion can really twist a human person, distort the human experience. A mis-concept of God can be devastating to the health of a human being. Freud was reacting against the God that too often the Church has put forth: the stern, controlling father. But he missed the mark in terms of the biblical God, the God of Israel, the God whom Jesus reflected, the God who is like a compassionate father, who is mother-like, whose bosom embraces in an unconditional love that will never forsake and never abandon, a love against which there is no fight, against which there is nothing to rebel, a deep abyss of love. Douglas John Hall who was with us last June, speaks about the nature of God Who is gracious, and he suggests that we have missed it often in the Church because we have listed all of the divine attributes, all of the perfections of God, all of the ways in which God is the high and exalted One, distinguished from us, the Holy Other One. Then we list all of those attributes of God - one of which is grace. But, then grace has to be balanced with justice and with righteousness and on down the line, as though grace is one thing about God over against other things about God, as though all of those divine perfections somehow or other have to be taken into account. I like what he has to say. He says grace is not one attribute of God along with others. Grace is foundational, absolutely fundamental. It is the ground out of which all of the divine perfections flow and in terms of which they must be understood. Grace at the heart of things, you see. And that the Psalmist experienced - God like a mother, a mother into whose arms one can always run, upon whose lap one can always dwell secure, is a true portrait of the biblical God. "My heart is not lifted up, my eyes not raised too high." I don't get caught up in all sorts of great schemes. I come to an honest selfevaluation and esteem as one who with genuine humility can simply be in the bosom of God. How does one come to such an experience? Well, I would suggest not in splendid isolation, but rather, in tangible community. I do believe it is in the community of God's people that we come to the tangible touch of that God of all mercy. Nancy and I experienced that last week, last Sunday. We were in New York City. The week before we were in New Jersey where I had to speak at an event, and there was a pastor from New York present to whom I said, "We're going to come back. Tell me a restaurant; tell me a show." Well, we ended up engaged with this pastor. When we got to New Jersey the previous week, The New York Times had a big article with pictures about Middle Collegiate Church and the title was "Old Time Religion With a New Twist." Because the pastor had been very gracious to us, we thought it would be good to worship there, in the East Village, into 2nd Avenue, Sixth Street. Old Middle Collegiate, partner with Marble Collegiate and West End Collegiate, the old, ancient collegiate system of Reformed churches in the city. This one twelve years ago was ready to be closed, about 25 people left. Gordon Dragt was called there and somehow or other by the grace of God, was © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 4   used to build a community. We worshiped with them last Sunday and I've got to tell you - we were deeply moved by the community. When we walked in 15 minutes or so before the service, there was a marvelous jazz combo playing, black and white together. And as we sat there and enjoyed that, we saw the people stream in; there were black people and white people, there were old men and young women, there were married couples, husband and wife; there were Gay couples, Lesbian couples, there were children, young people, and there were hugs all around. It was obvious that when they came into that sanctuary, they were coming to their family and the grace was tangible and the love was obvious, and one couldn't help but experience in that community that all of the diversity of the human family, all of those differences really don't matter! They don't matter, you see, because that which transcends it all is that solidarity in our humanity, that humanity that is loved by God, that humanity that is nurtured by the grace of God and embraced in the bosom of God, so that all human differences really don't matter at all. I understand why, in the East Village in New York City, there is the rebirth of a congregation, the sanctuary now full, because when we walked in, there was the touch of grace, and the reality of grace in the tangible, human embrace. Gordon didn't really know I was coming, but the theme of the sermon was grace, and the biblical story was the story of the prodigal son. The whole service bespoke a conception of God as Mother, as Lover. You see, the nature of God as we understand it, will determine the nature of community as we experience it. When God is rested in as Mother, then that people gathered will be a warm womb, pulsating with compassion, able to embrace the whole human family in a wonderful feast of love. The week before in New Jersey, we spent Friday evening with a pastor and his wife and some other people who had been organizing the event. We learned that for this pastor and his wife it was a second marriage, that she was the daughter of an Ivy League professor who was an atheist, and that she grew up in the home of an atheist and just sort of took that for granted, then one day met this minister and, horror of horrors, fell in love! I mean, if you're an atheist, don't fall in love with a minister. And if you're a minister, don't fall in love with an atheist. Well, she was there on Saturday and when I was asked a question about whether God's grace extends to non-believers, I said, "You know, I don't really find a lot of nonbelievers. I find a lot of people who are outside of the Church, but I don't find a lot of people who don't have a deep spiritual hunger, a yearning, and I find that if I don't have a package to give to them, that there is an openness, a desire to speak of God because there is that deep yearning after God within us." And I caught her eye at that moment. Then after the event, at another home with some couples, we were about to take our leave and the pastor came to me and said, naming his wife, "She says if I will take her to Christ Community, and if you will baptize her, she would like to be baptized." © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 5   I was deeply moved, and I knew again that it is that irresistible grace that alone beckons and enables us to lay down our arms and, in total dependence, calm and quiet our souls in absolute trust. That's really where it is, and those of you who've come in today to this community have come in committed to that kind of community, have come in because there was that grace, and have come in to say such a place must be because it's in community that finally we learn that, at the heart of things, the ultimate reality is a love that will never let us go. That's the good news. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cdbba2784814533a36e9b04dd7c7411d.mp3 c0c894b878d9578832834795b66e9648 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 Sunday, Pentecost XXVI Scripture Text Psalm 131, Matthew 11:25-30 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-0-19961124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-11-24 Title A name given to the resource A Song of Quiet Trust Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 24, 1996 entitled "A Song of Quiet Trust", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Sunday, Pentecost XXVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 131, Matthew 11:25-30. Community of Grace Compassion Nature of God Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fe10e5edc0472b43e33387b3d9f42870.mp3 0674fe160864bcaa94c93e656e0b19bf 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 Lamentations 3:22-23 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-0-19961128 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-11-28 Title A name given to the resource Surprised at Mercy's Dawning Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 28, 1996 entitled "Surprised at Mercy's Dawning", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Lamentations 3:22-23. https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0dc2e2851a8bae9990018f78c1d4d5da.pdf 2b3370796315a085a7496679855e9837 PDF Text Text To Bring Justice From the series: Waiting For Messiah To Come – Text: Isaiah 11:4; Luke 1:52 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent, December 8, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon The lesson from the Hebrew scripture is Isaiah, chapter 11. Let me be clear this morning. I'm going to be asking you to engage with me in some thought about the meaning of Advent. I am not so much making claims as inviting you to think with me about the traditional ideas that are associated with this season and what we ought to be doing about it. The bold print in your bulletin says "Waiting For Messiah To Come," the smaller print, "To Bring Justice." Waiting for Messiah to Come - that is the posture of Advent. Waiting for Messiah to Come. And then, when he comes, to bring justice. It's going to take us all of Advent and Christmas, and you're going to have to stay with me because I probably can do no more than raise some consciousness this morning, but what I want to try to do in this season is to take a fresh look at this Advent expectation. In a word, I'm going to suggest to you that it's time we stopped waiting and started doing something about it. I'm going to suggest to you that for us to wait for Messiah to come to bring justice is to miss that which has been revealed to us so clearly - justice is not something that will come at the end of the line that Messiah will bring. The Call to Confession this morning was from Micah 6:8, "The Lord has shown you what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God." We have that embodied in Jesus. So, it is not as though we don't know, and it is not as though we do not have the resources. It is that we lack the will. I simply want us to think about that in this Advent season. Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Now, we are not preparing to go to Bethlehem. We are preparing for the End, the end of history, the consummation, the Kingdom of God - that's what we are preparing for. Advent is a sober season in which we are reminded that we will all be called to give account of our lives before the Judge of all the earth. Advent in the Christian Church is not anticipation of the miracle of Bethlehem; it is anticipation of the End when the one who was born in Bethlehem comes in power and glory to judge © Grand Valley State University   �To Bring Justice Richard A. Rhem Page 2   the nations. That is the Advent theme. It's awfully hard to squeeze it in, to get a word in edgewise for Advent in the Church. This is not the Christmas season, in spite of appearances. The Advent theme of the final consummation of all things is to be considered in these four weeks prior to Christmas, and then, on December 24 in the evening, we can begin to celebrate Christmas. I take my life in my hands and I live with some peril. We haven't sung a Christmas carol yet. Some of you get downright testy about it. You really wanted "Jingle Bells" this morning, didn't you? But, you see, the Church has its own calendar and I think the Jewish people are a distinct people after all of these thousands of years because they live by their own calendar. What is it - the year 5757 or something like that on the Jewish calendar? They live according to their festivals and their seasons quite apart from the rest of the world. We have a calendar, too. There's nothing divine or inspired about it, but it's a calendar that sets out for us seasons, the rhythms of life, moods, foci of concentration, and to live by that calendar is to be shaped by those ideas. In the shaping, we are also able to distinguish ourselves from the culture at large. The culture at large has co-opted our day, eh? The commercial interests have backed Christmas way up on the other side of Thanksgiving. It was the 16th of November when Nancy and I went to Bethlehem at Radio City Music Hall. We've already been to Bethlehem! Fantastic, spectacular program, Rockettes and all. But, a Christmas show on November 16! How in the world do we ever get a word in edgewise for Advent and for the serious contemplation of that which lies before us at the end? We're waiting for Messiah to come. The Jewish people are waiting for the messiah, too, except they're waiting for Messiah to come the first time. They say to us, "Messiah has not come." We say, "Jesus was the Messiah." They say, "No, you've got to be wrong." They may be right, because Jesus did not claim to be Messiah. It was his followers who said, "That was the Messiah." But the Jewish people - after all, you know, we get the idea of Messiah from their book - they tell us quite rightly that the idea of Messiah coming was to issue in the peaceable kingdom. They say Messiah hasn't come. Look at the world - it's full of war and violence and destitution and poverty and all that's wrong. When Messiah comes, all that's wrong will be made right. There will be a total transformation of everything. Messiah, obviously, hasn't come. We say, "Well,... yes he has." But, we have to be honest. The whole New Testament, which is not a Christian book, folks; it's a Jewish book, you know. It's about Jesus, a Jew, written by Jews who had been nurtured in Jewish expectations. They encountered Jesus and they said, "That's the one!" And the only problem was he was crucified, and the world wasn't transformed, but they expected it to be transformed. They knew the vision; © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Justice Richard A. Rhem Page 3   they knew what Isaiah had spoken, that he wouldn't judge by what his eyes see or what his ears hear, but he would judge according to truth. They knew that he would decide with equity for the meek of the earth, and the consequence of that would be that the wolf and the lamb would lie down together and they would not hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain, that beautiful Messianic dream. Those who encountered Jesus and who experienced Jesus said he's the one. They knew that dream. We read in the Gospel lessons and The Magnificat was also sung: 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. He has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away. They said Jesus was the one. But, Jesus was crucified. "Ah," they said, "but he lives. We experience his living presence; he's with God, enthroned in glory, but he's coming, he's coming soon. Just wait; just watch; hold on." Acts 3:19: "Repent therefore and turn to God so 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 for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through the holy prophets." They were living on the edge. They shared a general cultural expectation of the end of the age, and they believed that Jesus was the Messiah; they had not expected that detour of crucifixion and resurrection and ascension, but that Early Church, this whole New Testament document written about a Jew by Jews was posited on the supposition that the one who had come would come back very soon. That's clear. Now, 2000 years later, we still read the beautiful Messianic dream of the prophet, we still hear The Magnificat sung, and we get into Advent and we get into our prayers and our rituals and our hymns and our liturgical formulae and we sort of go through it, never, I think, stopping to think that, when we wait for Messiah to come, we are really copping out of what should be obvious to us and incumbent upon us - that Messianic dream that we read and love and that The Magnificat that we hear, that speaks the language of the underdog who is praying to God to reverse things, turn the tables, change things around. I think our problem in the Christian Church is that we have an underdog religion and we've become top dog. Just think about it for a moment. Listen to The Magnificat again - "He has thrown the mighty off their thrones. He has raised up the lowly. He has fed the hungry and he has sent the rich empty away." Who are they talking about? They're talking about us, folks! We have taken over the religious yearning and expression of an underdog people and now we who are the dominant, powerful, affluent people of the world are still waiting for Messiah to come to do justice! We're waiting for God, and I think God is waiting for us! © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Justice Richard A. Rhem Page 4   "For have I not showed you what is good and what does the Lord require but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" You see, that Messianic dream was Israel's dream, little Israel, that little piece of real estate at the end of the Mediterranean Sea, buffeted about by all the world's empires - they had chutzpa! They thought that God had chosen them; they considered themselves the navel of the earth; they were battered about by Assyria and Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome, and the prophets of Israel, living in an occupied nation, in a conquered nation, being the pawn of the power brokers of the earth; yet they had a dream. They had a dream one day our God Who has called us will exalt Mt. Zion and all nations will flow to Mt. Zion and we will teach the world Torah. We will lead the world to God. We have been called by God to be a beacon to the nations. Is that chutzpa, or not? You bet it is! Here they were, this little people, and they had a dream. They said "One day it's going to be different than it is. One day Messiah's going to come, and the whole earth will be wrapped in beautiful peace, and we'll teach the whole earth to walk in the ways of our God." Then into that little community into which Jesus was born, poverty-stricken, occupied, down-in-the-mouth, poor, poor society, comes The Magnificat! It is a song of an underdog people. It is a song of a people who are oppressed, who are poor, who are hungry, who are saying, "God, when are you going to make it right?" And they saw Jesus and they said, "Aha. That's the one." But, then he died. They said, "Ah, but he lives. He'll come back; he'll come back. Come, Lord Jesus. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. Do it! Do it, do it, because if you don't do it, it is so awful. This human condition is so terrible, the darkness, the darkness. Do something!" And here we are, affluent, well-fed, well-dressed, comfortable, Christian people 2000 years later, and we say, "Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus." We don't even understand what we're praying. For us to pray the Magnificat is to take the oppressed and the underdog's song and to say, "Lord, throw us down. Lord, throw us empty away." I suspect that if it would ever get through to us, we'd have to say, "Ah, I guess we shouldn't be waiting for Messiah to come. I guess we should be about the transformation of the world. I guess we who have so much power and so much resource and so much knowledge and insight and Wow! We ought to be about changing the world, because the dream, the dream is there." Rabbi David Hartman says that Messianic dream - that's not the end of history. That is the critique of history in every moment. That's the plumb line of God that measures every historical period. You reach that dream and you measure your own day by that dream and you will see how out of sync it is, how crooked it is, how full of injustice and oppression and inequality. You measure your society, 1996, Christ Community - measure your world against that dream. How does it measure up? It doesn't measure up, does it? © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Justice Richard A. Rhem Page 5   That dream is God's dream, God's intention. That dream has been embodied, for God's sake. The world has become flesh; it has dwelled among us. Jesus, the mirror of God's intention. The way of Jesus, the way that God calls us to go. We say, "We're waiting for Messiah." God says, "What are you waiting for? I've showed you throughout all of the prophecy; I've showed you in the face of Jesus. Why do you keep praying for Messiah to come? Why aren't you about turning your world upside down?" Well, you know, one could really get going on this thing, and I could probably tell you stories about your world and you'd just say, "Oh, I give up." Last month in Rome there was a huge international conference on food. There was one in '74 because they were afraid then we weren't going to be able to feed the multitudes, and there was another one just last month. In the report of that conference on whether or not the earth is going to produce enough for the people in light of the population growth, etc, it said there are in our world today 800 million malnourished human beings. Eight hundred million, and so you could say, "Ah, ..." I mean, at the time of Jesus, there was this apocalyptic strain where, for example, John the Baptist was saying things are so bad, God come down. You know, rend the heavens and come down. Damn the wicked! Stamp out the darkness; establish the righteous. Bring in Your kingdom!" I can understand that apocalyptic urge. We human beings can get so overburdened with it, so baffled by it that we sort of throw up our hands and say, "What can I do? Who am I? Who am I? What can I do? I'm only one person and the problems are global!" And I probably could ruin your Christmas by putting a little guilt on you. Probably get a pretty good response to the Alternative Christmas Market by reminding you how much you're spending on one another and maybe, you know, a few bucks for the Third World would be good. We have an oversubscription for our Thanksgiving Offering. That's beautiful. That's wonderful. You're a generous people. We feed 350 people - that's great. I think it's wonderful! We adopt needy kids for Christmas - that's beautiful. But it's just tokenism. Those are just tokens of a world that is wrenched with human anguish. And you know what I think? I think Christ Community is the kind of community that has intelligence and commitment and generous hearts, the kind of leaders of society. And wouldn't it be something if out of Christ Community there would come a catalyst group of God's gadflies who would harangue the Ottawa County Commissioners and that would go to Lansing, that would sit on Engler's steps, that would go to Washington, that would bother the Congress, that would petition the President. Now, there are always in this world those kinds of people that go into the ministry, do-gooders. They're kind of soft, they're kind of flabby; they don't think critically; they don't understand how the world works. They just think if you'd just be nice, everything'd be nice. There are a lot of people like me. But, you know what we need? We need some of you hard-headed, hard-hitting corporate © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Justice Richard A. Rhem Page 6   professional people who would get together and would say, "For God's sake, this world is in trouble. How in the world could we do something about it?" You see, we've got an underdog religion; we sing The Magnificat, but down deep in our hearts, friends, let's be honest, when you're on top, the biggest preoccupation of your life is to maintain that top position, and the hungry masses of the world, the poor, the suffering - they are our threat. They tell us that the gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger. And a world where the gap between the rich and the poor gets big enough is a dangerous world. If we didn't want to do it because Jesus calls us to do it, if we didn't want to do it for God's sake, we ought to be thinking about how this world can be transformed because it's not such a mystery. Has he not shown you, O mortal, what to do? Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God. There is enough brain power; there is enough resource. There may be somebody here who could start a movement. After all, little Israel thought that God called it to be a light to the nations. There might be somebody here that would say, "You know, that's really true. We ought to be about something big, something big." The tokens - they're wonderful. Don't stop the tokens. But, there's a world out there, and at Advent I just can't let you hear The Magnificat four weeks in a row without feeling uneasy. "The mighty he has put down and the lowly he has raised up. He has fed the hungry and set the rich empty away." I don't have an answer. The human situation is so complex, but wherever there is injustice, wherever there is a human person given a less than humane existence, there's where we ought to be, in the name of God Who has given us that magnificent dream. You see, it's not that we can do it through human ingenuity alone. Obviously not. But, neither can God do it alone. The dream is God's dream and to be caught up in that dream - that would make Advent something really special. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/470ca6c1bf1785eeec87b529c09c03c8.mp3 7a48cce9ebc19f65049903fb8ee78e80 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 Series Waiting for the Messiah to Come Scripture Text Isaiah 11:1-0, Luke 1:46-56 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-0-19961208 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-08 Title A name given to the resource To Bring Justice Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 8, 1996 entitled "To Bring Justice", as part of the series "Waiting for the Messiah to Come", on the occasion of Advent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 11:1-0, Luke 1:46-56. Advent Eschatology Justice Way of Jesus Divine Intention https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b3b3fbf1988509bd1da148057f29f385.pdf 58739c9a133b622aeea85a9814951714 PDF Text Text To Bring Peace… From the series: Waiting For Messiah To Come – Text: Micah 4:3, Luke 1:79 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan December 15, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon It's not easy to understand the prophets. One needs a lot of help. Of course, there was the old Scottish lady who was asked what she thought about a commentary and she said, "Well, the Bible throws a lot of light on it." Sometimes the help isn't very helpful, but the prophets are not easy to understand because you get things juxtaposed and it seems like you're moving from one world to another and that's certainly the case in Micah. The fourth chapter that we're going to read is a marvelous vision of world peace, international peace, but just prior to that is this statement of the decimation of Jerusalem. At the end of chapter three, Jerusalem is laid flat and then at the beginning of chapter four, it's raised up high. Now, there weren't any chapters, of course, in the original, no chapters or verses, but that juxtaposition is so interesting, and the reason Jerusalem is to be laid low is because people like me are most often unfaithful. For example, the heads of Jerusalem, the leadership, give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for hire; the prophets divine for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us." That's the temptation of a preacher, of course. Say, "Peace, peace," where there is no peace. At least it keeps the salary coming, you see? Keeps the people happy until disaster really happens. Therefore, because of you, that is, the leadership of God's people, "Zion shall be ploughed as a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets." That, set now in contrast to the vision of chapter four: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised up above the hills. And peoples shall flow to it and many nations shall come and say, 'Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide for strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up © Grand Valley State University   �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 2   sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit everyone under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk each in the name of its God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. The word of the Lord. The question that I'm inviting you to think about with me this Advent season is whether or not in observing the Advent theme, Waiting for Messiah to Come, we might be abdicating our responsibility and our engagement with our own time and our own moment of history. In waiting for Messiah to come we are projecting to the end of history that Messianic vision that appears so eloquently in the Hebrew prophets, that vision of Shalom, the Kingdom of God, the rule of God, the peaceable kingdom, that picture of the situation of lion and lamb lying down together, of not hurting in all God's holy mountain, and today in Micah's vision, that total peace enveloping the whole human family and all nations. That vision or that dream comes to beautiful expression here and there in the Hebrew prophets. It is a dream that lies deep in the human heart, and it came to expression particularly in Israel as it believed that God's intention for the world was that kind of peaceable kingdom where God would be acknowledged and worshiped, and God's Torah, the way of life, would be observed by all people. And there would be this marvelous, peaceful harmony between God and humankind, between humankind and nature. In the totality of things there would be peace. Now, my question is this Have we taken that picture, that vision, and have we projected it to the end and thus absolved ourselves of real engagement, passionate engagement with seeking to bring about the reality of that vision in our own time? It's understandable that we would do that because the world is always reeling from one crisis to another and when one thinks of the global community, when one thinks of the problems that are rife around the world, one can very easily throw up one's hands, perhaps just out of weariness or dismay, just simply being overwhelmed with it all. I hear it all the time. I think I hear myself saying it what can I do? What can one individual do? Or, sometimes one will hear it with a bite of cynicism which says, in effect, promises, promises. I find that also in the Church. It's a good thing we all don't know what everyone else believes or doesn't believe in the pew behind us and before us and to our right and to our left. I'm amazed sometimes when I say to somebody, "You really believe that?" "No. Never did." "Oh, really? It's in the Bible." "Ah, don't believe that." This Messianic vision - we've projected it to the end and maybe become rather cynical about its realization within history. Or, this has also been a trick of © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 3   religious people - withdrawal from the world, founding a little religious ghetto and signing the world off, saying, "Oh well, it's under the Devil's sway anyway. And so we just try to get our own little soul saved, survive, get through life until finally we can breathe on the other side. You see, in doing all of that, which is rather understandable, nonetheless, we are abdicating our responsibility for passionate engagement with our world in order to affect the realization of the dream which is not just a passing dream of an incidental Hebrew prophet, but I do believe is reflective of the intention of God for the world. I don't think the dream was ever intended to be some far point beyond history. I believe the prophets. I believe Luke when he told the story of Jesus and prefaced it with the birth of John the Baptist and the Song of Zachariah, speaking about the light dawning upon us and leading our feet into the way of peace. I believe that it was their intention to say to us, these biblical writers, that this peace is meant for history, it is meant for our history. It is not some heavenly vision; it is the way things ought to be in the world, here and now. And I think in waiting for Messiah to come, we too easily absolve ourselves from the kind of active engagement that the people of God are called to in order to be the agents of reconciliation and that beacon of light to the world. So, this Advent, that's the question. Have we copped out? Have we pushed to the end what ought to be our present obsession? Think about it with me. This vision as Micah portrays it is a marvelous vision. It is a vision of the exaltation of Mt. Zion, of the raising of Jerusalem as the center of the world, not in order to give great glory to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem as that place from which the law of God, the Torah, the way of life, will go. There is a beautiful image here; it is of all the nations flowing to the Mount of the Lord, flowing there in order to receive instructions, saying let us go to the God of Jacob in order that we might learn his ways and learn to walk in his paths. There the image is of all the people flowing to Jerusalem for instruction in the ways of God. And then there is the reverse - from Jerusalem flows out in mighty stream this instruction that illumines and enlightens the world and the consequence of that instruction in the Word of God, the Torah, the way of life, is that there is judgment, justice among the nations. It's almost as though God holds court in Jerusalem as a kind of divine Supreme Court, so that there is justice and equity among all. And then the consequence of that justice is a world at peace. "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree and no one shall make them afraid." Now, isn't that a dream? There would be no more defense budgets, no more armaments, all of the human resources could go for human well-being. There'd have to be no more West Point or Annapolis. The world would be at peace and all of our efforts could be used for human betterment and the building of human © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 4   community. And a person could sit under his vine and under his fig tree and he could contemplate his farm; he could have pride of possession; he could take pride in the accomplishment of his honest toil and no one would make him afraid. It's a great vision, isn't it? It's a dream. And what is usually done, I think, in the preaching of the Church with a vision like this is to say, "Well, but you know we'll never realize it in history because the human heart is so sinful and human society is so in the grip of human perversity. And so, we just have to live with wars and rumors of war and conflict and violence and all of the hell on earth and, in the meantime, we pray, 'Even so, come Lord Jesus. O God, do something. O Lord, how long? How long?'" And my question is whether or not God might be saying to us, "O Church, how long, how long?" You see, to simply cop out of an active pursuit of the realization of this vision on the basis of our human perversity is to fail to hear this word of God, which calls the people of God to be about creating this kind of reality in the midst of their own history. "For all the people walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever." There is a vision, not of Israel or of Jerusalem being the center of an empire that is posited on power. No, not at all. This is not the consequence of the end of a power struggle. This is the end of power struggle! That's the vision. It is not as though Israel is now the center of a world empire, all other nations having been humiliated and put down. It is not even that Israel will convert all of the nations to Yahweh. All of the people will walk each in the name of its god - there's no abandonment of national gods, but there is a kind of loose federation, which is living under the word of God in justice and in peace, the consequence of which is human well-being. So, I'm just not satisfied one more Advent to paint this beautiful portrait and then to call you to pray for the Lord to come and end the drama. I think that's a cop out. Micah was talking about his own day, addressing his own day, talking about a future unfolding but not a future 2700 years away and then some. And Zachariah, in the birth of John, the forerunner of Jesus, was not talking about some far off, distant future. He was talking about the implications for his own day. And so, I want to suggest that we have to think about what is incumbent upon us to become the active agents for the implementation of a dream. Sounds like fool's talk, doesn't it? But, you see, the human situation will never be transformed by the powerful intervention of God. All you would get then is what we had for nearly half a century when the Soviet Union was dominating the Eastern Bloc. And there was an impasse between East and West. It was an impasse which was created by our nuclear arsenals and there was a mutual standoff of terror. Do you remember it? And then it seemed like there were convolutions within the human family and the Eastern people rose up and the human spirit revived and prayers were offered and the Berlin Wall fell. I remember, I think it was in 1989 in Advent, speaking about the falling of the Berlin Wall as perhaps the Spirit of God moving across the face of the earth, © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 5   actually doing something, enlivening the human spirit to rise up for peace. But, you see what happened when the umbrella, the domination of the Soviet power was taken away? Yugoslavia falls apart. Ethnic feuds develop. Ethnic cleansing in its wake. Today is, what, the 27th day in Belgrade where hundreds of thousands will be gathering protesting Milosevic, the tyrant who has usurped the results of a free election? Well, that's a positive sign, isn't it? People are no longer just taking it; they are coming together, they are rising up, they're protesting. There is some ferment in the air. Last week South Africa – a constitution was signed in Sharpville. Do you remember Sharpville? Famous for the Sharpville massacres and the place where the white dominant government imposed Apartheid in the first place. Symbolically they signed a new constitution. South Africa, headed by Nelson Mandela, a black man - we didn't know if we would see it in our day, but we've seen it. In other words, history is so ambiguous, isn't it? Here there's a sign, there a sign, and there an "Oh, no." A step forward, two steps backward. In studying this text, I came across a statement by a commentator in 1932 who talked about world disarmament and pointed to the League of Nations as a sign of eventual world disarmament. 1932! Prior to Hitler, which shows the danger of saying that historical event is that particular text of scripture. Another commentator in 1942 said the problem with the League of Nations is that obviously there was not a resolution in the human heart to change an old way for a new way. And so we had World War II and all of its tragedy. And then the United Nations was born. Well, the United Nations comes into terrible criticism. This country is not very happy with the United Nations. Going down the highway this week, I saw a big sign, "Get us out of the U.N.!" Sure, get us out of the U.N. Let us be independent; we are strong; let's build Fortress America! At least if we are powerful, we can perpetuate the peace - and I want to say, "THAT'S NOT PEACE!" That's not biblical peace. Biblical peace is not the consequence of the enforcement by power. It is the permeation of human society by quite another spirit and we simply let ourselves off the hook if we say, "Well, that will come down the line way over there. God, You do it, and in the meantime, let's keep our powder dry." History is so ambiguous and, as David Hartman said in a piece which is printed in your insert today, a piece I referred to last week, this Messianic dream, this vision - it's not some fact at the end of history. It is the norm by which every moment of history is judged. It is that intention of God reflected in that dream and it is that intention and that dream to which we must be committed as God's people in order to bring about its realization in the midst of history. You see, I think what we do is we get drugged and we get complacent and we just take business as usual as the only thing that could ever be. We grow cynical and we grow weary; we don't believe anymore! We don't believe what God can do. I said last week I wish some of the powerful of the earth would own this problem of justice. And then I was chastised myself as I reflected on the fact that, when God © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 6   made a major move 2000 years ago, it didn't happen in Jerusalem, it didn't happen in Herod's court. It happened in Bethlehem and in a manger and with a child. And so, who says God needs high-fliers like us? But, God knows God needs someone to stand up and to say, "Enough of this war, raging conflict, power struggle," and to believe that there is another way that is possible. When I say that, I almost don't believe it. When I say that, I almost say to myself, "Why do you say that?" Why do I harangue you with that? Well, at least I can spoil your Christmas. At least let us be disabused of any self-righteousness or any illusion that we are passionately engaged with the things that engaged the heart of God. You see, it is such a massive thing and it seems so unreal, even to talk like this. But, you say to me, "What can we do?" Well, I admit we cannot do things in a very broad swath, but at least we can do here what we have begun to do - we can live by our Mission Statement. We can live before the Presence of the Mystery of God Whose inclusive grace moves us to embrace all with unconditional love and gracious acceptance, irrespective of race, gender, of economic status, of age, or sexual orientation. We can love the world as God loves it, following the way of Jesus. And then we can find our window to God in the face of Jesus and yet affirm the quest and insight of other faiths, opening ourselves to dialogue and mutual enrichment in our pluralistic world. We can at least, here, honestly seek to build a human community that will value each and shun none, that will create the human oasis where we treat one another with dignity, having laid down our arms so that our arms are available to embrace one another. Power structures are not only government structures, not only political structures. The Church itself has been into the triumphalistic business seeking power and glory. I mentioned the falling of the Berlin Wall. Prior to that, Poland shook off the shackles of Communist domination because of a Polish Pope, and those were moving episodes when Pope John Paul II went to Warsaw and had a mass in that Communist country, when the country was ignited with hope, when because of the power of the Vatican supporting Solidarity, they threw off that ironclad oppression. But, the Chicago Tribune presently is running a series of articles on the Roman Catholic Church, the last one on this whole Polish situation: remembered all of that and the strategic role the Pope played, but then said the Church has overplayed its hand with its heavy-handed tactics, with its conservative social agenda, and just recently the Polish people voted against their bishops, defeated Lech Walesa and put in another man, to vote for whom the bishops said was a vote for the Devil. And the Polish Parliament just undid the anti-abortion legislation. Poland! Why? Because the Church, the people of God are at their best when they are weak and crippled, when they can depend only on God. When they become powerful they are as mad and hungry as any politician you want to name. © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Peace… Richard A. Rhem Page 7   The Church does not have to dominate. God never said Israel would be a majority. God never said the Church would cover the earth. God called Israel and called the Church simply to be that minority, that salt and that light in order that there might be some place in the human wilderness where there was the recognition of the kind of spirit that would bring peace and allow the human spirit to flower and to blossom. Oh, we can't do everything. We can't do very much. But, will we pledge one to another that in this place, at least, there will be unconditional love, there will be the arms of total acceptance, there will be the shunning of none, there will be no lust for power or domination, but simply by living in the light and embodying the spirit of Jesus, we might be just a sign of hope of the possibility of peace, if ever humankind would allow their deepest longings to find expression. "They shall learn war no more." When? When? When will we say, "Enough"? When will we quit waiting for Messiah to come and somehow or other stand up and say, "Enough! Enough!" Peace be with you. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/747cd192c8b45e5e645c303ff1d2399a.mp3 eecf4c060858a146f7c538b6c8d3cc99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Advent III Series Waiting for the Messiah to Come Scripture Text Micah 4:1-5, Luke 1:67-80 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-0-19961215 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-15 Title A name given to the resource To Bring Peace Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 15, 1996 entitled "To Bring Peace", as part of the series "Waiting for the Messiah to Come", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 4:1-5, Luke 1:67-80. Advent Divine Intention Global Community Inclusive Peace Shalom https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d0cbc4c2f0b9f7e6e1b19de7c6956fb8.pdf 6385cb79fef014fcf82e08e237e04668 PDF Text Text To Bring Joy From the series: Waiting For Messiah To Come – Text: Isaiah 65:18; Luke 2:10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent, December 22, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon It is appropriate that twice a year the sanctuary is resplendent in beauty and we take a moment to remember those we've loved and lost a while, and to honor others whom we would value and affirm. It is appropriate that we do it on the two high feast days of the Christian Church. We do it, obviously, on Easter, because we celebrate the Resurrection and our confident affirmation that this is not all there is, that there is something more, and that those we've loved and lost a while are home in Eternal Light. But, it's appropriate that we do it also on Christmas, the Festival of the Incarnation, for if Easter declares that there is something more, the Incarnation declares that what is now is really good. It is the story of God's identification with the world; it is God's affirmation of creation; it is God's affirmation of the body, of material, of this life, of the human drama being played out in time and space - this present life, this present moment. Thus, the Christian faith makes two great affirmations. It says on Easter that this is not all there is, but there is something more; and it says on Christmas, what is now is very good. It is appropriate that we celebrate the Resurrection remembering those we've loved and lost, and that we celebrate Christmas as an affirmation of God with us, here and now. As we do that, we understand that this world is God's world and this life is a gift of God. What I've been trying to say in this Advent season is that there are some things that cannot be put off. I want to be very clear about my affirmation of that which lies beyond, but this morning I want to say that we ought not to wait for Messiah to come for the gift of joy, for joy is for now; it is for this present experience. To enter deeply into the experience of joy is the invitation of God and is that which enriches and deepens this present human experience. I've been suggesting during Advent that there is a tendency in the Christian Church to project into the future that which God intends for the here and now, that there has been a tendency in the Christian Church to miss this moment, throwing up our hands as though what is, is and cannot be altered and we simply endure this life, waiting for it to pass until we enter into that perfection, that © Grand Valley State University   �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 2   bliss, that perfect state of righteousness and peace. I believe that if we are waiting for Messiah to come to do justice or to make peace, or to live with joy, we are missing God's intention for this moment, for this world, for this life. And so, at the risk of being misunderstood, let me be clear again - what I say detracts not at all from our Christian affirmation that this life is not all that there is. But, let me suggest to you that the way to live life fully with joy is to live as though this is the only life and this is the only day we'll ever have. Joy is not for the future. Joy is for now. I realize that to say that is simple enough, but I don't have some magic wand I can wave over you and send you on your way rejoicing. I also know that we're all programmed differently, our genetic makeup, the environment in which we've been raised - all of those things constitute the person that we are, and there are some of you that are sunny personalities. I can tell by looking at your face. And there are some of you that are grumps. I can tell that from your face, too. (No fair poking one another, now.) Well, it goes without saying that we do have a certain personality. And there are some of us that just live life in a happier mood than others. But, I'm not talking about happiness. Happiness is a surface thing. Happiness is having your Christmas list all fulfilled on Christmas morning; happiness is having the Detroit Lions win their final game on Monday Night Football; happiness is having Wayne Fontes back for another season or whatever it may be. Happiness is up and down; there are moments when things go well and we're happy and then everything falls apart and we're sad. I'm not talking about happiness. I'm talking about joy, which is something deeper. I'm talking about joy, which is a consistent perspective, a posture over against the whole of life and the whole of reality. I'm talking about a joy that sees through the surface, deep down in things, and has come to a kind of lightness of heart quite independent of the immediate circumstances of one's life. It is that posture of heart that keeps us steady, in sunshine and rain, in light and in darkness. Joy is a present possibility for those who get their thinking straight. And I do believe it is a matter of thinking correctly. We are shaped, finally, by our thinking and that's true of us as individuals, and it's true of us as a community of people. The Christian faith, the Christian Church was born out of the womb of Judaism, and somehow or other, Jewish people with that rich Hebrew scripture tradition, have been able to enter, I believe, more wholesomely into the celebration of this life than is often the case with Christian people. I believe that, in the Christian Church we have tended to project into another world God's intention for this world, and we have failed to celebrate Creation as God's creation, and we have often failed to enter fully into this present life with zest because we have tended to see it under a cloud. Oftentimes the impression I get from Christian preaching that I hear on occasion, or the expressions of Christian piety, is that this life and this world are something to be gotten through and endured in order that we © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 3   might enter into that final blessed state beyond. That is a denigration of this human existence in time and space, and quite illegitimately so, for this life, this creation, this human existence, these days have been affirmed by the Eternal God Who called it into being and in the Incarnation fully identified with it. We did not bring along with us out of our Hebrew past that celebration of this world, this life, this day. Now, it was not that the Hebrew Prophet did not know of the darkness and the pain of human existence. The 65th chapter of Isaiah indicates that the writer had experienced the darkness that is all too true. He says there's a day coming when they'll build houses and dwell in them, they'll plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof. No longer will they build houses and another dwell in them, or plant gardens and another eat. He says the day is coming when there will no infant die in infancy and everyone will live to a ripe old age. He's looking to those, to that future day when those things that are so painful in the present will be overcome. There was a future orientation in these prophets, to be sure, but it was a future within this world, it was a future within history. It was not projected into another world; it was not something about heaven out there. It was about here and now, this world, and it would come, the prophet said, because God would send a shoot out of the stump of Jesse. This one would judge according to righteousness and truth. There would be that day when one would come and they would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they would not learn war anymore. They would not hurt. There was a day, this prophet says, when they'll not hurt in all my holy mountain, when the lion and the lamb and the wolf, the whole of creation will live at peace. There will be Shalom. But, it was a this-worldly reality. So, they knew the darkness, but they knew something else, and this is where joy comes in. They knew that God was about something deep down in things. They knew that what was, the darkness they were experiencing, was not the intention of the Creator, because the intention of the Creator was for this life to be a sacrament, for this life to be a joy. God intended it as such, says the prophet. Listen to what he says: I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. I am about to create Jerusalem as the joy and its people as a delight. And God caused the people, in turn, to rejoice. The creator says, according to the Hebrew prophet, "I delight in you. I delight in my people." Creation's end is delight. I have a friend who threatens to write a theology book, "The Theology of Delight." He was a student of A. A. Van Ruler at Utrecht in The Netherlands. Van Ruler used to chide the Church for putting so much stress on salvation, redemption, sin, guilt and that stuff. He said that's almost an appendix to what God is about. God is about creation. God is about new creation; God is about this whole drama and the bringing to fullness the human experience before God's face. God says "I delight in my people. I create Jerusalem with joy, so rejoice, my people." © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 4   That was the vision that shaped the thinking of the Jewish people, to be able to celebrate this world rather than seeing this world as a vale of tears to be traversed, endured and delivered from in order that we might finally arrive home in heaven. No, that is to fail to live fully into the gift of now which is marked through the Incarnation with the presence of God, Immanuel, God with us, here and now. So, I want to suggest this morning that if we wait for Messiah to come for joy, we will have sadly missed God's intention for our present, which is to revel in creation, to live fully, to actualize our potential, to live lovingly, embracing one another, to savor this world. I was driving down Lakeshore in the middle of the week, and all the snow had just fallen freshly. It was cold and crisp and snowballs tufted the pine trees and laid the dunes with a coat of ermine. For a moment the sun broke through. It was a transforming magnificence, and I thought to myself, "Dear God, what a world! What a splendid garden in which to dwell. What a home in which to be at home and celebrate God, the Creator of it all, who would have the creature live with joy on tiptoe, celebrating this present gift." I cannot speak of joy this morning without acknowledging that that joy must transcend the darkness. We've had too much death around here in this community of faith. I have buried too many recently whose lives were too brief. I know the agony; I cannot preach on joy this morning, having walked through the week that I have just walked through, without having to face up to the fact that there is a full complement of pain and sadness. But, again, if I cannot this morning speak of joy now, then our gospel is hollow. Then we're just kidding ourselves; then it is true what we need is a rescue operation to release us from this present wicked world. Ah, but the Church has majored in bad news, casting aspersions on Creation and this present existence. Joy is something that sees down more deeply and is able, even in the present circumstance, to say neither sword, nor hunger, nor famine, nor peril - none of these things will separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, who is Emmanuel, who is God with us here and now in this present moment. There is nothing in life or death or principality or power, or things in the heights or the depths or anything in all of creation that shall ever separate us from that God who at Christmas has come to identify with us, and who, through the Easter miracle, promises that this is not all there is. But, if we could only live as if this were the only day we had, if we could only live as if this were the only life we had, the only world we had, the only possibility we had if we could so live so fully, then we could throw ourselves with abandon into today - then, whatever else there is, is pure bonus. But already, this is pure gift, and so not when Messiah comes, but today. You see, today is the only day you'll ever have. If the gift of tomorrow comes, it will be today. So, if there are words of love to speak, speak them today. If there are those to embrace, embrace them today. If there are dreams brewing in your © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 5   heart, make work of them today. God delights in you and God calls you to delight in this present moment, in this present world, for it is a God-drenched world and it is made for your joy. So, enjoy and the rest will take care of itself. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c01dbe14d761e17da905328d9338ce97.mp3 246a81a530cc7d0e317bfefb5cc16979 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 Series Waiting for the Messiah to Come Scripture Text Isaiah 65:17-25, Luke 2:1-20 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19961222 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-22 Title A name given to the resource To Bring Joy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 22, 1996 entitled "To Bring Joy", as part of the series "Waiting for the Messiah to Come", on the occasion of Advent IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 65:17-25, Luke 2:1-20. Advent Divine Intention God of Love Incarnation Joy https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0f9c96621e7468a85a98f6394fb3ca88.mp3 34e9e92d92db323d907166b6dbc9e39c 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 Christmas Eve Scripture Text Philippians 2:7, John 1:14 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-0-19961224 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-24 Title A name given to the resource God's Identification With the World Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 24, 1996 entitled "God's Identification With the World", on the occasion of Christmas Eve, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Philippians 2:7, John 1:14. https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca42644c383418158d2d380c040df47e.pdf 8b3936a2a36beb2a8ee986a1f4cc65d0 PDF Text Text The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox Text: Matthew 1:23; II Corinthians 12:9-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Christmastide, December 29, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon Søren Kierkegaard was an interesting Danish thinker, Christian, philosopher, theologian. He thought a lot about the divine-human relationship and he told a story one time about a king who had the misfortune of falling in love. He fell in love with a peasant woman, and for a king to fall in love with a peasant woman is to create a great problem. It is a royal dilemma, for kings ought to know better than to fall in love. When one falls in love, one loses control. When one falls in love, one is tempted to do foolish things. When one falls in love, one no longer operates rationally, using one’s head. One leads from the heart and it creates all kinds of difficulties. Anyone who wants a smooth ride, a well-managed life, free of pain, would be well advised never to fall in love. But, especially if you're a king, because if you're a king, there is an added dimension to the dilemma. You see, the king knew that he had the power to command the woman's presence. But, when you're in love, the only thing that will satisfy you is love in return. We know that, don't we? The only thing that satisfies the deep yearning of love is to be loved by the beloved, freely and spontaneously in return. The king understood his problem. He called all his wise advisers around him that they might strategize with him as to how he could win the love of this peasant woman so that it would really be her love. Well, they came up with all kinds of schemes, as you can imagine. That's what they were paid for; that's what they were kept in the king's care for, in order to help him out in difficult situations. And so, they devised one strategy after another. Arrive at her door in a golden coach, dazzle her with diamonds. They say that diamonds will do anything. But, the king was in love. His advisers were not. They were using their head, and he knew that what he really wanted was her heart, and he knew that not even a king can command love. Being frustrated by their ill counsel, it finally dawned on him. One evening he slipped out the back door of the palace, evaded the Secret Service agents and made his way, dressed as a peasant, to the door of the cottage of the woman he loved. And he knocked on the door and offered his heart and asked if he might come and dwell with her. © Grand Valley State University   �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Well, if you want to know how it came out, come next week. But, you can see the analogy to the divine dilemma that God dealt with at Christmas. Because if it doesn't help to be a king when you're in love, it helps even less to be God, because if God is the incurable lover that the biblical story tells us of, then God has a problem, for the one thing that God cannot command is the freely offered and spontaneous love of the other. And so, of course, at Christmas time, we speak of incarnation, we speak of how God came to dwell in one of our kind, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone in order that the eternal and infinite One might be localized in the person of Jesus; in order that the Eternal God, the Infinite One might have a face, a face with which we might fall in love. God becoming one with us, identifying with us, making God's love known to us in the deep passionate hope that we might love God in return, because it doesn't help to be God when you're in love because Love is a thing that is not even at God's disposal. When one is in love then, as the king knew, the only love that can satisfy the deep ache in the heart is the freely offered love of the one beloved. Well, the king was foolish, of course, to fall in love. He might better have been, as that famous king of Persia, Ahasuerus, whose wife was Vashti. Ahasuerus, the king of the great Persian empire, called on all of his generals and all of his officials from across the empire and threw a great party. They knew how to do it better than we. They partied for seven days. And Vashti, the queen, was quite willing to go along with this. She even entertained the spouses of the officials. But, on the seventh day when the food had been plenty and the wine had flowed liberally and the king was feeling no pain, he wanted one last time to impress all of the company gathered around his table. He wanted his queen Vashti, known for her striking beauty, to come on and be on display. Well Vashti said, "It's a pretty good deal here, but enough is enough," and she said no. The king was enraged to be turned down by his queen. And so, he called his counselors and he said to them, "What should I do? What has she done?" They said, "What she has done is very serious, for she has not only disobeyed you and offended you. She has set a precedent in not obeying her husband and, if it should leak out of the palace, the whole of society should go down the tubes. There would be no more family values if women are not subservient to their husbands." (Oh, come on now. That's funny!) Well, in the case of Ahasuerus and Vashti, they had a royal connection and a royal arrangement. Vashti had a role to play and, as long as she played her role, she got her baubles. And when she didn't play her role anymore, the king simply dumped her. No problem, because he didn't love her. He simply held a beauty contest, the first Miss America contest held in the ancient world, and of course, you know the story. Esther, the beautiful Esther, the Jewish young lady was chosen as the queen for her beauty. She comes into the court and eventually - I'll tell you the ending - she saved her people and is celebrated for that fact. The point is this: between a king and a queen there cannot afford to be love because arrangements, relationships get fouled up when love is involved, because © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 3   love makes one vulnerable and love puts one out of control, and, therefore, a wise sovereign will put love on the back burner. The story of Christmas is the story of God Who is a hopeless and incurable lover, who was willing to yield sovereignty in order so radically to identify with the other, the creature, that the creature might be put on a level playing ground with the Creator. Well, now, that's a radical statement, but I want you to think about it with me this morning. This was the divine dilemma. If it is true that God is a God of passionate love, Whose yearning for the other knows no limits, then God has a problem, because there is no way that a king, human or divine, can be certain of the freely offered love of the other unless there comes to be a kind of equality , an even playing ground, where the love of the lover is displayed with a human face to which the other may love in return or say no. Matthew's Gospel, the birth story of Jesus, picks up that name Emmanuel. Emmanuel is reflective of the old tradition of Israel that knew God as a lover, as One yearning for God's people. Emmanuel - God with us, a sign back in ancient Israel, a child so named in order that the king might constantly be reminded in the presence of the child that God is with us, God is with us, God is with us, even when the king was not interested in having God with them. He would rather have had Egypt with them. Emmanuel - God with us - the Gospel writers said, was the reality of Christmas, that now the eternal One dwelt in the human form and we beheld grace and glory in a human face, because the whole biblical story is the story of a divine dilemma, of a God Who loves and will be satisfied with nothing less than the love of the other. The Gospels say it. And then I think of the first letter of John, the 4th chapter. John is the one who writes, "God is love," and he says no one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and God's love is perfected in us. God is love and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. This is the John of "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so," that we might translate it, “Love became flesh and dwelt among us,” so that those who look into the face of Jesus and fall in love, are falling in love with God, but on an equal playing ground, because only love freely offered, only love spontaneously given will really satisfy the heart of one who is in love. This was God's problem. Of course, that created a second facet of the divine dilemma, because then God had to create another over against God's self to whom God could give love and from whom God could receive love. But, to create one like that was to create an awesome creature. That's why that biblical phrase that the human person was created in the image of God says something very profound. It says that the human creature is the mirror image of God. God created one over against God's self to be in relationship with, and the only other that would be worthy of the love of God would be an other who had the dignity to say, "Yes," freely and spontaneously, but to be able to say "Yes" freely and spontaneously, genuinely to love God would also be to have the possibility of © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 4   saying "No" to God. It is part of the human dignity of the human person that we can say no to God. This, of course, was the risk of the whole creative venture of God, the whole impulse to create, the calling into being that which was not, the out flowing of the love of God, God's breath, God's spirit lacing the other with life, sustaining the other in life - that whole episode was fraught with the possibility of disaster, because if you create another that is another worthy enough to love, a worthy lover, then you have created the possibility of one who can say no. In fact, you have created the possibility of one who just might play God. I think that's what the Apostle Paul understood. Paul, I think, from what I read and sense in the New Testament, was one that would not have minded a day or two running the universe. Paul always wanted to fix everything. First of all, he wanted to make the whole world Jewish. And then he wanted to make the whole world Christian. He was an accident going about to happen; he was feverishly fanatical, not always right, but always certain. And I suppose it came from the fact that he had had such an experience of the wonder and glory of God. When he's in trouble in the Corinthian congregation and he must defend his apostleship and his ministry, he tells them something he says that happened fourteen years before. "I've never spoken of it," he says, "I don't even know if I was in the body or out of the body. It was totally ecstatic. It was a vision. It was a kind of experience about which one simply cannot speak. But," he said, "I had that." And then he says with, I think, some real insight, knowing his own tendency to like to run the universe, to play God, "In order to keep my feet on the ground, I was given a thorn in the flesh." We don't know what it was, but it must have been something with which the Apostle Paul agonized, creating great pain, creating embarrassment, great humiliation, who knows? And he said, "It was so bad that I urgently prayed to God to remove that thorn, until I came to understand. I heard the voice of Jesus say, 'My grace is sufficient for you; my strength is made perfect in weakness.'" Or, I like the New English translation: "My grace is enough." You can take that with you for 1997 - "My grace is enough." Paul says, "You know, I came to understand that it was in my very brokenness that I experienced the love and grace of God that enabled me to be whole, to be strong, to love, to be gracious." The human paradox is that, having been created, this awesome creature that can stand over against God and say "Yes" to God or to say "No" to God, this human creature who can seek to usurp the place of God, try his hand at playing God, this human creature is resistant to the very thing that God would give, in that haughty posture, in that God-like frame of mind. And so, Paul says, "The very thing I dreaded, the very thing I sought to have removed was the thing that was the minister to me of a grace that enabled me to see God's love for me such as I had never known it before." That's the human paradox. The very thing that we are inclined to do to secure ourselves, to build walls against the world, to make certain that we are in control © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 5   and that we can manage and on a good day, try our hand at running the universe, that very posture is what keeps us from the deep experience of God's love and grace. It's really quite fascinating that the divine dilemma issued not only in God's identification with us in the flesh of Jesus, but that identification was so complete that when the human rebellion rose up to reject that offer in the face of Jesus, the lover God withheld His hand and allowed the word made flesh to be rejected, even to the point of crucifixion, so that we can speak of the crucified God. Such a lover that God would suffer rather than crush and strike out and cut off the possibility that ultimately the lovers will find each other. I suppose that simply is another instance of the fact that love always involves suffering, because it will not control, coerce, overpower or abandon. Ah, if only we could play God for a day. If only we could realize the impetus of our hearts to secure ourselves, to guarantee ourselves against suffering and hurt. If only we could keep our hearts, not lose our heads, and manage our lives. But, you see, the story of Christmas is the story of a crucified God, identifying with us, dying in order to show us that there is only one thing that will satisfy the divine yearning. It is when at the cottage door of our hearts there comes the knock of a God veiled in flesh who says, "I would come in and dwell with you." And we say, "Come in. Dwell with us." That is Christmas. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/725cca6c33ac0a00a96e02cef79dd94a.mp3 4f3d6938468c445efc7109c4276e4506 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 II Corinthians 12:1-10, Matthew 1:18-25 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-0-19961229 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-29 Title A name given to the resource The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 29, 1996 entitled "The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox", on the occasion of Christmastide I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 12:1-10, Matthew 1:18-25. God of Love Grace Incarnation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/83ef58ff7fd401a2fcfd54c26e691194.pdf a6c401321cd204b372ff1c1e460f533f PDF Text Text Dare To Follow the Light Text: Isaiah 60:6-7; Ephesians 3:9; Matthew 2:2 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan January 5, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ, the Light of which the prophet in Israel spoke, that Light of God which was Israel's treasure in order that they might be a beacon to the nations, Matthew now sees coming to manifestation in Jesus. There, in the face of Jesus, we see into the heart of God. And Paul with his experience, being knocked off his horse by that light from heaven, realizes that the mystery of God hid for the ages, now manifest, is that there is grace for the whole world. That really is the Epiphany story. We read it in Matthew's Gospel, and not only there but in the prophet, in Paul's understanding, the Light has come. "The Light has come; the Light has dawned upon you." The light has dawned upon us but we recognize immediately in that story of Jesus as Matthew tells it that, when the light comes, the darkness is threatened, and all hell breaks loose. This is the story of Herod, threatened by the announcement of this newborn king, who passes a decree that the innocents should be slaughtered in order to wipe out any pretender to the throne. Matthew is telling us immediately in this joyous announcement of the birth of Jesus that the world will not take kindly to the light, and that has been the story down through 2000 years, has it not? It has been the story forever. The Christian Gospel is the announcement of the Light of God. It is seen in continuity with that light that dawned on Israel, and now for 2000 years the Gospel has been proclaimed and the light of God has shined throughout the whole world. This morning I want to suggest to you that it is not a question of whether or not the Light has dawned. The question always before the Church, and the question before us this morning is whether or not we will dare to follow the Light. I want to suggest to you that Paul was a courageous person who made a radical break with that heavy, sturdy tradition in which he had been nurtured. When confronted by the Light, he recognized the call of God to take the Light to the nations. We take that for granted. We celebrate Epiphany as the dawning of the Light that had shone on Israel, which was now being manifest to the whole world, symbolized by the coming of the Magi. So, it's ho-hum; we take it for granted. © Grand Valley State University   �Dare to Follow the Light Richard A. Rhem Page 2   But, you couldn't have taken it for granted if you had lived at the time of the event itself. For Paul to realize, to sense a calling of God, to take the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles involved Paul going contrary to all of that that had been nurtured in him. Paul had to be a person of daring to say that the Gentiles can be reconciled to God by God's grace without first becoming Jews. Paul was a radical reformer, and there was great tension in that early Church. It was a long time before the question was settled as to whether or not there would be a separate Jesus Christian Movement or whether Paul could prevail within the Jewish community itself to see in Jesus this Light of God. But, Paul had the courage to act on his conviction and that at great cost. As he writes in this third chapter to the Ephesians, the secret, long hid with God, but now made manifest, is precisely that - that the grace of God is for the Gentiles so that Jew and Gentile will form one new humanity. In another place in this letter he speaks about that wall of separation being torn down. Paul had cut his eyeteeth on the idea of Jewish separation, that separation over against all others. But, Paul says no more wall, no more partition, no more separation. Now what God has said in Jesus Christ is that God is moved to embrace all. That took courage and Paul paid for it dearly, as many of his writings will indicate. My Epiphany message 1997 is this: Do we have the courage to follow the light? Our problem is not a lack of knowledge. I think the prophets and apostles and preachers for ages have recognized that the light has dawned. But there has been a failure of nerve to live out the implications of the light. It seems to me that here we are 2000 years down from the event of the gift of that one in whose face we've seen the light of the glory of God. What are the issues before us in the light of that light; what is God calling us to do and to be in our day in order to follow the light? It's one thing to dance in the light. It's another thing to behave and to act in light of the light. I want to suggest to you, because of the nature of our situation, that the stand we have taken as a congregation is the only responsible and reasonable way in which the Church of Jesus Christ can respond to the light and follow the light. Bill Moyers has been in the news a lot lately. His Genesis series is very, very popular, and he's done a lot of other things. I knew he was a Southern Baptist minister, but I was surprised that Southern Baptists invited him to address the Texas Conference, because the Southern Baptist Convention has been taken over in the last decade or decade and a half by very conservative, fundamentalist forces. But, Moyers addressed the Texas Southern Baptist Convention and he said to them in a little clip I found in the newspaper, that there is a "whole new religious reality out there" and you have to change from militant anger over the fact that the universe is not closed and life is not static. Well, it sounds like he really gave them both barrels, and he probably won't be invited back, but what he said is true and we all know it. There's a whole new religious reality out there and most of the Church wants to put its head in the sand as though it doesn't exist. © Grand Valley State University �Dare to Follow the Light Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Isaiah thought the end was imminent and the light was dawning. Five hundred years later, and Matthew thought the light had dawned and the end was imminent. And now it's 2000 years later still. Do you suppose that God in heaven is saying, "What in heaven's name are you people doing? Why don't you keep following the light? Why don't you keep working out the implications of the light?" Is it not evident to anybody with any sensitivity to our present global situation that world evangelization that has been the impulse of the Church all these years is an impulse that has hit a dead end? We do not see the evangelization of the world according to the Gospel of Christ. We see the resurgence of the great world religions. We live in a global community that must increasingly become a community of communities. We are able to communicate together in the world that has become a neighborhood; we are learning the insights and the sensitivities and the light that has dawned on others. Are we not being challenged to go into the arena and share our insight and our light that has been God's gift through Jesus Christ with others who share their gifts, as well? On the edge of the third millennium, should we not be facing the reality of global consciousness and working out the implications for our pluralistic world? Paul was confronted with a new situation a new door opened and Paul had the courage to go through that door. It is time for someone to recognize that the mystery is even deeper, grander, and brighter than even Paul understood, that God has a grander scheme, and that we have a treasure in Jesus Christ to bring to the table in a world that sits down and discusses the respective riches of the traditions, bringing together the Light that God has given. It's one thing to say the Light has dawned. It's another thing to have the courage to live out its implications, and it does take courage. Such courage is exercised only at considerable cost. That's the reason that the world is not transformed. It's not a lack of light; it's a lack of courage. I got a letter the other day from an old friend. Really a dear letter. Worried about me, he says after a bit, "What if you've been wrong? What if the faith you once held but have moved more and more away from is true?" He's a friend saying to me, "What if you're wrong?" Well, he says I hear you say I'm willing to take that chance. Finally, he says, "So, I invite you to take a fresh look, to ask again for God's light." I say, "Fine. Don't think I don't." I know that there is insight out there; there's a sense down deep in the core of many people that the kind of things I have said publicly are what any reasonable analysis would conclude, but it's costly and it takes courage to say it. That word has appeared in letter after letter from around the world. "Thank you for your courage." Do we have the courage to follow the light? How long will we bask in the Light that has dawned without doing something about it because, without the courage to act on the Light, the world will not be transformed. © Grand Valley State University �Dare to Follow the Light Richard A. Rhem Page 4   The issue that got us into controversy a year ago was the issue of sexual orientation and my recognition because of the growing light, knowledge, and experience, that sexual orientation is not a moral issue. I have in my hands a book which is brilliant. It's called Virtually Normal, written by Andrew Sullivan, who is the editor of "The New Republic." It is splendidly written and beautifully argued, and Andrew Sullivan, dealing with the whole matter of sexual orientation, himself being a gay man, speaks about various groups lined up on this issue - the prohibitionists, the liberationists, the conservatives, the liberals he comes to the liberals, and one would think that he, being a gay person, would affirm the liberal attempt to create space for the gay/lesbian community. He is appreciative of the legislation that seeks to rule out discrimination and that kind of thing, but he says finally the liberals who believe in freedom are denying their own most fundamental principles because this issue is not something that can finally be legislated and it cannot be fixed by law. Then speaking for himself, but I think speaking out of a profound experience and a brilliant insight, he says that the key to the healing and liberation of any person of homosexual orientation lies within themselves. He points to the civil rights movement of the 60s and he says perhaps the most enduring legacy of the civil rights movement was not its panoply of complicated and cumbersome laws, but the memory of the simple courage of those who stood up in the face of considerable danger for their dignity and equality. "What one remembers, what will never be erased from human consciousness was the gleam of integrity in the eyes of those who took it upon themselves to change their world, expecting no protection and no applause for doing so. It is courage that gets noticed and courage that changes the world." The pain of the homosexual experience requires that kind of catharsis to be healed. Nothing else can replace it. That is the case with Jerry Crane, the teacher in Byron Center who declared who he was in his faithful covenant relationship with another, who to be sure was hounded out of his teaching job and who had to endure two and three and four times as much press as I have, but who nevertheless as a dignified human being, as a man of class and culture, had the gleam in his eye because he was who he was and he stood there exposed in his full humanity. He died this week, but his courage will change the world. I'll tell you there are all kinds of us crouching in the bushes, and I'm not talking now about sexual orientation, I'm talking about the things, the core values by which we live - there are all kinds of us who believe things deep down that we've never had enough courage to stand up and speak for. And there's only one thing that really liberates the human soul; there's only one thing that brings us into the fullness of the human experience - it is when we are true to the light as it has dawned upon us. When the light has dawned upon us and we are true to it, we may find ourselves in Ramah, weeping for our children, not able to be comforted. But we will have been true, and when we will have been true, that will be enough. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/482a107479c0f0dee2a4cc8fab1ca231.mp3 3c84ed5ea3e120e9c0c42966d8e7c48f 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 Isaiah 60:6-7, Ephesians 3:9, Matthew 2:2 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-0-19970105 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-01-05 Title A name given to the resource Dare to Follow the Light Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 5, 1997 entitled "Dare to Follow the Light", on the occasion of Epiphany I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 60:6-7, Ephesians 3:9, Matthew 2:2. Epiphany Light of God Pluralism Universal Grace https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2b648f9c8b4d7e595089e58f24973425.pdf 33904c27e10276e6c462b647910c0670 PDF Text Text Beyond Reason: Discovery in Worship and Mission Christian Unity Sunday Text: Isaiah 49:6b; John 1:9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany, January 19, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon (On this Christian Unity Sunday, the choirs of the two parishes, St. Mary's Catholic Church and Christ Community Church, in Spring Lake, have joined together in Antonio Vivaldi's "Gloria," during the 10:00 am worship hour. The choirs have been singing together, on occasion, since 1973, and there exists a special affection between the two parishes.) (Scripture is read by Jim Penrice, a seminarian intern at St. Mary's, from Mundelein Seminary.) On behalf of our pastor and all of your sisters and brothers at St. Mary's parish, I bring you warm greetings on this cold morning. Somewhere in the scripture it says, "It is good to be here." And it certainly is good to be with you today to worship together as sisters and brothers in Christ. This is a reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah: Listen to me, O coast lands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow. In his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity, yet surely my right is with the Lord and my recompense with my God." And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has become my strength. He says it is too light a thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Thus says the Lord, the redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall © Grand Valley State University   �Beyond Reason: Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 2   prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, because of the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you. I invite you to please stand for the proclamation of the Gospel: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. This is a great experience for us; it is the Sunday designated by a large part of the Church as Christian Unity Sunday. It's a time in which we acknowledge that which is not true, but that which ought to be true. We acknowledge that we know better than we do, and, over the past 25 years of my second term here in this congregation, one of the great experiences for me has been the warm friendship between our neighboring parishes, St. Mary's and Christ Community. We have sung Christmas carols together; we have joined together in ecumenical services; the choirs have made presentations as this morning; we've had good fellowship together in our halls with hot chocolate and good things to eat - it's been enriching for me to experience the unity and the community between these two parishes, and I've heard the same thing from many of you. I've heard it also from the people of St. Mary's when we've had these occasions because, prior to that, we lived in the community together, perhaps we were neighbors, maybe we worked together, but on Sunday morning there was this kind of "Iron Curtain" that divided us and no one gave us permission to embrace one another as brothers and sisters in the faith. And so, it has been a beautiful experience for two neighboring parishes, one Roman Catholic, one Protestant, to recognize that the things that divide us are superficial and the things that make us one are fundamental, and this morning is another wonderful experience of that unity that we have in Jesus Christ. God knows that unity is imperative for our world. The Roman Catholic theologian from whom I have learned so much, Hans Küng, has said that there will be no peace among the nations until there is peace among the religions, and there will be no peace among the religions until there is peace among the churches. That says it succinctly and pointedly, and it is true. Wherever you look in the globe today, wherever there is trouble, potential violence, living on the edge of war, you will find at the root of the conflict religious fervor, or someone using religion to fuel the fires of discord and alienation. It is imperative that as people of faith we learn to live together and in order to live together, it is imperative that we come to experience that oneness that is ours because we are all the children of the one © Grand Valley State University �Beyond Reason: Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 3   eternal God, who in the beginning brought all things into being and created humankind in God's image with a heart that continues to yearn, to embrace all God's children. I believe that's a biblical truth. The passage from Isaiah is a very familiar passage; it's one of the servant songs in that section of Isaiah 40-55, a servant poem in which, to begin with, the servant seems to be Israel itself, and then moves to an individual who calls Israel to come to itself and to realize its purpose, because the song indicates that Israel was to be the place in which God was glorified on earth. God chose this people and in this people God would show God's glory. And so, the servant is to call Jacob back to God, to that prior claim to be that place where the light of God would dwell on earth. God chose Israel, not to the exclusion of the nations, but in order to bring light to the nations, and in this poem after the servant hears the call to bring Jacob back to God, the voice says, "But, that's not enough. That's too light a task. I will make you a light to the nations in order that my salvation may be known to the end of the earth." I believe that Israel at its best, at its moments of most profound understanding, saw itself to be the light of God to share with the nations in order that the world might experience God's saving grace. We in the Christian Church believe that that light came to sharp focus in Jesus. In the prologue to his Gospel, John writes of the Word, the word that in the 14th verse becomes flesh. In the meantime, that word speaks of a God Who is the source of life and light for the world. The Gospel writer points to John the Baptist and says John was not the light, but John came to bear witness to the light, and that light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. Christmas was the coming in human flesh of that one who would say, "I am the light of the world." Jesus was not, in himself, the source of light. Jesus was not the exclusive light given to humankind. Jesus was the human flesh, was that supreme moment when the light that flows from God, that enlightens everyone, was coming into sharp focus. Jesus became the locus of the light, the light of God that enlightens all. I believe that is biblically true. But, if it's true, how can we realize it? How can we make it concrete in our world? What I want to say to you this morning is that, beyond reason, the truth is discovered in worship and mission. I say, beyond reason, because we will never come to the experience and the realization of unity through rational discussion. It is strange for me to say that, eh? I'm the incurable theologian. I am always thinking, thinking, thinking. When I write with great persuasion, when I speak with the tongues of angels, I think the whole world will understand. I can't figure out why everybody doesn't see it! But, alas, I learned to my despair, that wellreasoned argument doesn't do it. It must be beyond reason; it must be experienced. When it is experienced, it need not be discussed, debated or argued. © Grand Valley State University �Beyond Reason: Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 4   When it is experienced, it is known; it becomes a reality, and it is my claim this morning that the experience comes not as I wish it would come, by some finely fashioned sermon, some theological discussion, some erudite essay - no. It will come when it comes in worship and in mission. It will come when "Gloria in excelsis Deo" is sung magnificently by human voice, accompanied by instrument. It will come when we as a people are lifted into the presence of the living God, when we are lifted out of ourselves and there is that transcendent moment when we know ourselves caught up in wonder, love and praise. It is in worship, those moments of adoration, those experiences when we lose our head, when we open our heart, when our whole being pulsates, when our goosebumps have goosebumps, and we know beyond any argument when we see two choirs gathered together from two parishes from two great traditions singing one voice to the glory of the one God - don't we know in that moment that we are together the children of God who delight in the worship of that combined chorus? It is in worship, whether in corporate worship like this or in other moments when in different gatherings we may suddenly experience ourselves together. You know that Saturday nights are sacred. I seldom venture out of the house, but we did last evening for a special occasion - the birthday of the husband of the cochair of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue Committee, Sylvia Kaufman, and it was one of those decade-turning birthdays, a very festive evening, a wonderful party. Because Sylvia and Dick Kaufman are Jewish, there were Jewish friends and relatives. But because they have been in that community so long, there were Gentiles, as well, and people of all stripes. And because Sylvia is Chair of the Jewish-Christian Committee, there were members of the committee. There happened to be four clergy persons there, and in spite of that, it wasn't a bad evening! Sylvia said, "How about our resident clergy blessing the meal before we partake?" And so, we did - a Presbyterian, a ... (what am I?), a Lutheran, and a Jewish rabbi, and for a moment that assembly there gathered knew a transcendence that deepened the evening and we knew that we were one before the true God Who gives us bread. It is in worship that the superficial things that divide us are dissolved and we know ourselves truly to be one. And it is in mission, it is when we are not thinking the faith, but doing the faith. It is when our Parlour on Thanksgiving is filled with the aroma of roast turkey and there are people from various parishes around the community gathered together to roll up their sleeves and serve those who need a place on Thanksgiving, washing the dishes, making this a place of hospitality. It doesn't really matter what your brand is. Together there is a servant community of the people of Christ serving as an expression concretely of the compassion of God for all of those who would come. It comes in mission. This is the birthday of Martin Luther King. It was 29 years ago that he was cut down by an assassin's bullet. He was a prophet in our midst. We liked him not a little, not a lot. He did not, of course, receive the honor in his life which is typical for prophets. But, he had a dream and in the rich cadences of that black preacher, © Grand Valley State University �Beyond Reason: Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 5   this nation was sensitized and we recognized the horror of the racism that was encased in law, and his dream caught on and black and white together began to make those moves to dismantle the structure of racism which is still far from where it ought to be, but which has been moved immeasurably by one man who had a dream of the day when people would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the character of their soul. The dream was caught by black and white and young and old, and the landscape has changed, and we came together because we were doing what was right and when we were doing what was right, then we knew that there was a deeper unity that bound us together, that we were all the children of God. It is in worship and it is in mission that we come to experience the genuine unity of the human family. I got a call three or four weeks ago from a man named David or Daniel Fox. I had gotten a note to call this person. I didn't know who he was. There were some notes scribbled about what he wanted, but they didn't make any sense to me, and I've returned a few calls in the last few months that I wish I hadn't, and so I wasn't too eager to dial up this number, but I did. I found out that this was a gentleman who was a nephew of a chaplain in the Second World War who had been one of the four chaplains who had gone down with a troop ship. (Those of you who are older, like I am, will remember the story, perhaps.) He knew that I was a minister in the Reformed Church of America at the time and thought I might be able to give him some information about one of the chaplains, Clark Poling, who was a minister in the RCA I pointed him to the archives of the RCA and we chatted a bit about the story, which I did remember, but he reminded me that it was early in the Second World War, the USS Dorchester was torpedoed in the North Atlantic by a Nazi torpedo and they had not enough life jackets on board. There were four chaplains on board and those four chaplains took off their life preservers and handed them to the troops. And, as the troops were scrambling overside and into life boats, the chaplains stood on deck and they prayed for the troops, for their survival and their safety. The ship was mortally wounded and as it was slipping into that watery grave, the four chaplains stood on deck, linked arm in arm, praying for their people. One was a Methodist. One was a pastor in the Reformed Church. One was a Catholic priest, and one was a Jewish rabbi. What a picture. What an image. As they slipped under those icy waters and came into the presence of Light Eternal, do you suspect it mattered one whit that one was Jewish, one was Catholic and two were Protestant? Of course, it didn't. You know it didn't. The reason I know that you know it didn't, is that about five years ago I had an epiphany experience in this congregation. I was on my way to Brandeis University to a think tank on congregational affiliation for Catholics, Protestants and Jews. Do you remember? It happened to be Reformation Sunday and I told you where I was going and for what reason and I suggested that perhaps I should go to Brandeis and say to that group that what we really need to do, we who are © Grand Valley State University �Beyond Reason: Worship Richard A. Rhem Page 6   from Geneva, is go to Rome and pick up our brothers and sisters there and go to Constantinople, picking up more brothers and sisters, moving to Mecca and then to Jerusalem where we might all experience the truth - that we are all together the children of God. And you know what you did? It had never happened before. For the first time in my ministry, you applauded the sermon and you said to me "We've known it all along. When will you catch up with us?" You, the people, knew it. When I articulated it, you affirmed it, because you knew it. You knew it here and my confidence for the future lies in the fact that you know it and increasingly the people of God of whatever stripe will be saying to ecclesiastical leaders, church bureaucrats and bishops and all kinds of such animals, you will be saying, "Get out of the way!" because we're coming together, because in your heart, you know it's true. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9f2f012ad9ce38692adcd6676146dc99.mp3 6f1888b33127356521eb6787d5dea25b 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 Scripture Text Isaiah 49:6b, John 1:9 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19970119 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-01-19 Title A name given to the resource Beyond Reason: Discovery in Worship and Mission Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 19, 1997 entitled "Beyond Reason: Discovery in Worship and Mission", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 49:6b, John 1:9. Community of Grace Epiphany Inclusive Pluralism https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a022ac9792cba629241ab55b5e108b54.pdf f9112dcfa9b5a612f716e3d8a842ad49 PDF Text Text Insight, Courage and World Transformation Text: Acts 26:1-9; John 12:42 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Season of Epiphany, January 26, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon I have found in the season of Epiphany a theme that continues to circle around in my head and what I am going to say to you this morning, I've said before. I am going to reinforce that theme that in Epiphany we celebrate the fact that the Light has come. It's a wonderful season, the season of the Star, of brightness, of illumination. We celebrate the fact that God does not remain hidden, that God unveils God's self and we have the knowledge of God. The gift of God is that illumination of our minds and hearts so that we are not in darkness, but we live in light. The thing that has continued to get at me is that the Church always celebrates these seasons of the year, we celebrate that the Light has come, but we fail to act in light of the Light. The Light is not an end in itself. The Light has come in order that people illumined, given insight, might become world changers, world transformers. The thrust this season and of this message is that insight must be wedded to courage in order that the world might be transformed. It sounds like pulpit talk, grandiose, doesn't it? But, think about it for a moment. Is that not what the whole biblical story is about - God calling a people, Israel, in order to be light to the nations? Is not that what the Gospel is about - the light of Jesus Christ, the one who said, "I am the Light of the world," calling us to follow, to be light, to be salt to the world? Are we not called, we who follow in the way of Jesus and in the tradition of Israel, to bear witness to the kingdom of God and to be the concretization of that kingdom in the midst of history? We are called to be agents of change. We are called to be world transformers. Krister Stendahl used a phrase that I love: "We are called to be the menders of Creation." Isn't that a nice phrase? To mend Creation. God is about the mending of Creation, and God's people are called to be the agents in that process of mending, the healing of Creation, specifically that society might be humanized, that there might be more justice in the world, that there might be more compassion in the world, that there might be more peace in the world. That's so basic, very simple, isn't it? Fundamental. The people of God, as we have understood ourselves, in the tradition of Israel and in the Christian tradition, are © Grand Valley State University   �Insight, Courage, Transformation Richard A. Rhem Page 2   a people who are called to live in the Light, to walk in the Light, to be children of Light in order that the world might become a better place. World transformation. The Light hasn't come simply to give us information. The Light has come to give us insight in order that, with courage, we might engage in the changing of the world, the changing of society, the changing of human behavior, making the world a better place. The mending of Creation. My theme is this: That the insight must be wedded to courage in order that the insight might be effective in the concrete world of which we are a part. And the greatest hindrance to the coming of the kingdom of God is a failure of nerve. It is fear. I had noted that, last weekend at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Dr. William Sloan Coffin would speak. Coffin has been an activist minister of the Gospel for many, many years. He has been about many causes of social justice and world peace, but yesterday's Press had a little clip from him in which, typically, he called the Church to live in love and to live lovingly, but then this caught my eye: He said, "The great enemy of love is fear, and fear is the destructive force and it is the block to transformative action," and he said, "I'm afraid of scared people." The problem with the world is scared people. People who lack the courage to stand for the insight that God has given. I think that is clear from the scriptures and it is obvious in our own experience as a people in our own day. Certainly it was clear in the biblical story, the story as Luke told Paul's story, and as John told Jesus' story. Luke, in the Book of Acts, in those last chapters tells about Paul's return, after all of his missionary activity and the founding of the churches, to Jerusalem with that offering, and when he goes there, a very significant moment in the 21st chapter, the 20th verse: James and the leaders of the Christian Jesus Movement, the Jesus Jewish Christian Movement encounter Paul and they welcome him, saying, "Paul, there are thousands of followers of the Way here. There is a big population in Jerusalem of Jewish people following the way of Jesus, but there are those among them who are saying that when you get out in the hinterlands, you play fast and loose with Moses. You don't observe Torah; you are not an observant Jew out there. And you encourage other Jews to be lax in their observance. And so, Paul, can you straighten that out?" Paul says, "Certainly." Then they say, "Why don't you engage in the Rite of Purification? Go to the Temple, it's a seven-day process, say your prayers and shave your head and all that kind of thing." Paul says, "I'll be glad to," because Paul never claimed to be anything else but an observant Jew. And so, he does that but, while he's in the Temple, there's this © Grand Valley State University �Insight, Courage, Transformation Richard A. Rhem Page 3   group who is agitating. They stir up a mob and it doesn't take a mob long with a mob psychology to get rabid. They're ready to pounce on him, to tear him limb from limb. They want to kill him, and he's arrested by the Roman cohort there, and the arrest actually becomes a rescue. So, he's put in prison to guard his own life. But, before that, he speaks to the mob and he says, "Look, I am a faithful follower of the tradition. It is for the hope of Israel that I stand here." Well, they boo him down eventually, and then he speaks to the Roman tribune and finds out he's a Roman citizen. Now he's in the Roman legal process; he gives his defense to the first Governor, Felix, and then Festus and then finally we hear him talking before the King, Agrippa, and it's the same in every case as he gives his defense. As we read a moment ago, he says, "Look, King, I was a persecutor of the People of the Way. I was so diligent in my own Jewish faith that I imprisoned, I voted for the death of the followers of the Way, I persecuted these people. Certainly these accusations against me are false." And then he tells the king about how, on his way to Damascus, the light shone upon him, and he tells his conversion story and how he who persecuted the followers of the Way became the proclaimer of Jesus, as indeed God's anointed one. And then this phrase, one of my text this morning: "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." That's the point, dear friends. Paul was bathed in light; Paul had to undergo a radical transformation in his thinking. Paul had to do a 180° turn. Paul was absolutely broken, only to rise up and to go another way. He could say at the end of his life, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." He had been warned not to go to Jerusalem but he had to go to Jerusalem. They said, "They will bind you there," and he said, "I will go to Jerusalem even if I be bound. I am ready to die for the name of Jesus Christ." Paul wedded insight to courage, and he was not disobedient to that heavenly vision. I'm sure he died disappointed because he had hoped that from Jew and Gentile there would be created one new humanity. That's the phrase from his Letter to the Ephesians. He spoke about how that middle wall or partition was torn down and now there would be no barrier separating the human family. And you know his frustration. It comes out in his Letter to the Romans, when his own brothers and sisters in the faith did not see what he saw. He said, "I would myself be accursed if only they could see this." I think Paul dreamed of a day, not when the Jew would cease to be a Jew, but when the Jew in his following of Torah would see in Jesus that full manifestation of God and the day when the Gentile would not become a Jew, but would be embraced by that same grace of God. Paul envisioned one new humanity, embraced by God's grace, dwelling in the light, and he could see that it was not © Grand Valley State University �Insight, Courage, Transformation Richard A. Rhem Page 4   happening that way, and there was this terrible tension between his work out in the Gentile mission field and the Jesus Jewish contingent at home base in Jerusalem. But, think of what might have happened if Paul's dream could have been realized, for what ensued because it was not realized was the dominant Jewish party persecuting the people of the Way until the people of the Way became the dominant Christian establishment with tragically 2000 years of anti-semitic persecution. Think of the horror that has been visited upon the human family because there was not at that point created one new humanity. Paul was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Paul was ready to die for that truth in which he believed, but it didn't happen. There were not enough who would join him, not enough who caught the vision. And so, 2000 years later, does thinking have its implications? My goodness, people, out of that what happened 2000 years later, the horror of the Holocaust! I read just recently in the paper that the nation Germany is wrenched even now as they're trying to determine how to establish a Holocaust memorial in Germany. Ten million dollars, but how do you do it? How do you have a people live, constantly being reminded of that horror? You see, thinking has ramifications all down the line. If only there had been more who would have heeded Paul and stood with him, not to put everybody in a blender and have a homogenized humanity, but to have Jew and Gentile in Christ linked arm in arm, according to God's intention, bringing light to all nations, the light that is in Jesus Christ. There weren't enough that had nerve enough to stand. There weren't enough who wedded insight with courage in order to transform their world. Near the end of the first century, the Rabbinic Jewish party has gained the ascendency. The Jewish followers of Jesus are on the defensive now. Now in this Johannine community, John sees in his congregation one and then another and another leave; they're going out all over the place. The ascendent Rabbinic party is now denying the possibility of someone being in the synagogue and saying that Jesus is the Messiah. Now, you're up against it. "Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?" "Oh, yes." "Well, if you confess it, you're out of here." Now you have to decide - will I openly confess it, or will I just be quiet and stay here, for after all, this is my spiritual home. That's the situation in which John tells the story of Jesus, and you always see those two levels in John's Gospel. He's telling the story of what happened in © Grand Valley State University �Insight, Courage, Transformation Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Jesus' day to address what's happening in his day, and so after giving the Book of Signs, the public ministry of Jesus comes to an end in the 12th chapter. The first half of the Gospel is over and it's as though the curtain drops, and John comes out in front of the curtain and speaks to the audience to say, "Now, let me explain this dilemma. You wonder - all of these things that Jesus did that I've just recorded and his own people have rejected him; they don't believe him. How can that be?" Well, John, out in front of the curtain now, with the audience, says, "On the one hand, God's in that somehow." To explain how that can be, John goes to the prophet Isaiah, the 6th chapter, in which Isaiah records his vision of God and his call. The sixth chapter has a strange twist: He said, Go and tell this people: You may listen and listen, but you will not understand. You may look and look again, but you will never know. This people's wits are dulled, their ears are deafened and their eyes blinded, so that they cannot see with their eyes nor listen with their ears nor understand with their wits, so that they may turn and be healed. Difficult words; how can we understand them? In any case, John is saying something similar. He is trying to say to the people this is not happening apart from God's overall operation in history. But then, lest it seem as though he is just saying, well, it's God fault, he goes on to the next paragraph to say, "But even many of the authorities believed but did not confess it for fear of the Pharisees, lest they be put out of the synagogue." Now, in Jesus' day, nobody was going to be put out of the synagogue, but in John's day the issue was you confess Jesus as the Messiah, you'll be put out of the synagogue. And what John is saying to his community of people was you must make up your mind, you've got to decide, and it just may be down deep finally it will be an issue of whether or not you have the courage of your conviction. Because he says in Jesus' own day there were religious authorities that believed, but for fear of the Pharisees they didn't confess it because they valued human glory more than the glory of God. I would translate that a little differently in our day. They valued their comfort and their security and their job, their position in society more than the imperative to speak the truth according to their conscience. John says to his community, "Will you, too, leave, through a failure of nerve? You do believe it. Just like in Jesus' own day there were those who did believe it. But the question is not what you believe in the depths of your heart. The question is the degree to which that which you believe in the depths of your heart will find expression in your life. It is the degree to which you will stand up and speak it, say it, take a stand, be counted. Because, you see, insight is given not as an end in © Grand Valley State University �Insight, Courage, Transformation Richard A. Rhem Page 6   itself, to be contemplated in silence. Insight is given to be wedded with courage in order that the end of it might be world transformation. We are to be about the mending of Creation, the humanization of society, the changing of attitudes, the changing of behavior, the changing of social structures. It is so difficult to do it in the political process. Come in this next hour and ask Sen. Stille how difficult it is in the political process. Politics is the art of compromise, but there has to be a place in society where the truth will not be compromised, and if it is not the Church, if it not the people of God, then where will the truth be spoken? If we believe it, we must have the courage to say it. If we believe it, we must have the courage to incarnate it. If we believe it, then we must be the living concretization of it. The light has come. Thank God! So, what? So that we may become agents of transformation. So that we may act on our insight. So that we may follow our conviction. So that we may be true to our faith, the thing that we really believe. The great block to human transformation is fear - fear of consequence, fear of cost, and it is costly. And the fear is not without justification. Finally each of us in our own life and we as a people together, have moment by moment to make those decisions. Because 2000 years ago there were those who knew it, but for fear refused to confess it, a Holocaust happens and the world is still wrenched. We have knowledge about the genders and the essential equality of the genders, and yet there continues to be a battering away at the equality of women. We live in a society where the armed forces at a school like Citadel, where there is still that damnable resistance to what we really know is true and right. We live in a society that will continue to experience gay-bashing and persecution, when we know and we have information and we have an experience such that we know that there is no shred of basis in reality for that kind of bigotry and prejudicial attitude. The tragedy is that, while it is very difficult to speak the truth in the political arena where one needs to be elected, in the Church there is a refusal to speak it, even an undergirding of the bigotry and the prejudice that has ruled far too long. My epiphany plea with you is that we will, before the face of God, think hard, think seriously, think responsibly, reflect, contemplate, discuss, dialogue, struggle and wrestle with humility and openness, but then have the courage to be all of that that would reflect what we really believe and end the conspiracy of silence and the compromise with all of that negativity that continues to lace the human family with tragedy. Dear friends, the Light has come. Be children of Light and let your light so shine that all people may glorify the Eternal God Who calls us to be the menders of Creation. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5cc30be310adfa5a7ad01cfe70e22ab7.mp3 833c7ac89f9b1537585be2f544bb31b1 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 Christian Unity Sunday, Epiphany IV Scripture Text Acts 26:1-9, John 12:42 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-0-19970126 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-01-26 Title A name given to the resource Insight, Courage and World Transformation Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 26, 1997 entitled "Insight, Courage and World Transformation", on the occasion of Christian Unity Sunday, Epiphany IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 26:1-9, John 12:42. Compassion Epiphany Justice Transforming the World https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/949c0bd579e94ed74ce79ed8787d60c2.pdf aaff5fabd64b105160f759cef49b3510 PDF Text Text Look At the Faces Around the Table From the series: Faces Around the Cross Text: Luke 5:29 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan February 16, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon Having entered this Lenten season around the table of our Lord, I want to point to the fact that table fellowship was the mark of his ministry. Throughout this season we'll be looking at faces around the cross, but first, this morning, let's look at the faces around the table. In the formalized, ritualized worship of the Christian church, it's not really possible for us to gather around the table. When I was doing my graduate study in The Netherlands, I would, on occasion, go to one of the Dutch churches in the neighborhood. After the Second World War, they had built a lot of churches in The Netherlands and they built them with a lot of space in the front of the nave, and in one of the neighborhood churches that I attended, in the celebration of Communion, the people would literally come forward and gather around tables set in the front of the nave, several pews gathering until all the chairs were filled. They would partake, rise, go back to their pews and the next section would come. They literally took the Communion around the table so that they could look into the faces of one another. Well, that was a cut above what we're able to do, but it still wasn't reflective of the intimacy of table fellowship as we have it in the initiation of this sacrament on the night of Jesus' betrayal. That, of course, was connected with the Passover feast. Israel celebrated annually every spring their deliverance from Egypt, God's liberating act of freedom for them as a people, their founding story. And so, they celebrated annually in the spring the Passover meal, in their respective homes around that roasted lamb. Jesus took his vision and his ministry into the very heart and center of Israel, in Jerusalem to the Temple, and he did it at the time of Passover so that the culmination of his life and his crucifixion happened at that time of the year. In the night before that inevitable morrow when he would give his life, he gathered with his disciples. Some of the Gospels say it was Passover itself. One of the Gospels says that it was a night prior to Passover, but whatever - it certainly was connected with that Passover celebration. But, there was a deeper connection, I believe, for, in gathering his disciples around the table on that last evening, he was doing what had been characteristic of his ministry. © Grand Valley State University   �Faces Around the Table Richard A. Rhem Page 2   New Testament scholarship studies of the Gospel today are more and more recognizing that it was table fellowship that was central to the ministry of Jesus. That it was fellowship around the table that was the hallmark of his ministry and that, at table fellowship, Jesus was enacting his message, that it was there, in the midst of that fellowship, that God's presence was experienced, God's living, gracious presence known in the fellowship of the table. It was around the table, looking into one another's eyes that those people experienced the presence of God according to the proclamation of Jesus. Now, this is quite a radical idea, really. Oh, I've said it many times - that table fellowship marked the ministry of Jesus. You can't read the Gospels without coming again and again to a dinner party. Someone has said that in the whole of Jesus' ministry he is either going to dinner or coming from dinner and at one point, in frustration at some of his critics, he said, "You know, there's no way to satisfy you people. John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking and you said he has a demon. And I came eating and drinking and you call me a glutton and a wine bibber." Well, I prefer Jesus' style. But, it is true - he was a convivial person. He was always at table, and he would go to anybody's table. He was sort of like Peter. Just invite him to dinner. Because Peter has come to understand that a table finely set with candles, wine, and good bread is a sacrament. Literally, Jesus incarnated the presence of God at table. We read the story of his call to Levi or Matthew to come follow him, and the first thing that Matthew did was to throw a party for his friends, and of course, the Pharisees who were very strict in their religious observance marked by their separation from all sorts and manner of people, condemned his presence at the party. But, the point that Jesus was making was that his presence at the party was the presence of God which said that God's presence is immediately available to all, to all who would come to table, that there are not distinctions, that one is not to withhold oneself from some people under fear of ritual impurity as though one might become unacceptable to God because one rubbed shoulders with whomever. But, it wasn't only Matthew's party with the tax collectors, the IRS people, the rather unsavory sort who were working not for their own government, but for an occupying power, who were unclean according to the strictest religious observance because they associated with all kinds of people and were in collaboration with that foreign power - it wasn't only that kind of people with whom Jesus would dine. He also dined at the house of Simon the Pharisee, for example. Of course, on that occasion a lady of the night came in and anointed his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Wherever you go in the Gospels, Jesus is at table, and the radical message of Jesus was that the Kingdom of God is dawned. The Kingdom of God is not "up above," the Kingdom of God is not out ahead in the future; the Kingdom of God is here and now. God's presence is present in our presence together. In our intimate connection of table fellowship, God's presence is experienced. © Grand Valley State University �Faces Around the Table Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The miracle of Christmas that we celebrate is incarnation. It was in our liturgy this morning - the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that is the wonder of Christmas. But, as a matter of fact, the incarnation has by the Church been isolated to Jesus, the word become flesh, failing to see that Jesus was called Immanuel, God with us, and that God is not alone in splendid isolation, in some vast beyond. Jesus' very message, the heart of his ministry, the active parable of his life, was that it was at table fellowship where you could look into the eyes of another, that the presence of God was experienced. That is a radical idea. If that is true, then you don't need priests. Now, you might need a pastor, but you don't need a priest in the sense of having someone mediate that grace of God to you. Some have used the phrase, "the unbrokered presence of God." The Stock Market broke a record this week but I can't charge into Wall Street myself and make my investments. (After vacation, that's a ludicrous idea, anyway.) But, I need a broker, an agent. The Church, by and large, cannot live by the radicality of Jesus. The Church has claimed to be a mediating institution and in some parts of Christendom, even the clergy are given a certain indelible stamp, a status that enables them to become the mediators of the grace of God in a degree to which average, garden variety folks like you couldn't do. But, Jesus spoke of the unbrokered presence of God. Jesus said you don't need a priest and you don't need a church and you don't need an institution. Some have said Jesus is a prophet and according to his message and his ministry he was trying to put himself out of business. Now, of course, religion cannot handle that kind of immediacy. Religion tends toward institutionalization and institutionalization tends toward structure, vested interest. The people are more easily managed and controlled, if not manipulated, by a proper religious structure. Don't you see, historically, that it has been the very religious structures that have blurred the clarity of Jesus' message that there was an immediate presence of God for everyone? Everyone who would open oneself, who would experience in that openness of relationship with another, anyone who with mercy and grace would live justly in relating with brothers and sisters - that one knew immediately the presence of the gracious God. That was really Jesus' message. He said as much, but he enacted it time and time again so that, of course, he became very threatening to the religious institution, and thus, in these Lenten weeks we will follow again that story of his passion and his death. We will look at faces around the cross. But before we do that, on this first Sunday in Lent, we look at faces around the table. As I said, we can't come around the table, so in this formal setting you'll have to simply look into the eyes of the one on your right hand and on your left. You'll have to look at each other forwards and backwards. You have to experience the presence of God in the presence of one another, where you are in this © Grand Valley State University �Faces Around the Table Richard A. Rhem Page 4   arrangement, which doesn't lend itself to the kind of communion that Jesus had in mind. And yet maybe we can get a sense of it. At the early service I had the privilege of not serving the Eucharist. I was able to sit on the bench, and as the people streamed down the aisle, I looked face-to-face, with face after face, and it was a rather moving experience for me. It gave me goose-bumps. Some I have known for years; some I know more recently; some I know intimately, some I know not so well, but what I knew in a moment as the people came forward, I was able to look into their faces, that it is here that I experience the reality of God. In our early service, the people kneel and, as a rule, I have the privilege to serve the bread or offer the cup face-to-face. A very, very moving experience which I cherish. But, I had the privilege of looking at people and serving them in the early service on an average week and I see them kneeling in prayer. Good things happen at the rail. Yet, I sense that often that is so personal - between the communicant and God. But, according to Jesus, if you really want a moment with God, look across the table. Look into the eyes of another. Look at the faces around the table. And this is where Jesus was so radical, because there were all sorts of people around the table! There were Pharisees and tax collectors and ladies of the night and lepers and whomever would come. The active miracle or the active parable of Jesus' life was not that people needed to be saved, but that they were saved because from the beginning it was always that way - God's love available to all of those who would open their life to that love and who would experience the love of God in the love of the other. That's quite revolutionary, really quite radical, and I honestly believe quite true to Jesus. The Church cannot long live with that kind of radicality of grace. The Church will soon structure it, package it, protect it, secure it. But, the table fellowship of Jesus was the expression of the unbrokered immediacy of the presence of God and, in the communion of brothers and sisters, was the experience of the gracious God. Look around the table, so to speak, this morning. You will be immediately impressed with one thing - there's not much diversity, is there? Wouldn't it be wonderful if this morning it was true according to that children's chorus - "Red and yellow, black and white, ..." Wouldn't it be great this morning if we look around and we recognize that in this community somehow or other we were able to transcend social and cultural and economic barriers? We're pretty lily-white and affluent. Pretty much proper citizens, all. Are there any sinners? Well, a hand or two. And I suspected that. But, you see, the Kingdom of God is the immediate presence to those whose eyes look into another and say, "I love you," whose voice affirms, "I am for you," whose arms embrace and whose whole body language says we are brothers and sisters. And suddenly that horizontal experience of communion is transformed into the experience of the living God, and then we © Grand Valley State University �Faces Around the Table Richard A. Rhem Page 5   know, don't we? Don't we know then? Are we not then sent out to live justly and to love mercy and to build human community? Look at the faces around the table. If we really got it right, if we really followed Jesus as radically as Jesus followed his vision, which of course, led him to crucifixion, then who would be around the table? Red and yellow, black and white, rich and poor, educated, uneducated alike, men and women, adults and children, straight and Gay, Pro-Lifers and Pro-Choicers - all sorts of people who express their own individuality, the consequence of their own insight and experience, but know that they know nothing of the living God except in the embrace of the other. It is in human community around the table that the reality of God is known. Dear friends, God is not "up there," above us. God is not "out there," in front of us in some unknown future. God is here and now, in you and me. Or, we're only kidding ourselves. So, take a moment. Look at the faces around the table and experience the gracious presence of the living God. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b4c12940c50626ba3e739dbcac17674.mp3 149f0c2594f351258c75550fdc625c79 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 Faces Around the Cross Scripture Text Luke 5:29 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-0-19970216 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-02-16 Title A name given to the resource Look at the Faces Around the Table Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on February 16, 1997 entitled "Look at the Faces Around the Table", as part of the series "Faces Around the Cross", on the occasion of Lent I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 5:29. Community of Grace Inclusive Love Lent Presence of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6ab4727f11474ca060a56c761625aece.mp3 12303bcd421a6d4da8530a6c2120f020 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 Lenten Service Scripture Text Mark 8:27-9:1, 14:22-31, 66-72 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-0-19970219 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-02-19 Title A name given to the resource Not So Cocky, Peter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on February 19, 1997 entitled "Not So Cocky, Peter", on the occasion of Midweek Lenten Service, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 8:27-9:1, 14:22-31, 66-72.