9
24
26018
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9401064947233a927fc34a580c267248.pdf
a1470a7afe2f81fbff9582fcd42c90f5
PDF Text
Text
Make a difference in the world
this holiday season
with the next gift you buy.
tI fair Tradi tloliday
November 28-December 1, 2011
10am-4pm in the Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus
The Women's Center will be selling items from Global Gifts, a non profit
store that works with fair trade groups. Fair trade guarantees the human
rights of those involved in all levels of global trade from the producer to the
consumer. Fair trade can make a real difference in the lives of women, their
families and their communities.
10% of proceeds will benefit GROW
Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women, a local non-profit organization.
@
GRANDVALLEY
STATE UNIVERSITY
WOMEN'S CENTER
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Rainbow Resource Center
Women and Gender Studies Department
Women's Commission
Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity
Description
An account of the resource
Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1974/2019
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Subject
The topic of the resource
Gender identity
Gender expression
Sexual orientation
Women's studies
Queer theory
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09_SGF_2011_Fair-Trade-Holiday-Boutique.pdf
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Women's Center
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-11-28/2011-12-01
Title
A name given to the resource
A Fair Trade Holiday Boutique
Description
An account of the resource
A flyer invining students to buy items from Global Gifts to spread information about fair trade items and the impacts they have on women and their communities.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Women's Center
Subject
The topic of the resource
Community centers
Fair trade associations
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Women's Center
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2bbdd4d3e5b0b2d9853ed8345272757c.mp3
90241e847dbc4e9aa3cbcaa49977f288
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 V
Scripture Text
Psalm 30:11-12
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-19870712
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1987-07-12
Title
A name given to the resource
A Faith for All Seasons
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 12, 1987 entitled "A Faith for All Seasons", on the occasion of Pentecost V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 30:11-12.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/568e3dd8a0c0084268b9babc93bad224.pdf
d6427e543f6d736ebd2d700976dc7099
PDF Text
Text
A Family Christmas Prayer
Richard A. Rhem
Christmas, 2013
O God,
Mystery beyond us,
Mystery within us,
Sacred Presence enveloping our lives
in all that is good and true and beautiful,
we are gathered here in this home
we have loved for over 30 years
as a family first formed forty-one years ago
on Christmas.
We remember the little church,
the tree, the poinsettias, the reception at the Brysons
in their warm and lovely home
and can hardly believe
we have shared forty-one Christmases as a family,
grown from eight to twenty-six –
a family we treasure,
so warm, so caring –
simply Love embodied.
Today we welcome Robbie into the embrace of this family
as he and Sarah dream a future together.
And today Richard is in the circle,
having been given a place in Dan and Susan’s family,
welcomed by Dani, Sarah and Sam.
Gathered here,
we hold in our hearts those absent from us:
Katie, Jonathan and Brenda, Joseph and family.
How blessed we are.
In these moments, O God,
we know that the Christmas story is true.
It goes to the heart
of what is truly human, truly divine –
Love and Joy and Peace,
the Light that scatters the darkness,
a vision of an alternative world
that can find expression in nothing less than
a choir of angels singing,
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.”
�Once a year this annual festival calls us
to stop, to reflect,
to penetrate the mists of our muddled thinking,
so caught up with matters of only passing concern,
to see what is truly ultimate,
what truly matters,
what is finally true –
that vulnerability invites trust,
that humility invites embrace,
that love begets love.
O God,
we worship and adore
in the Presence of the Christmas Babe.
Amen.
�
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
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Event
A Prayer at a Rhem Family Gathering
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
RA-1-20131225
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-12-25
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Title
A name given to the resource
A Family Christmas Prayer
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Description
An account of the resource
Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 25, 2013 entitled "A Family Christmas Prayer", on the occasion of A Prayer at a Rhem Family Gathering. Tags: Prayer, Christmas, Family, Presence of God, Love.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Christmas
Family
Love
Prayer
Presence of God
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/23d005275872c83d6ecf62142a0718e2.pdf
ff273c3f1ed2bbfca789b42fcb38e45e
PDF Text
Text
A Final Act of Grace
Sunday Potluck
Richard A. Rhem
Grand Haven Community Center
Grand Haven, Michigan
May 4, 2008
Prepared Text of the sermon
Returning
home
from
Florida
on
February
5,
we
entered
the
home
of
our
kids,
Lynn
and
Keith
Mast,
as
the
telephone
rang.
It
was
a
call
from
Gerry
Rodarmer,
saying
that
Sam
Bacon
had
died
that
day
and
Janet
was
trying
to
get
hold
of
me
to
conduct
Sam’s
funeral.
A
few
days
later,
Feb.
10,
Don
Nagtzaam
died
.
On
March
19
Roger
Vander
Meulen
died.
On
April
15
Allen
Ruiter
died.
In
the
meantime
I
spoke
at
a
memorial
gathering
for
John
Nemenye,
who
was
loosely
related
to
CCC.
From
February
to
April,
I
have
conducted
five
funerals
for
CCC
members.
And,
in
preparing
those
services,
I
gained
some
insight
into
the
reason
we
are
here
today.
I
hope
as
I
relate
the
experience
of
preparing
for
and
conducting
those
services,
I
might
enable
us
all
to
understand
why
we
are
here
today
and
hopefully
enable
us
to
move
on
to
a
positive
and
joyful
future.
I
suspect
we
have
present
today
persons
in
various
relationships
to
CCC.
Most
of
you,
I
suspect,
no
longer
are
part
of
that
community;
some
of
you
are;
some
of
you
are
still
trying
to
figure
out
where
you
are.
So
hear
me
as
I
tell
a
tale
of
four
funerals.
As
those
of
you
know
who
have
been
at
a
number
of
the
funerals
I’ve
conducted,
I
weave
into
one
a
eulogy
and
a
biblical
message.
I
always
try
to
set
the
person
forth
as
they
were
in
the
context
of
a
collage
of
Scripture,
finding
in
Scripture
something
that
marked
the
person
and
is
also
a
ground
of
hope
and
source
of
comfort.
In
the
case
of
Sam
Bacon
and
Roger
Vander
Meulen,
it
was
the
time
of
their
deaths
that
gave
me
a
clue
as
to
how
to
proceed.
Sam
died
on
“Fat
Tuesday,”
the
climax
of
Mardi
Gras,
the
day
before
Ash
Wednesday.
The
funeral
three
days
later
was
at
the
beginning
of
Lent.
I
thought
of
the
passage
in
Genesis
2
where
God
takes
a
scoop
of
earth
and
forms
the
man,
breathing
into
him
the
breath
of
life
and
then
the
disobedience
in
Genesis
3
and
the
sentence
on
the
guilty
couple
–
“Dust
thou
art
and
to
dust
thou
shalt
return”
–
the
words
we
speak
over
each
worshiper
on
Ash
Wednesday
as
we
apply
the
ashes
on
the
forehead.
Sam
and
Janet
came
to
us
from
Fountain
Street
and
I
had
one
of
Duncan’s
favorite
poems,
“This
Quiet
Dust”,
which
seemed
to
put
it
all
in
context.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Final Act of Grace
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
Roger
Vander
Meulen
died
during
Holy
Week
–
the
pain
of
loss
and
grieving
appropriate
for
the
solemnity
and
darkness
of
that
annual
observance.
But
his
funeral
was
on
Easter
Monday.
Again
it
was
the
observance
of
the
Christian
year
that
created
the
context
–
again
I
used
Genesis
2:4
–
Dust
–
God’s
act
of
creation
and
the
promise
to
dust
thou
shalt
return.
But
now
it
was
Easter
Monday.
I
turned
to
St.
Paul
in
the
great
Resurrection
Chapter
15
of
First
Corinthians.
Paul
struggled
to
bring
to
expression
his
assurance
of
resurrection
–
Flesh
and
blood
(or
dust)
is
mortal
and
the
mortal
cannot
inherit
the
Kingdom.
The
mortal
must
put
on
immortality.
I
told
the
story
of
the
butterfly
emerging
from
the
caterpillar
whose
immune
cells
fight
the
new
imaginal
cells
–
fighting,
as
it
were,
the
transformation
into
the
new
form,
and
are
finally
overcome
as
the
butterfly
emerges
–
a
creature
no
longer
fated
to
crawl
on
earth
but
gaining
wings
to
fly!
I
need
not
go
on
with
Paul’s
claim.
I
cite
the
services
of
Sam
and
Roger
to
illustrate
how
much
the
annual
observance
of
the
Christian
Year
provides
the
context
for
our
life
and
our
death
–
How
meaningful
to
work
with
the
ancient
observance
to
bring
meaning
to
life
and
death.
There
is
a
framework
within
which
we
have
lived
our
lives
and
which
gives
insight
into
death.
I
turn
now
to
the
funerals
of
Don
and
Allen.
Different
as
they
were,
there
was
that
which
was
the
same
though
manifested
in
different
ways.
Don
did
beautiful
cabinetry
work
throughout
the
church
–
every
room
contains
some
sign
of
his
skill
and
devotion.
And
every
Sunday
in
the
choir
–
loving
the
creation
of
beautiful
music
and
liturgy.
Allen
loved
the
church
as
well
–
was
faithful
in
worship
and
for
years
set
the
Lord’s
Table.
For
these
two
I
am
reminded
of
the
Psalmist’s
love
for
Jerusalem,
for
the
Temple,
for
the
altar
–
the
place
of
special
manifestation
of
the
Presence
of
God.
Psalm
42:3
and
Psalm
84
come
to
mind.
In
Psalm
42,
the
poet
is
in
a
situation
of
exile,
longing
for
the
courts
of
the
Lord.
He
carries
on
a
dialogue
in
his
soul:
Why
are
you
cast
down,
my
soul....
Hope
in
God;
I
will
yet
praise
him,
my
help
and
my
God.
O
send
out
your
light
and
your
truth;
Let
them
lead
me,
let
them
bring
me
to
your
Holy
Hill.
..then
I
will
go
to
the
altar
of
God,
my
exceeding
joy.
Psalm
84
is
a
song
of
pilgrimage
to
Jerusalem:
How
lovely
is
your
dwelling
place,
O
Lord
of
Hosts
© Grand Valley State University
�A Final Act of Grace
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
My
soul
longs,
indeed
it
faints
for
the
courts
of
the
Lord;
my
heart
and
my
flesh
sing
for
joy
to
the
living
God.
“I
would
rather
be
a
doorkeeper,”
or,
as
someone
has
translated
the
phrase
–
“linger
at
the
threshold.”
The
people
of
Israel
knew
God
was
present
everywhere,
but
Jerusalem
was
special
–
a
place
set
apart,
a
place
where
the
symbolism,
the
ministries
of
the
Temple,
the
Holy
of
Holies
were
–
and
their
whole
faith
and
devotion
longed
to
be
there.
That
is
the
tale
of
four
funerals.
Why
do
I
recap
those
services?
Because
of
a
profound
insight
that
overwhelmed
me.
It
wasn’t
really
something
I
hadn’t
known
before;
but
it
was
as
if
what
I
really
knew
struck
me
with
clarity.
In
the
case
of
Sam
and
Roger,
it
was
the
annual
observance
of
the
Christian
Year.
In
the
case
of
Don
and
Allen,
it
was
the
sacred
space
itself
–
the
literal
place
where
we
gathered
replete
with
the
symbolism
of
our
Christian
observance,
that
was
the
focus
–
the
place
of
praise,
celebration,
worship,
liturgy
and
prayer.
And
it
struck
me:
This
is
what
we
have
lost.
It
is
for
that
reason
that
we
grieve.
We
grieve
because
we
have
lost
the
observances
and
the
sacred
place
that
framed
our
daily
lives.
And
it
is
painful;
we
have
experienced
a
death
of
sorts.
Now,
lest
I
be
misunderstood,
let
me
be
very
clear
that
I
am
well
aware
that
what
we
shared
together
in
community
was
a
human
creation.
It
was
in
July
of
2000
that
I
preached
a
sermon
entitled
“Religion
Made
on
Earth”.
That
sermon
was
not
the
beginning
of
an
understanding
but
the
conclusion
of
a
path
we
had
been
journeying
on
for
a
long
time:
“Religion
is
a
human
phenomenon,
and
what
I
want
to
say
this
morning
in
this
first
message
is
very
simple,
but
if
you
really
hear
me,
it’s
very
radical.
You
won’t
hear
it
often
in
church,
but
I
believe
that
it
is
simple
and
it
is
true:
religion
is
made
on
earth;
it
is
a
human
construct.
Religion
didn’t
fall
ready-‐made
from
heaven.
There
is
no
absolute
religion
with
God’s
stamp
on
it
as
over
against
all
of
the
other
religions
practiced
by
the
diversity
of
humankind.
All
religion
is
made
on
earth
and
is
a
human
construct.
One
might
ask,
‘Well,
isn’t
it
true?’
Is
a
sunset
true:
Is
a
poem
true?
Of
course,
it’s
true.
It
is
true
in
the
sense
that
it
puts
us
in
communion
with
God.
It
satisfies
the
hunger
of
our
heart.
It
elicits
from
us
what
is
noble
and
best.
It
gives
us
a
reason
for
being.
It
gives
us
a
hope.
It
enables
us
to
go
on
to
tomorrow.
Of
course,
it’s
true.
But
religion
is
not
true
in
the
sense
that
a
chemical
formula
is
true,
not
in
the
sense
that
the
hard
stuff
of
the
natural
sciences
is
true.
It
is
not
empirical
and
verifiable.
Religion
is
a
judgment
call.
Religion
is
a
© Grand Valley State University
�A Final Act of Grace
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
choice.
Religion
is
a
response
to
a
story.
It
is
engagement
in
worship
and
community;
it
is
the
following
of
a
way
of
life.
Religion
can
be
good
or
less
good,
but
not
true
or
false
in
a
sense
in
which
we
deal
with
true
and
false
in
a
world
marked
by
the
scientific
method,
empirical
investigation.
No,
religion
is
a
human
construct
and
all
of
them
alike
are
made
on
earth.
With
that
recognition
on
our
part
that
it
was
not
the
case
that
we
had
found
God’s
stamp
and
our
worship
was
a
direct
translation
of
heaven’s
worship,
what
we
claimed
was
only
that
this
was
our
story
and
our
way:
mining
the
rich
treasures
of
the
Christian
Church,
we
found
a
meaningful
way
through
liturgy,
sacrament,
symbol
and
aesthetic
expression
to
come
into
the
presence
of
the
Holy
Mystery,
the
Mystery
of
God.
And
we
did
it
well!
Meaningful
liturgy
gathered
around
the
church
year,
intelligent
interpretation
of
the
biblical
story
while
re-‐imagining
the
faith
for
our
time,
exultant,
aesthetically
uplifting
experience
in
music
and
other
artistic
expression.
It
was
quite
wonderful
really
–
the
moving
experience
of
transcendence
that
lifted
us
out
of
ourselves
to
experience
the
sacred
mystery.
No
one
was
more
responsible
for
the
beautiful
offerings
week
after
week
than
our
Mr.
Bryson
whose
gifts
would
have
made
Riverside
Church
in
New
York
City
proud,
and
the
whole
pastoral
team
made
their
contribution.
But
it
was
not
either
true
or
false,
right
or
wrong.
It
was
our
chosen
way;
it
lifted
us
into
the
presence
of
the
Mystery
that
is
God.
And
again:
it
is
no
more.
There
has
been
a
death
and
we
grieve.
A
death
because
that
experience
week
by
week,
season
by
season,
year
in
and
year
out
shaped
us
–
spiritual
formation
we
name
it
–
at
the
core
of
our
being
we
are
deeply
imprinted
by
scripture,
song,
liturgy,
symbol,
the
sacrament.
These
observances
have
formed
us
and
put
us
in
touch
with
life’s
ultimate
mystery
and
meaning.
But,
if
we
claim
only
that
what
we
had
was
our
chosen
way,
the
obverse
of
that
is
that
now
there
is
another
chosen
way
being
practiced,
and
it
is
not
right
or
wrong;
it
is
different.
Rather
than
mining
the
rich
veins
of
Christian
tradition,
there
is
the
incorporation
of
other
traditions
and
an
intentional
emphasis
on
current
social
issues
–
There
is
an
intelligent
address
of
issues
that
for
us
were
the
subject
of
Perspectives
and
Wednesday
Adult
Education
–
but
not
centered
in
the
corporate
worship
experience.
And
attempting
to
be
simply
descriptive,
I
would
point
out
there
is
little
experience
of
worship,
nor
is
that
desired.
Being
lost
in
wonder,
love
and
praise
is
not
the
intended
end.
This
is
not
wrong;
it
is
different.
And
that
is
where
the
community
has
moved
and
having
moved
there,
it
is
not
of
interest
to
me
because
it
lacks
the
reason
I
worship
–
to
have
my
being
inspired
and
lifted
into
the
presence
of
the
Holy.
And
that
is
approached
differently;
it
doesn’t
work
for
me.
There
is
a
loss;
I
must
simply
© Grand Valley State University
�A Final Act of Grace
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
acknowledge
that.
That
is
why
we
are
here
this
morning,
gathering
with
others
who
have
likewise
experienced
that
loss
–
a
kind
of
death.
As
a
group
you
have
gone
through
stages:
At
first
there
was
anger.
That
is
understandable
even
if
it
is
not
helpful
and
is
finally
self-‐destructive.
Some
of
you
were
part
of
a
committee
that
approached
the
Board
of
Trustees
with
your
concerns
but
received
no
real
empathy.
There
was
no
constructive
dialogue.
And
there
have
been
various
attempts
to
see
if
something
new
might
arise.
But
that
has
had
its
problems.
This
group
isn’t
easily
satisfied.
We
really
had
it
all
and
that
will
not
be
easily
re-‐created.
And
we
have
given
our
lives,
our
energy,
our
treasure
over
many
years.
For
most
of
us
the
idea
of
beginning
again
is
forbidding.
Finally,
here
we
are
because
we
long
for
community
–
and,
since
all
we
can
salvage
are
ongoing
networks
of
friends
who
share
a
story,
a
history,
an
experience
of
God,
that
still
is
the
center
of
our
lives.
I
told
you
the
tale
of
four
funerals
because
it
became
so
powerfully
clear
to
me
why
we
grieved.
We
have
sustained
a
great
loss
and
it
is
not
going
to
be
re-‐created.
We
have
experienced
a
loss
of
what
was,
what
we
loved
and
is
no
more
–
what
will
not
come
back.
And
what
do
we
do
with
our
grief?
We
celebrate
life,
we
remember,
we
give
thanks
and
we
go
on.
But,
perhaps
for
our
own
spiritual
well
being,
there
is
one
more
thing
we
need
to
do
–
one
final
act
of
Grace.
Celebrating
what
was,
what
was
shared
in
community,
remembering
with
joy,
we
will
heal.
But
finally
the
confirmation
of
all
that
we
experienced
will
be
evidenced
to
the
extent
we
can
bless
and
affirm
that
ongoing
community
that
takes
new
shape
and
form.
A
new
community
is
forming.
New
directions
are
being
forged.
Positive
engagement
with
the
ongoing
societal
structures
and
cultural
movements
is
happening.
New
people
are
finding
a
spiritual
home
and
many
who
shared
years
of
experience
with
us
are
being
blessed
and
challenged
in
new
ways.
All
of
that
we
affirm
without
denial
of
our
loss.
But
as
we
affirm
we
will
heal
and
find
our
way
however
that
may
emerge.
It
is
to
a
final
act
of
grace
that
I
call
you
in
the
confidence
that
all
will
be
well,
all
will
be
well,
all
manner
of
things
will
be
well.
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Sunday Social Gathering
Location
The location of the interview
Grand Haven Community Center
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-0-20080504
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-05-04
Title
A name given to the resource
A Final Act of Grace
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 4, 2008 entitled "A Final Act of Grace", on the occasion of Sunday Social Gathering, at Grand Haven Community Center.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Community of Faith
Practice of Grace
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7257dcdc95854d8915afd767d94f868f.JPG
3072958f144e2fb70b8cc32cdc5c8e7c
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
Ronald Oakes collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Oakes, Ronald
Description
An account of the resource
Collection of photographs by Ronald Oakes, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and in the U.S. National Guard in the Iraq War.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1968/2005
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/628">Ronald Oakes Vietnam and Iraq war photographs (RHC-80)</a>
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
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Veterans
Photographs
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project interviews, RHC-27
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-80
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-80_Oakes-Iraq-DSCF1131
Title
A name given to the resource
A flock of sheep and their herders
Subject
The topic of the resource
Iraq War, 2003-2011
United States--History, Military
United States. National Guard
Military life
Soldiers
Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
A flock of sheep and their herders.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Oakes, Ronald
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Ronald Oakes Vietnam and Iraq photographs (RHC-80)
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project interviews, RHC-27
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Iraq War
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e64dafb16f203d4ac6a4d98010c6b555.mp3
ba5822cfc36dabdb751e9b75f8947c47
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
II Corinthians 9:11-12
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-19931125
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-11-25
Title
A name given to the resource
A Flood of Thanksgiving
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 25, 1993 entitled "A Flood of Thanksgiving", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 9:11-12.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4f229b7a8476be45871527d6fe3f78f4.pdf
a4caff4787d102b37784b8811cbd9a88
PDF Text
Text
A Fool for Christ
Palm Sunday
Luke 19:35-44; John 12:9-19; Zechariah 9:9-10
Richard A. Rhem
Lakeshore Interfaith Community, Mother’s Trust
Ganges, Michigan
April 1, 2007
When, some months ago, Tapas invited me to speak today, he reminded me that
it would be April Fool’s Day and wondered if I might like to use the phrase from
St. Paul – “A Fool for Christ.” I consulted the calendar and realized April 1 was
also Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week on the Christian Calendar. I
immediately agreed on the theme because I have always felt that in the events of
this week one sees the very heart of Jesus’ ministry and one who seeks to follow
the way of Jesus as it comes to expression in the events of this week must, by
human or worldly standards, be a fool. We all know what a fool is but I got the
dictionary out nonetheless –
...one who is lacking in reason or common powers of understanding; a
person with little or no judgment, common sense or wisdom; to act in a
ridiculous manner; to do silly things…
Such is the definition of a fool.
What has that to do with being a fool for Christ? Well, as I am using that
designation on the threshold of Holy Week in the Christian Calendar, I am
suggesting that from the perspective of worldly wisdom, from the perspective of
common sense, to follow the way of Jesus is foolhardy because it is to live out an
ethic of love, specifically of non-violent resistance to the systems and structures
by which human society is ordered. It is to pursue the way of peace in a violent
world – to live with compassion in a brutal world – to seek justice in a world
marked by injustice – to live in love in a hostile world.
And why is such a way of life the way of a fool? Simply because to live in the way
of vulnerable love is to court death by the powers that be, powers of church and
state, the established institutional structures by which our world is ordered and
controlled.
Let me be clear at the outset –
1)
The Way of Jesus that beckons me has not been realized in my own life;
it is an amazing ideal which draws me but which I have betrayed.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
2)
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
In this setting I want to be very clear that the Way of Jesus is my way,
my story, but not the only way, the only story – not the only dream and
vision for a transformed world – but I speak out of my own tradition,
grateful for a place like this where our respective stories are shared and
respected – where our shared stories enrich us all in our respective
journeys.
With those comments made let me take you to the Palm Sunday event that is
today celebrated in the Christian Church.
The four canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each record the
occasion of Jesus entering Jerusalem, but each has its own interpretation of the
event. The Gospels, written four to six decades after the event, arose in different
communities at different times and reflect the historical contexts of their
communities, each community with special situations, challenges and interests as
well as the perspective of the authors.
When I took English Bible at Hope College, we used a harmony of the Gospels –
parallel readings of the four Gospels in columns down the page. That was the
result of a scholarly process that forced each Gospel with its unique angle into
one consistent story. We’ve learned after serious scholarly research of the Gospels
that in so doing we missed the respective nuances of the story as it was composed
by various writers in various situations and historical contexts.
This morning I want to focus on the accounts of John and Luke because it is my
judgment that in those two portraits we see the entry into Jerusalem in the best
perspective from which to understand the whole week culminating in Jesus’
crucifixion.
First, John – the only account mentioning palm branches – a significant detail
because the palm branch was a sign of nationalistic fervor.
What is going on with the crowd and its palm branches? According to John’s
picture, this is a crowd filled not so much with religious fervor as with rising
nationalistic zeal. As I mentioned, only John speaks of palm branches and that is
significant. Palm branches had a nationalistic association. Palms were evocative
of Maccabean nationalism. As a symbol of nationalism, the palm occurred on the
coins of the Second Revolt (132-135 C.E.). When Judas Maccabeus rededicated
the temple altar after the Syrians had profaned it (164 B.C.E.), the Jews brought
palms to the temple. When Simon Maccabeus conquered the Jerusalem citadel
(142 B.C.E.), the Jews took possession of it carrying palm fronds. In the
Testament of Naphtahali V4, the fronds are given to Levi as a symbol of power
over all Israel.
In sum, John’s use of palms would seem to give to the whole scene a political
overtone: Jesus being welcomed as a national liberator.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
Further, the words “God bless the King of Israel,” which John has the crowd
chant are not found in Psalm 118:26 from which the words, “Blessings on him
who comes in the name of the Lord!” are taken.
Once before in John’s gospel (6:14-15), after Jesus fed the multitude, he realized
the crowd wanted to make him king and he withdrew from them.
There is little doubt that the scene John paints is intended to indicate what was
going on with the crowd. They were hoping that in Jesus they had found a
national liberator and they hoped that this one now entering Jerusalem was
about to declare himself the King of Israel.
But this was precisely not what Jesus was intending. Now he must do something
to set them straight. What does he do?
He seeks to dispel the crowd’s misunderstanding through a prophetic action – an
action even the disciples did not understand until after his death and
resurrection. The action: Jesus sat on a colt, thereby seeking to call to mind the
words of Zephaniah and Zechariah.
In Zechariah and Zephaniah it is the king who comes, but it is a different kind of
king. Listen to the Zechariah citation:
See, your king is coming mounted on an ass’s colt.
If we go to that context in Zechariah, we find it is a call to Jerusalem to rejoice
because its king is coming, coming mounted on an ass’s foal, to banish chariots
from Ephraim and war horses from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow shall be
banished. The prophet’s word continues:
He shall speak peaceably to every nation, and his rule shall extend from sea to
sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.
“Yes, Jerusalem,” Jesus seems to be saying by mounting the ass’s colt, “I am your
king coming to you, but a different kind of king than you expect or desire.”
Similarly, in Zephaniah we have,
Fear not, O Zion,…the Lord your God is in your midst, like a warrior to
keep you safe; he will rejoice over you and be glad; he will show you his
love once more…
In that same context the prophet cries,
…be glad, rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem…the Lord is
among you as King, O Israel…
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
Jesus’ mounting the colt was a prophetic action, according to John. After the
death and resurrection, John writes, we understood what that action was trying
to say. Jesus realized that the crowd had misinterpreted the Lazarus miracle just
as the crowd had misunderstood the multiplication of loaves and fishes in John 6.
The raising of Lazarus was a sign that God the giver of life was visiting His people
in Jesus. They should not be proclaiming him as an earthly king, but as the
manifestation of the Lord their God who has come into their midst, the God of
Zechariah who would bring peace to the whole world.
We find this focus on peace for the world even more pronounced in Luke’s
Gospel. Remember the angel’s song with which Luke portrays the birth of Jesus –
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace…”
Now as Jesus approaches Jerusalem we have him arrive at the destination
intended in chapter 9:5l, where Luke writes, “…he set his face to go to
Jerusalem,” and the so-called “journey section” of the Gospel culminates with
Jesus overlooking the city from the Mount of Olives and weeping over it –
weeping because in its imminent rejection of him it could only look forward to
total devastation. I find this a most moving scene and it could be spoken time and
again over the course of the human story – missing the moment, missing the
possibility to avoid disaster, missing the visitation of God and the things that
make for peace – human blindness, human stubbornness, human pride, anger,
arrogance and cussedness in the service of nationalism, obsession with power
and domination, refusing the way of peace which demands humility and
willingness to change, to repent, to acknowledge one has been wrong…
Two portraits of Jesus on the occasion of his entry into Jerusalem, each being
very clear about the intention of this one and the challenge he brought to his own
people and his world. Reflect with me for a few moments about those two
portraits of Jesus as he moves toward the climax of his life’s mission.
The Gospels – not biography, but there is biographical data; not history,
although the Gospels do deal with real historical time and place. Literally
“Gospel” means good news – it is a report, a perspectus, an interpretation of
historical events. In the case of our Gospels they are portraits of the founder and
founding events of the Christian religion, the Christian faith tradition. And what
we reflect on today – the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem – no doubt has an
historical core. Jesus did indeed come to Jerusalem, the center of his peoples’
religious life and their total self-understanding as a people, a people of God, of
Yahweh.
But did it happen as either John or Luke told the story? Probably not. Out of
whatever happened a story was told as part of a larger story and a portrait was
painted as part of a larger painting to reflect the impact of his life. This is what
was experienced in the life of Jesus.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
A scholar who has worked intensively on the birth of Christianity and the
Historical Jesus, John Dominic Crossan, makes what was for me a most helpful
distinction between “History Remembered” and “Prophecy Historicized.”
History remembered is a recounting of events as they were experienced, as they
occurred. There is no such thing as an absolutely accurate recounting of historical
events – point of view, angle of vision, memory all force us to speak of a relatively
accurate recounting. Until the relatively recent past (during two or three decades
of biblical studies), I had taken the Gospels as history remembered – but then I
came to see them as prophecy historicized – meaning the Passion Narrative of
the Gospels, the story that begins on Palm Sunday and moves through Easter
Sunday, is created out of the sacred text of the Jews – what we traditionally call
the Old Testament, the sacred text of Jesus and his contemporaries, as well as
ongoing Jewish faith.
I cannot begin to document that here – it is a study in its own right. I simply say
that it is most remarkable that the events beginning with Jesus’ arrival at
Jerusalem and unfolding through crucifixion and resurrection, are woven
together out of Old Testament citations.
And how were these citations selected? There was selection and I suggest the
selection was make in order to create a portrait of the one whose life, ministry
and message were being set forth as the way, the truth and the life.
The concrete life, ministry and teaching of Jesus as experienced by those who
became the Jesus Movement or the early Christian Church was told in terms of
the story the gospel writer told but the citations were chosen because they
reflected the way Jesus was experienced.
I go into this not to call in question the respective accounts of palm Sunday; I do
it to transcend questions about whether it all happened, which account is the
most accurate, etc. I do it to get to the portrait itself because the portrait reflects
the impression Jesus made, how he was heard and understood – the Gospel as
presentation of the Good News that came to expression in the life and ministry of
Jesus, the details of whose lie are lost in the cloudy fog of the past never to be
totally recovered.
Think with me about the portrait of Jesus as Luke and John narrate the story of
Palm Sunday. And what are the contours of the message embodied in the
historical life of this one coming of full expression at this critical juncture of his
life?
Let me suggest the following – certainly not a complete description but a
dimension I find both inspiring and challenging for our world today – Jesus as an
embodiment of humility and love expressed in non-violent resistance. We see it
in the refusal to play to the nationalistic fervor of his contemporaries.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 6
This we see particularly in John as he tells the story: the crowd with its palm
branches, symbolic of the Maccabean revolts of the second century before the
Common Era – nationalism – my nation right or wrong, the lust for power and
domination, the desire to be # 1, lie just beneath the surface for most of us most
of the time. There were the zealots of the time of Jesus, those who were
committed to throwing off the Roman yoke; those who eventually brought about
the fatal collision with Roman power that left Jerusalem streets run red with the
blood of the slain and the city a heap of ruins.
Zealotry among an oppressed people is understandable and ultimately fatal. But
zealotry is not restricted to dominated peoples; it is present as well in the
nationalistic rhetoric of our own administration and shamefully of many among
the religious right who even now advocate military action against Iran just as,
tragically, we have engaged in the pre-emptive war with Iraq. No dove for sure,
Colin Powell warned before that fateful attack, the Pottery Barn analogy “if you
break it you own it.” Having created the tragic chaos in Iraq we live with the
consequences and still there are political and religious voices that would have us
begin anew in Iran.
The imperial mindset entails endless war. That is simply the way it is. Luke wrote
after the destruction of Jerusalem: Jesus’ prophecy was most likely never uttered
on the Mount of Olives before he entered Jerusalem but Luke was quite right in
attributing those words to him because his whole life and ministry was an effort
to short-circuit the nationalistic passion that assumed it was possible means of
force and military/guerilla action to find freedom and peace.
This is what the portrait of John tells us. He sought to put out the nationalistic
passion of the crowd whose palm branches signaled their desire for the use of
force to overthrow the oppressor, for a leader who would spark a revolt to
overthrow the imperial domination.
In the words of Luke’s Jesus, “If you…had only recognized on this day the things
that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes….”
Was Jesus simply a weakling, fearful, cowering before the powers that be –
religious, social, cultural and political, suggesting one should simply submit to
unjust structures and violent oppression? Not al all; Jesus was no advocate of the
status quo. It was not the human desire for freedom, justice and humane
existence that he called in question. It was rather that there is only one way to
peace, justice and community – it is through non-violent resistance from a
posture of humility and strength.
We have seen instances of such non-violent resistance that have overcome
overwhelming odds: Ghandi – Martin Luther King Jr. –And that may be too
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 7
little, too rare, to convince one. Yet there is that in the human consciousness that
is moved at such action and spirit.
When I think, “But it can’t work on the global scale” then I realize that our
present course is what does not work.
A military solution is not a solution – it is a shorter or longer term stop-gap
measure that will finally degenerate again into violence and war.
Whether with individuals or nations, only love transforms and compassion heals
and creates the possibility for peace.
It is time such a claim ceases to be mere religious cliché and pulpit talk. If we live
by empirical evidence that evidence lies in all the tragedy, violence, death and
devastation of the entire human story. We should be able to see in the
overwhelming evidence of the historical record that the human species has
developed to such a point and the present human potential to destroy the human
emergent world is so evident that we can no longer live by the clan and tribal
ways of fear, isolation, national sovereignty and imperial dominion.
War is insane.
War is no longer an option.
Our thinking must change!
That has been true of me; my thinking that is my understanding of God and the
nature of God’s action in the world has changed dramatically when first
humankind lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation, I was not afraid
because my understanding of God was that of the Sovereign Lord of History, the
Lord God Almighty. The End was in God’s hands. But this was a sovereign God
external to the creation, ruling and, on occasion, intervening.
But God has become for me much more the Sacred Mystery, the Creative Center
of Being who rules through the lure of love or not at all. Love persuades; love
does not coerce. The human creature in the image of God can resist the lure of
love and the consequences may well be the end of the human emergent world.
War is no longer an option. Our thinking must change - change or we will destroy
our world as surely as Jerusalem was destroyed in awful violence. And, if we stave
off total devastation, we will nevertheless live in fear of destruction in the
meantime.
Jesus called his world to repent. In Greek metanoia is composed of two parts:
meta, “to change,” nois from nous, “mind.” Jesus’ message was: “Change your
mind!”
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 8
Our thinking needs to change. And we need to experience a change of heart. I’m
not sure which one must occur first. Maybe our thinking won’t change without a
significant emotional experience. And such an emotional catharsis is the
potential of Holy Week for those for whom the Way of Jesus is compelling.
As I reflect on my own spiritual journey, my thinking has changed dramatically
while at the same time I have experienced a significant emotional transformation
in my experience of following Jesus and if, as I believe, Jesus was a human
embodiment of God, of the Creative Mystery of Being, then I can say it is only in
my latter years that I have experienced love for God. For me there has been a
transformation of my thinking and my experience of God and that has come
about through a fresh vision of Jesus in his full humanity in the portrait I see
painted in the Gospels.
Studies in research of the Historical Jesus have been important in putting Jesus
in his historical context and, in the portraits painted of him in the Gospels, I have
seen the amazing life of this one whose life was marked by grace, who reflected
God’s unconditional love and who spoke truth to power, confronting the
oppressive structures of established political and religious authority – for which
he was crucified.
While this fresh portrait of Jesus was making its impact on me, changing my
thinking, I encountered two stories of persons whose heroic lives were the
consequence of the Way of Jesus as I was coming to understand it.
While studying in the Netherlands, trying to find a new theological
understanding since my little system had groaned and cracked in the midst of my
seven years of pastoral experience, I was struggling with trying to translate and
understand contemporary Dutch and German theology. One day I picked up a
little paperback, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. It was my
spiritual sustenance during those four years in Europe.
In Bonhoeffer I found a contemporary disciple of Jesus who risked his life and
finally gave his life in his resistance to the Nazi horror that was raging in Europe.
His life, his faith, his courage so impressed me.
At some point I realized what I felt for Bonhoeffer was more gripping than what I
felt for Jesus. But my understanding of Jesus was changing the more I saw him
fully human in his own historical context. I grew up with Jesus, Son of God,
second person of the Trinity, whose atoning death was my only hope of salvation
but that divine Saviour figure never really got to me in the same sense I was
experiencing the life of Bonhoeffer. Finally I brought all this to expression. It was
actually a Palm Sunday sermon, April 15, 1984. In that sermon I said,
Jesus has no doubt been the greatest inspirer of human faith and life in the whole
of human history. I have been reflecting on why his life has not been more
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page 9
powerful for me. I think I understand why Bonhoeffer moved me more – or so it
seems. I think it is because Bonhoeffer was of our time. He seems more human –
more one of us. He took on Hitler – not the Jewish High Priest or the Roman
Emperor. He was a man – just a man. But Jesus was something else.
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the Church in her
theological discussion has removed Jesus – the real, historical, human figure –
from me. Yet the more I penetrate through the theological haze surrounding him,
the more I see him for what he was. The more overwhelmed I am at the grandeur
of his life, the more I am moved by his faith and commitment, the more I love
him and want to be like him. It is a paradox; the more I see him in his full
humanity, the more I am inclined to bow in worship before him.
I concluded the sermon inviting the congregation to think about Jesus in his full
humanity, confronting non-violently the domination system of his day.
Maybe in our contemplating of his behavior in these days we will see the wonder
of his life. Maybe we will finally break out with the exclamation, “Jesus, you are
really something!”
If that happens, we will be changed; we will die and be born again.
If the events of this week – the magnificence of Jesus’ authentic human life, the
humility that is strength, the obedience that is freedom, the self-renunciation that
is the highest expression of selfhood – ever penetrate to the core of our being,
then we will bow in adoring worship before him whom God has highly exalted.
“Adoring worship” was probably not the strongest way to conclude but in the
sermon I had cited that powerful solo sung by Mary Magdalene in the rock opera
Jesus Christ, Super Star, who sings so movingly, “I don’t know how to love him.”
My second story came not long after Bonhoeffer triggered fresh emotional
apprehension of Jesus. I was given a book by Philip Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood
Be Shed, the story of a village in the French Alps.
It is a story of how this mountain village, Le Chambon, defied the orders of the
German Gestapo and the collaborating French Vichy government under Nazi
domination during the Second World War, by sheltering refugees of all sorts, but
the majority of whom were Jews. It is a gripping, moving, inspiring narrative
whose center is a French Reformed pastor, Andre Trocmé.
In his youth Trocmé had experienced the gruesome horror of World War I. He
encountered an occupying German soldier and learned this soldier went about
his duties as a telegrapher unarmed because he refused to kill – He had had a
conversion experience and he believed as a follower of Jesus, he could not do
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page10
harm to another – he could not kill another human being. The German soldier
said to him, “Christ taught us to love our enemies.”
This encounter so deeply impacted Trocmé that for the rest of his life he lived by
the imperative to do no harm to another. Trocme eventually studied theology at
the University of Paris and became a French Reformed pastor. One evening in a
men’s group, Trocme was discussing a book that claimed Jesus was a myth
created by St. Paul. Trocmé refuted the book’s claim but found himself asking the
question:
If Jesus really walked upon this earth, why do we keep treating him as if he
were a disembodied, impossibly idealistic ethical theory? If he was a real
man, then the Sermon on the Mount was made for people on this earth;
and if he existed, God has shown us in flesh and blood what goodness is
for flesh-and-blood people.
(p. 68)
The rest of his life was a living out of the Sermon on the Mount. The events of the
village of Le Chambon during the German occupation of France during World
War II, the story as told by Hallie, is wonderfully moving and inspiring.
I suspect what was so powerful for me was the connection between Trocmé’s total
living out of the Sermon on the Mount as the catalyst for the magnificent
compassion and love that was embodied in the village as it became a city of
refuge.
And I had not known what to do with the Sermon on the Mount in my preaching.
I could not go along with certain fundamentalist claims that it represented the
ethic for the kingdom age when Jesus returned and ruled on earth. But of what
practical good was it in a winner-take-all world such as ours – competitive,
aggressive, where nice guys come in last?
And so I seldom selected my sermon texts from those passages that scholars who
study the New Testament text actually are inclined to attribute to Jesus when
they withhold such accreditation to much else recorded in the gospels.
But I was being changed:
Bonhoeffer’s heroic engagement with the Nazi darkness; Le Chambon saving
hundreds of lives at their own peril; my own wrestling with the Gospel.
And I am still being changed, still wondering, questioning, trying to understand
the Way of Jesus in the present historical moment.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page11
That is a bit of my journey – my thinking has changed: Jesus, second person of
the Trinity to Jesus, the embodiment of God in a fully human being, the
embodiment of humility, compassion, grace and love who through non-violent
resistance speaks truth to power in order to re-order human society in the ways
of peace and justice.
And I have been emotionally gripped – I love Jesus. I believe he is the way, the
truth and the life and I do believe his way is the only hope for the world.
And my nation is a world empire and empires can only perpetuate their imperial
dominance through military might, intimidation and the arrogance of power.
War is insane, but we are still on a war strategy. We have unlimited power but we
have become too civilized to use it and what we cannot defeat by our power is the
violence of the powerless – the terrorist who will blow him or herself up because
of ideology or religious faith or because there is nothing to lose.
There was a moment when the Berlin Wall fell and we were without question the
one world super power, that we might have had an opportunity for a new
creation. In the world of power politics you dare not let down your guard unless
the biggest power on earth takes the lead.
And I wonder if following 911 we had responded differently – if we had pursued
the murderers as they should have been pursued by police action, but if we had
called an International Conference of Nations rather than naming an Axis of
Evil– hearing the plaints of the oppressed, the background of the anger of the
terrorists, the hopes and fears of the powerless and the voiceless – What if we,
the world’s one super power, had voluntarily put away our nuclear arms leading
the nations to disarmament.
Hopeless idealism? Perhaps. What’s the alternative? Don’t we have it? Don’t we
see the carnage daily on our TV? And are we not really in a more dangerous world
today than on 9/12?
I wonder if we could transcend partisan politics, if we could gather as concerned
human beings we couldn’t agree that the present policy is not working. A radical
new approach is called for.
What if we got a conversation going with Islam, with the Palestinians, with Israel,
with China, with Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Somalia, with whoever would come to
the table and we did it without the threat of our power, militarily, economically –
What if as a so-called Christian nation we really took seriously the way of Jesus as
the way we would be what if...?
On this Palm Sunday I propose the above which, I suspect, makes me a fool for
Christ, but I also suspect if someone would arise on the national scene who would
© Grand Valley State University
�A Fool for Christ
Richard A. Rhem
Page12
dare to propose such, he or she might be elected President in a landslide because,
deep down, we know…
Jesus was right.
Would that he would not have died in vain.
References:
Philip Hallie. Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of
LeChambon and How Goodness Happened There. Harper Perennial; Reprint
edition, 1994.
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Palm Sunday
Scripture Text
Luke 19:35-44, John 12:9-19, Zechariah 9:9-10
Location
The location of the interview
Lakeshore Interfaith Center, Ganges
References
Philip Hallie. Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of LeChambon and How Goodness Happened There, 1994.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-20070401
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-04-01
Title
A name given to the resource
A Fool For Christ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 1, 2007 entitled "A Fool For Christ", on the occasion of Palm Sunday, at Lakeshore Interfaith Center, Ganges. Scripture references: Luke 19:35-44, John 12:9-19, Zechariah 9:9-10.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Palm Sunday
Transforming Love
Way of Jesus
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5bddc8d9f6c933b22bf44dde4a1c43c8.pdf
c98b5555fd3196daf11d7aa500f8d1cb
PDF Text
Text
A Founding Story: A Visionary Leader and a People Set Free
History of Israel: Its Liberation and Birth as a People
Text: Exodus 1:8; Exodus 3: 2, 6-7, 14
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Pentecost XXI, October 16, 1994
Transcription of the spoken sermon
"Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." Exodus 1:8
"There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the
bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed." Exodus 3:2
"l am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob...
I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry."
Exodus
3:6-‐7
"God said to Moses, ‘I will be there’.. ( ‘I Am who I am.' or 'I will be what I will be.')
"
Exodus 3:14
Now imagine, if you will—six hundred years later or so—this same people, this
community of faith now down some generations, are once again in a situation of
captivity. The people of Judah are in exile in Babylon, and their faith is wavering.
They are ready to give up. All of these great promises: the covenant of grace,
God's special choice of this people, God who was supposedly God alone, Creator
of the heavens and the earth. Where was God? Babylon seemed to hold sway. As
their hope was fading and their faith was flickering someone said, "Let me tell
you a story." He told them a story that we've just read, a story of where this
people, even six hundred years before, had been in a situation more oppressive
and more hopeless than anything that the present exiles in Babylon had known.
Someone said, "That's a great story." And someone else said, "You ought to write
that story down." And a third person said, "Xerox it off and spread it around.
That's a good story." They started to believe again. Maybe what they were
experiencing in their present circumstance was not a dead end. Maybe that was
not all there was. Maybe this God really was God after all, a God who could create
newness, who could do the unexpected. Maybe this was God who would surprise
by grace, as God had to their fathers and their mothers centuries ago. The
prophet picked it up and he began to speak in the name of God. Second Isaiah,
Isaiah 43:14—listen to the images.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Founding Story…A People Set Free
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'For I will
send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the
Chaldeans will be turned to lamentations. I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.' Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in
the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished,
quenched like a wick: 'Remember not the former things, nor consider the
things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you
not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the
desert...'"
Six hundred years later and the old founding story of liberation and the birth of
the Israeli people becomes a catalyst for this same people to begin to believe
again, to begin to hope again, to begin to wait on the Lord again, and to expect
the salvation that comes from God.
The story is familiar. Israel is terribly oppressed. Moses, who had been raised in
all of the pomp and circumstance of Egypt, with all of that culture and
civilization, blew it badly through a temper that flared up when he killed an
Egyptian. Now he's out there tending flocks. In Wanderings, the Jewish novelist
Chaim Potok tries to get inside the skin of Moses to figure out what must have
been going on in this man as he tended sheep and sensed something within, how
he was confronted with a bush that burned and was not consumed, and who
heard a voice, within perhaps, but as thunderous as any thunder, saying to him,
"Things are not right in Egypt. Go. Set my people free.”
He goes, and it is a contest of wills. But the judgments of God, we call them the
plagues, counter all of the "no's" of Pharaoh, until finally he says, "Take them
out." And Moses leads them to freedom, through the Red Sea, into the desert,
gathering at Sinai to be formed as a people specially created by the Eternal God,
the Creator of the heavens and earth, the God of their fathers and mothers:
Abraham & Sarah, Jacob & Rachel, Isaac & Rebekka and Joseph. Now they are on
their way to a new beginning and a promised land. They celebrate this story as
their founding story, the story of a God who sets people free, who uses the likes of
a Moses to lead a people into God's intention for their humanization, for the full
realization of all for which God had created them.
Wonderful, wonderful story, and in that story we can see Israel's faith. Israel's
tradition is the tradition out of which the Christian Church has come, so the
founding story is our story too. This God of deliverance, this God of liberation—
this is our God. The things that Israel believed are the things that have shaped the
whole western tradition as well, the Jewish Christian tradition. There are so
many things one could say, but let me mention just a few.
The first thing I would say is that God in this story comes through as a God who is
on the side of human liberation. God is a God who wants human freedom. God is
a God, on the other side of the coin, who is against all slavery or oppression, or
© Grand Valley State University
�A Founding Story…A People Set Free
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
totalitarianism. God is against the tyrants and the dictators and those who will
use people and abuse people for their own ends. God is against every movement
that used people as a means to an end, and not an end in themselves. God is for
people. God is for the humanness of people. God is for the freedom and the
liberty and the full blossoming of the human person and human community.
That's in the story, I believe. Israel believed that. Its long tradition, even to the
present, holds that to be true. And, therefore, the God of Israel, the biblical God,
the God whom we worship, is a God who is engaged in the human story, a God
who is involved in human history.
Do you believed that? Do you believe that? You say, "Oh, sure, doesn't
everybody?" Yes, everybody does until they think about it. When you think about
it, where is the puzzle put together, that is, the fiats that come out of the power
centers of the world, the governments of the world, the Bill Clintons, the Helmut
Kohls, the Saddam Husseins, the machinations of people? Is that all there is? Is it
just maybe economic ties? Is it just political scheming and structuring? Is God
involved in it? Well, sometimes it would hardly seem so. Who could see this
invisible hand? Yet, what is the alternative? Is no one transcending all these
human machinations? Then are we just pawns on the sea of fate, of political
decision and economic trends?
Biblical faith says God is engaged. God hears the cry of the suffering people. God
says, "I remember my covenant." God moves, through human agency to be sure,
but God is engaged. God is involved. There is a spiritual power or force that is at
work in the political decisions and the human scheming on the historical plane.
So says biblical faith. A huge affirmation of faith is needed, because you can't get
your finger on it, and just the moment you say, "There," something will reverse it.
But it is true that the Jews went home from exile in Babylon believing as they
believed, triggered by this Exodus story, that all was not over, that the present
circumstance was not a dead end, that God could create some newness, some
window for them.
Some years ago, this story was a powerful story being preached in South Africa.
The white South African government did not fall, apartheid was not dismantled
because they did not have enough police power and enough guns. Apartheid was
immoral. It was contrary to the God, the Creator, who was for human liberty and
dignity, and when something is essentially immoral it will ultimately be
politically disastrous. The Berlin Wall fell without a shot. The most powerful
forces to move it were the candles and the prayers in Leipzig. We are people who
don't claim to know how or where or when, and yet we believe that God is for
justice and for righteousness, and for good, and for compassion and for mercy—
that there is something operative beyond what is apparent to the human eye and
the human perception, something more. There is a surplus of meaning that is on
the side of human liberation. That's in this story that is effected through guys like
Moses, who has a short fuse and kills a man and flees justice, a flawed man, and
© Grand Valley State University
�A Founding Story…A People Set Free
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
yet a great leader. Really it's because that's all God has to work with—folks like
you and me with our clay feet hanging out.
A man from the Nobel committee in Norway resigned on Friday when Arafat was
given the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Peres and Rabin. He said that to give the
peace prize to Arafat, so tainted with blood, terrorism and violence, is to
prostitute that prize. At first I thought, "Good for you. You're right." Members of
the right-wing conservative party in Israel said Peres and Rabin should not
accept the prize because it would desecrate all the lives of those who had died in
the violence. Where were they in 1978 when Menachem Begin got the prize – one
of the greatest terrorists of them all? Then I got to thinking, "No, Mr.
Christiansen, I don't think you should resign because they are not evaluating the
moral character of those people; they are saying those people somehow in the ebb
and flow of history have been at a vortex of action that has gotten some
breakthrough and moved onward toward peace and justice." Arafat is no lily.
Neither was Moses. It's all God has got to work with. So God uses what's there.
The biblical God gets hands dirty and messed up with the ambiguity of the
human situation.
And that's the fourth thing I would say: the movement towards liberation is
ambiguous and it is messy. There are not white hats and black hats. There are not
good guys and bad guys. There are not lily-whites and black evil. When David
Hartman was in Muskegon he told this founding story, and he said, "You can tell
it two ways. You can say 'Wow, what a story! Israel set free, isn't it wonderful?'"
Then he told about some of the Rabbis way back in history who said, "God in
heaven said, 'Why are you singing and rejoicing when the work of my hands, the
Egyptians, are drowning in the sea?'" The Hebrew tradition does it better than we
have done it. They have a sense of the ambiguity of the historical, human
situation.
Recently I was at Normandy. It was very moving to be there and to review the
countless crosses at Omaha Beach. I thought about the sacrifice of human life and
of the hearts of parents that were crushed. But there were German cemeteries
there too. Nothing is black and white in history. The movement forward is a
messy movement. It is full of ambiguity. And every victory has the downside of
tragedy. That's really the way it is, and maybe it is at that point that I read the
story different than some of my colleagues and other advocates of the “U.S.A. No.
1” position. I name some people just so you know what I am talking about in the
political arena: the Oliver North types, the flag waving, the identification of
patriotism with righteousness and a strong America-and all that, or the television
ministries of Pat Robertson, even James Kennedy, with their strong American
defense.
It is a reading of the story as though the United States of America can be
identified with the children of Israel, with the cause of righteousness and justice
in the world, and the movement of God toward peace and justice. You see, if you
© Grand Valley State University
�A Founding Story…A People Set Free
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
read this honestly, we at this point are the greatest power in the world and
uncontested. We are not Israel looking for freedom. We are the House of
Pharaoh. If we would read this Word of God and let it address us, it must address
us as those who are in power, not those who are seeking freedom. There's nothing
wrong with being in power. The only question is what will we do with our power?
And if we would hear the word of God, if we would hear this founding story, then
the Church of Jesus Christ must say to those in power who lead us that what God
is concerned about in the world is not U.S. national security or U.S. GNP, or U.S.
self-interest, or the oil or whatever. What God is concerned about is humanity,
humanness, liberty, the dignity of the individual, the building of community, a
compassionate world. We cannot so easily identify with the white hats of
scripture.
Our Puritan forbearers came over here and saw this as the new Canaan. They
came over here and saw this as a theocracy, the kingdom of God. And I think with
all honesty they believed that. There was a time when we had to take our guns
and our rifles and stand up for liberty in these states. There was a time when this
nation was in that position. We could identify perhaps then with the story on that
side. But if I would be true to the Word of God, I would have to say to you that the
founding story of Israel confronts us with a question: Now that you have the
power, what will you do in the world? And that ought to make us very nervous.
Three weeks away from an election, that would be a great question to raise to
those running for office. How do you get elected by serving the self-interest of the
people? What is popular? Patriotic rallies and flag waving, that's O.K. I love the
nation. I am proud of the nation. As I said, I stood on Normandy Beach and I
experienced vicariously, I think, the best of this nation. But never let the Church
of Jesus Christ be co-opted by a political agenda as was the German Church
under Hitler, as is Islam under Saddam Hussein. Whenever the Church baptizes
the government's policy, the government will in time be in trouble, because what
is morally indefensible is ultimately politically disastrous, because God is God, by
God.
© Grand Valley State University
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e17b098df018886dab618152c782ad39.mp3
85f9262641f1b22ad8ecbc45876cb7fe
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
The First Testament
Scripture Text
Exodus 1:8, 3:2, 6-7, 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-0-19941016
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994-10-16
Title
A name given to the resource
A Founding Story - A Visionary Leader and a People Set Free
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 16, 1994 entitled "A Founding Story - A Visionary Leader and a People Set Free", as part of the series "The First Testament", on the occasion of Pentecost XXI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Exodus 1:8, 3:2, 6-7, 14.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Freedom
Hebrew Scriptures Spiritual Journey
History of Israel
Sabbath
Trust
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec5f1b32bdcfa3bbfdf7fdb0645fb727.pdf
fe452b871a7bdc3b79d3619ac96f5888
PDF Text
Text
•
F
•
;
.. _
�
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
Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club
Description
An account of the resource
Scrapbooks of newsclippings, photographs, postcards, and ephemera of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Photos were taken at regattas on Reeds Lake; the Grand River; Peoria, Illinois; and in Chicago of club members, and events. Historical articles, reports of regatta events, and articles featuring members Charles McQuewan and Jack Corbett are included. Programs include the First Grand Regatta on Great Salt Lake 1888, and Peoria Rowing Festival, and banquet and music programs and the GR Log, a publication of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Materials from the Central States Amater Rowing Association, and the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen are also included.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1980s to 1940s
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks, (RHC-54)</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Outdoor recreation
Boats and boating
Racing shells
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-54
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-54_Ephemera-GRRC_F111
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
no date
Title
A name given to the resource
A Four Out for a Spin
Description
An account of the resource
Full-sized sheet of paper, pencil script. At the top, crossed out, "Members of first crew to win race for," underneath that, "A four out for a spin - Herbert Conlon, Ernst Conlon, McQuewan, Corbet."
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Grand Rapids Rowing Club
Subject
The topic of the resource
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Outdoor recreation
Boats and boating
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks (RHC-54)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">No Known Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6053093d0eec45b31b492bc4d9bf7053.pdf
52d881b631daf3a8173780f6e2628597
PDF Text
Text
COMMUN
REC
I
TY
DISCUSSION
ME D TIO
MA O 'S LA D USE
F THE
S
ORC
�FROM THE LIBRARY OF
Pla.nning & Zon:r.G Center, Inc.
A
U
AFRAMEWO
S
S
I
O
N
�The Honorable Dennis W. Archer
Mayor, City of Detroit
Dear Mr. Mayor,
Last March you appointed 34 Detroiters to a Land Use Task Force and asked us to develop
recommendations regarding the objectives and policies that should be considered in making
land use decisions for our city. You asked us to take a hard look at Detroit's past and its present,
to "dare to dream" and to shape a vision for the city's future while also bringing objectivity and
realism to our task. And you challenged us to complete our work in 120 days!
Working together over these past four months has been enlightening and invigorating.
Enlightening because we have all learned a great deal about our city-- and about other cities as
well. Invigorating because our work has been characterized by lively discussion, frank differences
of opinion and a growing appreciation for the enthusiasm
and commitment we share.
We began our work by touring all areas of the city together; discussing issues; and visiting
neighborhoods, business areas and community projects. Meeting both as a full Task Force and
in smaller subcommittees and working groups, we reviewed existing plans; assessed actual
conditions; and met with experts in planning, retailing, the environment, recreation,
transportation, housing and employment. We also evaluated plans and projects from other
cities and received ideas, suggestions, and recommendations from literally hundreds of interested
people and community organizations. The input to our deliberations from a broad cross section
of the city has been truly extraordinary.
The work of the Task Force has been facilitated by an exceptional core staff led by Kate Beebe
and her associates at The Smith Group -- and by contributions from the individuals and
organizations listed in the report. We thank all of them for their support and, in particular, want
to express our appreciation to the Hudson-Webber Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Detroit
Renaissance and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
for providing major funding.
Taken collectively, the recommendations contained in our report, "A Framework for Action,"
set forth a vision of what Detroit can become and establish a starting point for community
-wide planning to attain that vision. We recommend, therefore, that a process be initiated
under your leadership through which this report can be widely discussed and debated by
interested individuals and groups throughout the city.
We also suggest that the report be viewed as the first step in the development of an ongoing,
professionally led planning effort for Detroit that would, over time, translate agreed upon land
u e guidelines and objectives into a detailed comprehensive land use and strategic
implementation plan.
Our report proposes a land use policy framework designed to facilitate and guide growth and
change for the next several decades. As such, it is based on several implicit conclusions:
Decisions regarding specific projects -- especially projects of significant scale and impact -should be made in the context of city-wide land use planning objectives and should be carefully
evaluated on a project by project, and site specific, basis.
Since redevelopment and revitalization take place over many years, a process should be
developed through which strategically located land parcels can be assembled, cleared if
necessary, and land banked for future development.
Any plan -- even a "framework" for planning -- should impose a city-wide, long term discipline
on land use decisions while remaining sufficiently flexible to accommodate changed
circumstances or an appropriate "exception to the rule."
On behalf of the Mayor's Land Use Task Force, thank you for giving each of us the opportunity
and privilege ofparticipating in this important work.
~~
Robert C. Larson
Chairman
�Robert C. Larson, Chairman
The Taubman Company
Ned Fawaz
American Arab Chamber of Commerce
John E. Lobbia
Detroit Edison Company
Joseph Thompson
Edmund Place Restaurant
Harold R. Varner, Vice Chair
Sims-Varner & Associates
Fred Goldberg
FIG Realty Corp.
Larry Marantette
ANR Development Corp.
Dennis R. Toffolo
Hudson's
Joseph L. Hudson,Jr., Vice Chair
Hudson-Webber Foundation
Yolanda Gomez-Stupka
Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Gregory R. McDuffee
Historic Realty Company
Nellie M. Varner
The NM. Varner Company
Larry D. Alexander
The Westin Hotel
Bronce Henderson
Chairman,Jobs Subcommittee
Detroit Center Tool
Eugene A. Miller
Comerica Incorporated
Flora Walker
AFSCME Michigan Council 25
Byung (Ben) S. Park
Korean Chamber of Commerce
Gail L. Warden
Henry Ford Health ~ystem
Elizabeth Jackson
David W. Schervish
Schervish, Vogel, Merz
Charlene Johnson
Chairman, Neighborhood Subcommittee
Michigan Neighborhood Partnership
Alan C. Young
Chairman, Urban Core Subcommittee
Alan C. Young & Associates
John David Simpson
Entertainment Attorney
Charles E. Allen
Graimark Realty Advisors
Charles H. Brown
Victoria Park Development Company
Leon S. Cohan
Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker
Tamara Chanel A. Craig
Cass Technical High School
Stephen R. D'Arcy
Chairman, Infrastructure Subcommittee
Coopers & Lybrand
C. Beth Duncombe
Dickinson, Wright, Moon,
Van Dusen & Freeman
Diane J. Edgecomb
Central Business District Association
Reverend Jim Holley
Little Rock Baptist Church
James C. Kokas
Opus One Restaurant
Larry C. Ledebur
Wayne State University
Sister Andrea Lee
Marygrove College
David LoweU Snead
Detroit Public Schools
�CONTENTS
-~---07
OVERVIE
CO
--11
UNITIES -
GREE
AV SYSTE
--19
TRA SPORTATION - - -
JOB CE TE S
----27
CE T AL CITY---- -
-
31
37
ACTIO RECD
THA KS
23
-- -
40
��OVERVIEW
This report sets forth a proposed land use framework for Detroit. It looks ahead several decades
and makes recommendations designed to create more liveable communities, more attractive
areas for job development and a thriving central city. It advocates balanced revitalization
throughout the city, building on existing strengths, while converting liabilities to assets. The
Framework for Action is not a definitive plan for land use or economic development. Rather,
it describes a vision for what the city can become and provides a starting point for ongoing
citywide strategic planning and implementation. The recommendations provide general
guidelines that can be used to evaluate land use and project development proposals. Proposals
of a significant scale and impact will require project specific analysis. Recommendations are
presented as plans and polides for interrelated components of the city's land use framework.
Communities Ten distinct yet interrelated
communities--each a focus of residential,
commercial and job development--shape the
city. Existing neighborhoods are the building
blocks of each community and proposed
community retail/service centers serve as
their hubs.
Job Centers Consolidated and competi[llf
business locations will be established to
expand and diversify Detroit's job and
revenue base. Areas for business expansio:
include existing industrial corridors and mi
Central City. New business parks are
recommended at freeway accessible
locations throughout the city.
Greenway System Over time, a greenway
system will link communities to one another,
to the central city and to the river in a
continuous network of public and private
open spaces. The greenway system will help
to define Detroit communities, create a new
citywide organizing structure and improve
the quality of life for residents, visitors and
businesses.
Central City Residential development~
proposed as the key to successful Cen~
City revitalization. Adramatic increase·,
residents will create a lively urban seH~~
··edreLlu
provide needed support for desn 1 i
· 5vs1em anu
uses and public transportatton 1. • "
establish the fabric that links acu~,cy
centers.
Transportation An enhanced street system
and improvements to Detroit's freeways will
increase the city's competitiveness as a
business location, improve the cohesion of
communities, and define future public
transportation opportunities. Changes in the
land use orientation and in the appearance of
radial st reets (for example, Woodward,
Gratiot, and Grand River) are also propo ed.
OVERVIEW
�''
''
'
''
''
'
'
\
D
-•
D
Low Density Residential
Medium-High Density Residential
Community Retail
MLxed Use
Public/Ins ti tu tional
Industrial/Re earch & Development
Public & Private Open Space
econdary Community Retail/ ervice Centers
Primary Community Retail/Service Centers
LANO USE
OVERVIEW
PAGE 09
��Concept
Detroit is and has always been, a city of
neighborhoods. The e recommendations
define a community structure that will
provide linkage between these
neighborhoods and the city overall. Equally
important, the community structure will allow
neighborhoods to join together in
communities to build the population base
needed to support retail, transit and other
public services.
An important element in establishing thi
community structure i the greenway system
which works with the freeways and major
treets to define physical boundaries. The
availability of basic retail and ervice uses i
al o critical to community vitality and viability.
To ensure that these service are available, a
limited number of well-located sites are
identified where community retail and seIVice
uses will be clustered. To erve as a focu of
community activity, these centers should
include a civic recreation and events space, a
police mini-station and other health and social
service agencies. Finally, the definition of
communities hould be coordinated with
public service delivery areas--e pecially the
public schools which are community center
in and of themselves and play a critical role in
neighborhood and community life for families
with children.
While many residential areas remain trong,
others require major reinvestment and till
others have deteriorated to the point where
clearance is necessary. Residents, businesses
and other stakeholders should work together
in_ preparing thoughtful approache to dealing
with these realities.
COMMUNffl
PAGE 12
r
POTE T L CO
U ITV T UCTU E
Recommendations
Define a community structure. Ten
communities are proposed. Precise
boundaries should be established bv
community-based "stakeholder" gr~ups \vho
also will play a role in ongoing planning.
Identify community retail/service center
locations where commercial uses will be
concentrated in the future. These centers
should be planned to serve a community
population of no le s than
60 000 to 100,000 re idents ao dto pro,i~
,
k drug11~
such retail uses a supennar et ' .
h rdware it
oeneral merchandise stores, a .
t>
· clud1n°
and other smaller scale u es 10 ,:'i J
.
•
ts and meullll
husmess services, restauran
,be enureh nl'i
offices. These center mar
·
·
·
developed around existing retail h-..,~
of acoinv11""
concentrations and made up
of existing and new commefcial
establishments.
�--
Low Density Re idential
•
Medium-High Density Residential .
Secondary Community Retail/ ~rvICe Centers
Primary Comm uni·rYRetail~ erv1ce Centers
COMMUNITIES
COMMUNITIES
PAGE 13
�_,,
Coordinate the definition of communities
with service delivery areas. To reinforce
communitv cohesion and identity--and to
improve the accountahility of age ncies all<l
departments providing services--each .
community should work in cooperation with
the public schools, city department and 0.th,er
service providers to coordinate commumt}
boundaries and service delivery areas.
Tailor land use and development poli~ies
to existing conditions. Ongoing plannmg
in each community should begin wi th a
realistic assessment of existing levels of
. · sfor the
vacancy and deterioration. Po1ioe
future should respond to these realities.
City Widfnway System
Locate community services, civic spaces and a transit station in each center. These
community services might include a police mini-station and health and social service agencies.
Civic spaces should accommodate community events and recreation.
Locate higher density housing within and adjacent to community retail/service centers.
Use parks and open spaces to link neighborhoods to each other and the community
retail/service center which serves them.
Locate amenities (elementary schools, libraries, parks, neighborhood retail) within
1/2 to 1 mile of all residents.
Buffer residential and non-residential uses.
Reinforce residential areas where almoSl~I
of the original structures have been .
. good cond·t·on
1 1 usmo
maintained and are in
.D
consistent code enforcement, rehabilitanon,
and infill housing development, where
appropriate. Additional permanent open
space may be created in these areas ~o -~
increase the attractivenes of th e residenu
. changes in the
setting. However, maior
existing development pattern and average
densities are not anticipated.
�Rel'italize residential areas where a moderate number of the original structures have been
lost or are not rehabable using consistent code enforcement, rehabilitation, and infill
housing development, where appropriate. In some instances, existing rehabable homes
might be moved to vacant lots on otherwise stable block to re-establish complete block
faces. Clearance of non-rehabable structures is likely to be necessary in some areas. Cleared
lots should be assembled and held to accommodate future development. Vacant lots may
also present opportunities for modifying the existing street pattern and providing additional
parks and open space to enhance the residential environment.
JWWWWWWL
Restructure residential areas where the
majority of the original structures have
been lost and are not rehabable. In some
of these areas, substantial clearance may
be necessaty. This land should be
assembled to create significant
redevelopment opportunities. Where
adequate land is available, special open
space amenities should be created and
street patterns modified to make these
redevelopment sites competitive
investment locations.
COMMUNITIES
�Within each community, an objective
assessment of varying housing conditions
will determine which of the three suggested land
use approaches--reinforce, revitalize
or restructure-is most appropriate.
�Detroit is a city of neighborhoods. Each can offer a
variety of housing types.
COMMUNITIES
��Concc
Apermanent, linked greenway system
incorporating approximately 10% - 15% of
the city's land area will reinforce viable land
uses and transform areas of disinvestment
and vacancy into open space assets. This
greenway will ultimately become a linked
system of public and private open spaces
including parks, bikeways, boulevards,
community gardens, buffer areas and golf
courses. The greenway system will enhance
land value in adjacent areas and increase
investment potential. It will define
community edges, buffer non-residential uses
and offer close-to-home recreation
opportunities linked to the river and major
parks. The greenway system will change the
city's image from gray to green and, in certain
areas, provide a positive use of areas where
environmental clean up for more intensive
development is not economically feasible.
n..,(
1e
~n,;
1
Establish a permanent greenway system.
This system should double or triple the
amount of open space acreage within the city,
consistent with national standards.
Plan this system to link major parks and
to incorporate areas of disinvestment. In
this way, major recreation assets can be made
more accessible and areas of loss can be
converted to community amenities.
Incorporate a variety of open space uses.
Examples include parks, bikeways,
boulevards, nature areas, community gardens
and golf courses.
Link the greenway to the riverfront for
public access and enjoyment. North-south
open space corridors will extend the influence
of Detroit's greatest natural asset into the
fabric of the city.
Encourage active uses within the
greenway. Some buildings will remain within
the greenway, in particular those with public
and institutional uses. Opportunities for
commercial use (for example, restaurants and
recreational facilities) should also be provided
to promote active as well as quiet enjoyment.
GREENWAY
�Public & Private Open Space
GREENWAY SYSTEM
�The greenway can offer a variety of open space
uses and incorporate both publicly and privately
owned land.
GREENWAY
�TRANSP
�Recommendations
Coordinate the rebuilding of 1·94 with
policies for future land use. This
immediate rebuilding project and future
freeway improvements provide significant
opportunities for retaining and attracting
business and improving access to jobs and
services. However, opportunities for
improving freeway access ramps, adding
service drives, and providing uansit conidor
must be used to advantage. These
improvement should include the
construction of "land bridges'' occupied by
parks and development areas to link uses on
opposite sides of the freeway. In addition,
public art should be incorporated in the
de ign of freeways to add human interest and
create a special identity.
Concept
Freeways and major streets are significant
assets for businesses and jobs. As the
freeways are rebuilt over time, they should
be planned to create areas of investment
opportunity, as well as more efficient
circulation routes. The construction of
freeway linkages will also enhance Detroit's
economic development potential.
Land use on Detroit' radial streets Qefferson,
Gratiot, Woodward, Grand River and
Michigan) should be re-oriented to encourage
the development of consolidated community
retail/service centers with residential, open
space and institutional uses on the balance of
the frontage. The e centers should include
public uan portation stations.
Because public transportation enhances
access to jobs and services, Detroit should
continue to work toward the development of
a regional transit system. Future transit
corridors should be reserved on freeways,
radials and rail rights-of-way. The feasibility
of future transit improvements can be
improved by emphasizing higher density
residential development in the Central City
and on radial streets adjacent to community
retail/service centers. An improved
transportation system will increase Detroit's
competitiveness in retaining and attracting
businesses and will provide improved
accessibility to jobs and services. In addition,
it will enhance the cohesion and livability of
neighborhoods and communities and
improve the image that Detroit presents to
residents and visitors.
TRANSPORTATION
Connect the Davison from 1-96 to 1-94.
The construction of this linkage will make
possible the development of competitive
business park locations on the east and west
sides of Detroit. Sensitive planning and
design can minimize adverse neighborhood
impact while providing improved accessibility
to existing, as well as
new, job centers.
PAGE 24
-
-
-
--- ---
--
-
Change land use on major streets. Land
use on radial street frontages should be reoriented from trip commercial to residential,
open space and institutional use with
commercial consolidated in community
retail/service centers. On non-radial major
anerial streets (for example, Van Dyke,
Livernoi , 8 Mile, 7 Mile, Mc ichol , Mack and
Warren), viable commercial areas should be
reinforced and residential, open space and
in titutional u e developed on the balance of
the arterial frontage.
Upgrade the appearance and functioning
of radial streets by modifying their
design. The e radial treets should be
rede igned to create landscaped boulevard
medians, service drives for local traffic and
parking, an enhanced sidewalk zone for
pedestrians and/or broad landscaped
setbacks.
Provide future public transportation
corridors on radials, freeways and
obsolete rail rights-of-way.
City Airport should be improved as a citybased highly convenient passenger
facility.
�''
'
''
'
''
''
r,,,
~-,.,.~-~---~
______ i
.,
',,
', '
''
''
B
~-•I
B
Freeways
Freeway Extension
Radials
Arterials
Transit Corridor Opportunities
f• •-1
TRANSPORTATION
�Clotku ise from ur.1 t f left
The construction of "land bridges" can link uses
on opposite sides of a freeway.
These "land bridges" can be occupied by parks or
development areas.
Over time, strip commerical use on Detroit's radial
streets can be replaced by consolidated commerical cenl111
with residential, institutional and open space use on lhe
balance of the frontage.
Radial streets can be redesigned as boulevards to
increase their visual appeal.
��JOB CE ER
Concept
Detroit can establish a framework for
strengthening existing businesses and
expanding the city's jobs and tax base by
restructuring land use to create more
consolidated and competitive business
locations. For maximum impact, investments
should be targeted to areas of existing
strength, areas with excellent freeway
accessibility, and areas suitable for the kinds
of employment sectors which have high
potential for future growth. These include
auto-related, health care- and universityrelated; service (finance, insurance, real estate,
utilities, communications and government);
wholesale/distribution; environmental science;
and entertainment and tourism. Although
every job in the city is important, these
recommendations focus on major business
concentrations. Detroit's land use policies
should respond to the shift which has
occurred from rail- and river-based job
corridors to freeway-based clusters.
Assembled, cleared, environmentally "clean,"
and well-located sites of adequate size (a
minimum of 100 acres) to create modern
business park settings should be created.
Nevertheless, policies that foster the retention
and growth of existing businesses are as
important as policies targeted at creating new
sites for job growth.
Recommendations
Identify and reinforce strong existing job
corridors and centers. For example, on
Detroit's east side, these include the Mound
Road corridor, and the areas adjacent to the
Chrysler-Jefferson Avenue and General
Motors assembly plants. In the Central City,
the areas of strength include Wayne State
University, Herny Ford Hospital, and the
Detroit Medical Center; Eastern Market; and
the Central Business District. On Detroit's
west side, they include the Lyndon Road and
Oakman Boulevard area (I-96/Davison); the
area adjacent to 1-96 between Evergreen and
the Southfield Freeway; and the Port of
Detroit.
Create new, competitive business parks
based on the following standards:
100 -200 acres with room to expand.
Direct freeway access with easy truck access
via freeway ramps and surface streets.
Access to public transportation.
Utility infrastructure in place.
Separation/buffering from residential use.
Locate these business parks in the
following areas:
I-751Russel1. north and soutb of 1-91.
Automotive-related light industrial and
research uses may be most appropriate in this
central location adjacent to the new General
Motors assembly plant.
\Y'ayne State L'nil'ersizv. He11rr Ford Hmpital.
Detroit lledica! Cenler Health care- and
university-related research uses could be
accommodated in a relatively high density,
mixed-use urban research park setting located
north of 1-94 to the east and west of
Woodward. The research concentration at
Wayne State University could also be an
attractive anchor for an environmental science
research and development center. Health
care-related production and
wholesale/distribution uses could be
accommodated adjacent to the Detroit
Medical Center to the east of 1-75.
Detroit Cizv Airport. If City Airport does not
become an economically viable passenger
facility in the near future, it should be
considered a highly attractive candidate for
business park development.
Airport area. If the Davison Freeway was
extended from 1-96 to 1-94, the area between
Mt. Elliott and Detroit City Airport could
become a highly desirable location for a range
of automotive suppliers and other industrial
users similar to those located in the Mound
Road corridor.
Lvndon Road area (I-96/Dal'imn). An
expanded Lyndon Road jobs center could
capitalize on direct visibility from I-96 to create
an appealing business park setting for a variety
of industrial and high tech users.
\\"'est of Liz'ernois between the Fisber FreeU'try
andj~ffcrmn :l enuc This area is an
excellent location for consolidating the
transportation and freight-related functions
already spreading along the southwest
riverfront. If Livernois is redesigned to
accommodate heavy truck traffic while
buffering adjacent residential areas, this
distribution center could be efficiently linked
to the rail-to-truck intermodal center now
being considered for the Conrail site.
Slate Fahgrounds. This site's size, ~cellenr
location and accessibility make it a prune
candidate for more productive use such asa
high quality business park. Detroit should_
initiate discussions with the State concermn~
its future.
Conrail site. A rail to truck intermodal
distribution center should be_ developed at r
0
this large site west of Livernois an~ ~01th
Dix. If that is not feasible and if minimal_.
. h Conrail site
environmental problems exist, t e
k
· spar
could become a candidate for busmes
development.
�--
Community Retail
Office/Service/Retail
Public Institutional
Industrial/Research & Development
JOB CENTERS
JOB CENTERS
�</oclm i,t'
Jmm uPf,er 1£ r,
New, competitive business parks are part of
a strategy tor expanding Detroit's jobs and
revenue base.
In the Central City, an urban research park can
accommodate expanding university and health-relateo
R&D uses.
Open space building buffers between housing and
industry will benefit both uses.
Detroit's CBD should remain the locus for government
and private office uses.
��CENTRAL Cl Y
Concept
Detroit's Central City, the area within Grand
Boulevard, should be the most intensive and
diverse activity center in Detroit and a
microcosm of the city as a whole. The
Central City should be reinforced as the
region's primary location for government,
culture, entertainment and commerce. It is
the image center of the city and an
expression of its spirit.
The recommended land use approach for
the Central City capitalizes on its
strengths--the Central Business District's
concentration of services and government
uses; Eastern Market; educational; cultural
and health-care institutions; entertainment
and other visitor attractions; the New
Center's corporate focus and, of course, the
Detroit River. However, it also identifies
areas for new development and includes the
clearance of structures which are functionally
obsolete and have no viable reuse. Acommon
sense approach to historic preservation--one
that balances economic, cultural and social
values--is also needed.
Residential development is the key to
successful revitalization of Detroit's Central ~
City. A substantial increase in the Central City ~
residential population will create a lively
environment, provide the market to support
desired retail uses and transit systems, and
establish a development fabric that supports
office, entertainment and institutional activity
centers.
The Central City includes several distinctly
different areas that are, nevertheless,
interdependent and should be linked
together. A network of pedestrian-oriented
open space connections will create linkages
within the Central City, capitalize on the
unique characteristics of the riverfront, and
extend its influence into inland
neighborhoods.
1 CBD
4 New Center
2 Gateway
5 Universitv/Cultural/
3 Central City Medical Center
West
Recommendation..,
Central Business District
Promote the highest det elopme111 den ities
and a mix of me, i11 the Ce11tral Busines,;
District
In particular, high density
development should be encouraged at and
around People Mover stations.
6
7
8
9
Brush/Cass
Eastern Market
Central City East
Riverfront East
. .
,
conomicallr
Clear bwlt/111(!,s that bai e no e .
"
CBD's 1mage
l'iable n?u,e To change the ortunmB,
.·.
and create new development opP Cadilla(
' theBook dif
buildings such as Hu dsons,
and the Statler Hilton s~ould b~;~r:ntenfl1
they cannot be economically r~ should tt
green space (not surface pa:king)
provided on these sites unttl new
development occur •
�Office
-
Retail
-
.
t District
Entertammen
.
Special Use Distnct
-
Industrial
.
High!Me?ium Density
Residenual
Low Density Residential
-
Public/Institutional
Greenway System
CENTRAL CITY LAND USE
�Central Business District£11courage entertainment use north of Grand
Circus Park to the Fisher Freeway and
extending southeast to I-7\ west to Grand
River and south to Adams and Broadway.
University/Cultural/Medical Center
Build on unil'ersi(V cultural and bealtb care
ancbors by pro1•idingfor expansion into
areas nortb of l-9·i and east ofI- ..5. Include
residential and amenity retail as mixed uses.
Encourage the consolidation of office use
south ofKennec~v Square and north of
Jefferson to create a CBD office district.
Continue to attract and retain government and
private office uses to reinforce this area as a
CBD office district.
New Center
Jlaintain and e.,pand office, retail.
restaurant and entertainmelll use in a high
quality c01porate environment. Encourage
residential use to the north.
Promote mixed high-densi(l' residential and
ameni(v retail uses between Grand Circus
Park and Kennedv Square. Amenity retail
includes those uses which serve the
convenience needs of the CBD's residents,
workers and visitors.
Preserz•e the opportuni(vfor a regional(vscaled specialtr retail facility as part of a
mixed-use development on a 20 -30 acre site
in the Cadillac Square area between
Woodward and Greektown.
Locate cil'ic. public and complementan
pril'ate uses on the CBD ril'erfront.
Cass/Brush
Empbaszze moderate(}' high-densizv
residential use 1eitb amenizv retail and
sen'ices in the area lo the north of the
Fisher Freeu·a_1·.
1
Eastern Market
Reinforce Eastern .Uarket ~v pro1•idi11gfor the
expansion of wholesale and retail actll'ities
zl'hile presen•ing the area's bh;toric character
Link Eastern Market to downtown on Gratiot.
Establish a retail serl'ice center in tbe Eastem
Market area that offers a mix of comparison
and conz•enience shopping Approximately
30 -40 acres should be reserved on a major
arterial street and near a freeway interchange
for a commercial center serving citywide and
Central City shopping needs. This center
should include comparison shopping
(discount stores, home improvement stores,
home accessory stores) and convenience
shopping uses (supermarket, drugstore,
personal service businesses).
Gateway
Create an improt·ed intemationel Gate1ra1·
at the Amba,sador Brid,• 1e Provide separate
truck and auto connections to Detroit's
freeways and radial streets and encourage
visitor-oriented commercial and mixed-use
development from the Bridge through
Mexicantown to Michigan Avenue. Link the
Gateway to Fort Wayne with a greenway
connection and a new riverfront drive.
East Riverfront
Promote res1dential. e11tertai11ment. bate/
and amenity retail in a special district tcitb
ample open space and /a11d~capi11g Existing
industry, which represents an asset to the
Detroit economy, should be relocated over
time. In addition, office development on the
riverfront should be discouraged and retail
use carefully planned to avoid compromising
the retail base in other parts of the Central
City.
Create l'ieu· corridor:, to the Rit•erfrom
}ejfe,:mn and del'elop north-south open space
corridors leadinP, to areas of actiuity on tbe
riz•etjront.
Provide for public and primte open space on
the rit-'e~fi"ont and public access on a
combination of conJinuous inland and
rive1front routes.
Central City East and West
t_, cuu,age resl(/i;,1/ial de1·dopme11tata
/'anetv of densities in tbr) Ce11tral eto· East
and \r e,·t a,w,r, Capitalize on opponunities
for promoting large-scale residential
development initiatives in areas of ignificam
disinvestment
Woodward Corridor
cstabl,sb a b1gb(l' attractil'e streetset:peon
V.:'ood,card ll'itb a oric and instituuonal
empbcu, on tbe ,treet (,·ontage This
symbolically important radial street s~ould
become the most attractive in the region. for
example a landscaped boulevardmed'ian or
' of the nght-of-way
.
· I de
expansion
to inc u
· areas,
landscaped setbacks and pede5rnan
would create a sense of civic scale, De ign
decisions should respond to the .
. that structure with no,.
recommendation
. 1e reuse on Woodward,~~
economically v1ab
Central City frontage be cleared. As_peod r
.
.
Id b t bltshe ,or
district des1gnatton shou e e~ a , andi
the Woodward frontage with guideh~~s hest
design review process to ensure the I?
t Atransit
quality of future developmen ·
N
linkage from the CBD to the ewCenter
should also be provided.
�Clodu·ise (rum llP{c'f 1eft
The East Riverfront can accommodate aspecial
mix of uses in an open space setting .
Agreenway along the riverfront will welcome visitors
arriving in Detroit from the Ambassador Bridge.
Asignificant specialty retail development may be
feasible in the future in the CBD.
The "rebirth" of Woodward Avenue as awell landscaped
corridor lined with civic and institutional uses will
become a symbol of Detroit's quality of life.
b
�Vernor
DETROIT
CENTRAL CITY GREENWAY
��E
Recommended actions are identified to initiate an effective community discussion of the
Framework for Action and to ensure that pending planning and infrastructure decisions are
made with a clear understanding of Detroit's vision for the future.
Community Definition
The Task Force has recommended that ten distinct yet interrelated community districts be
established across the city. The proposed communities reflect the functional organization that
supports the creation of viable community retail/service centers, as well as the physical conditions
(for example, freeways, major su·eets and the greenway system) that establish logical edges.
This community structure is also intended to encourage neighborhood groups, businesses
and other stakeholders to join together in undertaking community-based planning. Although
the boundaries that define these communities merit additional consideration, this community
structure should be used to organize a workable process for community review of the Task
Force's Framework for Action.
1-94 Corridor
Planning for the rebuilding of 1-94 has begun. This project has the potential to be much more
than a repaving exercise. The improved freeway can help to redefine land uses, establish
linkages, improve economic development potential and lay the groundwork for implementing
sophisticated traffic and transit solutions. It is recommended that the city work directly with
MDOT and SEMCOG on planning for the future of the 1-94 corridor.
Woodward Avenue
Because the repaving of Woodward Avenue is scheduled for 1996, the city should work with
MDOT on the design of Woodward improvements to ensure that they are consistent with
Detroit's vision for the future.
Rail-to-Truck lntermodal Terminal
MDOT is currently studying alternatives for the location and conceptual design of a major (20~
acres or more) intermodal terminal in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Task Force has
recommended that the Conrail Yards be elected. The city should advocate the designarion of
the Conrail Yards for this use and begin immediately to work with MDOT to reach decis_ions on
size, design and function. The needs and priorities of the city and the southwest Detrott
businesses and residents who will be mo t directly affected should be recognized.
Business Park Development
.
Two sites already in public ownership--Detroit City Airport and the State Fairgrounds--prov1de
outstanding potential for the development of new, competitive business parks.
The costs and benefits of expansion to improve the Airport's attractivenes as a passeng~r
service facility should be evaluated and then compared to those resulting from the poss_ible
reuse of this site for business park development. Decisions concerning the future of th is
important site should be made as soon as possible.
The state-owned Fairgrounds' excellent location and accessibility make it a prime ca nd_idate
for a high quality business park. It is recommended that the city initiate discussions wi th the
State concerning its future.
�~ivertront
Me~rgest landowner on the East Riverfront, the city can begin immediately to implement
recommendations for creating north-south open space corridors leading to riverfront activity
neasandde ignating areas for unobstructed views to the river. These efforts can serve as the
1
mtialstep in establishing a special district designation for the East Riverfront to promote an
~propriate mix of uses and a high quality of development.
(nvironmental Contamination and Clean Up
~non~·attention should be given to the definition and adoption of realistic environmental clean
~P standards that protect human health and safetv and the environment consistent with the
mtended future use of any given site. Clean up re'quirements should he appropriate to future
bnduse.
ACTION
�Core Staff
Funding Support
Katherine F. Beebe, Premise Associates, Director
Romeo Betea, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
George Sass, Johnson Johnson & Roy
Connie Dimond,JohnsonJohnson & Roy
Barry Murray,JohnsonJohnson & Roy
William Hartman, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Lillian Randolph, Community Development Services
Rainy Hamilton, Hamilton-Anderson Associates
Ernest Zachary, Zachary and Associates
Hudson-Webber Foundation
Kresge Foundation
Detroit Renaissance
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
Supporting Staff
Kent Anderson, Schervish, Vogel, Merz
Peter Berg, Schervish, Vogel, Merz
Deborah Bobowski, Premise Associates
Don Capobres, Premise Associates
Patricia Dermidoff, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Karen Gallagher, Johnson Johnson & Roy
Malik Goodwin, Johnson Johnson & Roy
Gilda Jewell, Premise Associates
Mary Jukari, Johnson Johnson & Roy
Brian Miller, Sims-Varner & Associates
Dorian Moore, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Jane Morgan, Community Development Services
Gloria Paul, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Connie Pulcipher, Johnson Johnson & Roy
Janine Rataj, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Jerry Sarkody, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Mark Thomas, Premise Associates
Derek White,JohnsonJohnson & Roy
Tour Guides
Mary Hebert
Diane Jones
Ann Lang
Karen McLeod
Sue Mosey
Jack Pryor
Joe Vassallo
Tom Walters
Kurt Weigle
Report preparation
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Johnson, Johnson & Roy
Premise Associates
Contributors
AB Associates, Patricia Becker
Acme Abrasive Company, Robert Beebe
A.I.A. Detroit
Allied Signal
Ambassador Bridge Company, Dan Stamper
Ameritech
BEi Associates
The Boomer Company
Brogan & Partners
Butzel Long
Casey Communications Management
Cody Olson, Phil Cody
Comerica Incorporated, Kathryn Bryant
Deloitte & Touche, Patrick Moore
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Jack Pryor
Detroit Public Library
Detroit Renaissance, Robert Keller
Detroit Medical Center
Detroit Edison
Eastern Market, Ed Deeb
Engelwood Enterprises, Francis Engelhardt
The Farbman Group
Professor Michael Farrell
Focus:HOPE, Fr. William Cunningham, Eleanor Josaitis
Gebran S. Anton Development Corporation, Gebran Anton
Grand Trunk Railroad, Bob Walker
Holtzman and Silverman Construction & Realty, Gilbert Silverman
KPMG Peat Marwick
Mexican Industries, Rance Aguirre, Pete Leon
Michael Kobran Associates, Michael Kobran
M.R. Prochaska, Mike Prochaska
Michigan Department of Transportation
Motor Marketing International of Detroit, Robert McCabe
OJ Transport, Rojelio Padilla, Leon Harris
Contributors continued
RFP Associates, Raymond Parker
R.A. DeMattia Co., Gary Roberts
Schervish, Vogel, Merz, Architects/Planners
Signature Associates, Chris Mansour
Sims-Varner Associates, Architects/Planners
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates, Arnold Mikon
Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments,John Amberger
Southwest Detroit Business Association, Kathy Wendler
Spaulding Electric, Bill Spaulding
The Taubman Company, William Cook
University of Michigan, Susan Rochau, Intern
University Cultural Center Association
William Kessler and Associates
Wayne State University, John Taylor
Wayne County Office of Jobs
and Economic Development, DeWitt Henry
Bill Adaline and the Staff at 150 West Jefferson
City Departments and Personnel .
Marge Byington, Director of Economic Development,
Marsha Bruhn, Detroit City Council Liaison
Community & Economic Development Department
Planning Department
City Engineering Department
Finance Department, Assessors Division
Detroit Department ofTransportation
City Airport Department
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
Economic Development Corporation
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
Recreation Department
Detroit Public School System
Cit , of Detroit
)
Graphic Design, Photography, Renderings
and Publication
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates
Balthazar Korab
National Photo Service, Steve Rubin
Richard Rochon
Inland Press
And thanks to the many individuals f. ' l d'
h h.
.
.
. .
d
mendations U'ilh us.
line u mg sc ooI c ildren) and commumty organizations who shared their ideas an recom
•
�
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
Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization)
Wyckoff, Mark A.
Description
An account of the resource
Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Michigan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1960/2023
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Comprehensive plan publications
Master plan reports
Zoning--Michigan
Zoning--Maps
Maps
Land use--planning
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-240
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Detroit_Land-Use-Framework_1990s
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Land Use Task Force, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1990s
Title
A name given to the resource
A Framework for Action: Recommendations of the Mayor's Land Use Task Force
Description
An account of the resource
A Framework for Action: Recommendations of the Mayor's Land Use Task Force was prepared by the Land Use Task Force appointed by the Mayor of the City of Detroit in the 1990s.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Land Use--Planning
Detroit, Michigan
Wayne County (Mich.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ac5e8da7fb168c6084094b3c0f7354eb.mp3
80108436bb74cd78e4cfb6907b15d6bd
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Pentecost XXIV
Scripture Text
Hebrews 12:1,2
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-0-19911103
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-11-03
Title
A name given to the resource
A Gallery of Saints, The Torch of Faith
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 3, 1991 entitled "A Gallery of Saints, The Torch of Faith", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Hebrews 12:1,2.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b87b62d8036c655a7650ae021980792b.jpg
f1e8fee40034a2b3493897cf6e33b063
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS1017 .G37 1908
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0118
Title
A name given to the resource
A Garland for Girls
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Sacker, Amy M. (Designer)
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Garland for Girls, by Louisa M. Alcott, published by Little, Brown, and Co., 1908.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1908
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80f90dac12c8bc9c92989500cdd7ba69.jpg
c75e22661802264e970de5c46b7444d7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS3539.O474 G415 1909
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0242
Title
A name given to the resource
A Gentleman from Mississipi
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Gentleman from Mississippi founded on the popular play of the same title produced under the management of WM. A. Brady and Jos. R. Grismer, published by J.S. Ogilvie Publishing Company, c.1909.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/97ef437c4cfcafc94595ab812117d1e4.jpg
1ed98df76810162de9b87156491139fe
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS3539.H959 G57 1902
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0257
Title
A name given to the resource
A Girl of Virginia
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Girl of Virginia, by Lucy Meacham Thruston, published by Little Brown and Company, 1902.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1902
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c7befe657b8796a92d0ad47ca0cec4a2.mp3
0bf0c658a070aa733c8c2ea18cf47054
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 V
Scripture Text
Philippians 1:6, 1:3, 4:19
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-0-19910623
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-23
Title
A name given to the resource
A Good Work, A Gracious Thank-You, A Daring Promise
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on June 23, 1991 entitled "A Good Work, A Gracious Thank-You, A Daring Promise", on the occasion of Pentecost V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Philippians 1:6, 1:3, 4:19.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/77970d83d54967e9989dcc912e92e405.jpg
32d803528a44918294b59a6e9e62b885
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS2481 .A4 1897
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0454
Title
A name given to the resource
A Guest at the Ludlow
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Guest at the Ludlow, by Bill Nye, published by The Bowen Merrill Company, 1897.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1897
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d2491c7f69239073c1f6954b07a1a526.pdf
d0409eac4849bbf1c53b7157511f8e6e
PDF Text
Text
A Healthy Perspective – But Is This All There Is?
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, 20; I Corinthians 15:54, 57
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Pentecost XIV, August 28, 1994
Transcription of the spoken sermon
"God
has
made
everything
suitable
for
its
time;
moreover
God
has
put
a
sense
of
past
and
future
into
their
minds,
yet
they
cannot
find
out
what
God
has
done
from
the
beginning
to
the
end...
There
is
nothing
better…than
to
be
happy
and
enjoy
themselves
as
long
as
they
live..."
Ecclesiastes
3:12-‐13
"All
go
to
one
place;
all
are
from
the
dust
and
all
turn
to
dust
again." Ecclesiastes
3:20
"Death
has
been
swallowed
up
in
victory...
Thanks
be
to
God,
who
gives
us
the
victory
through
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ." I
Corinthians
15:54,57
The Wisdom literature of the Old Testament is an attempt to gain knowledge of
human existence in order that one may know how to live—how to live wisely, how
to live well. It’s a special genre of literature. It has a different nuance, a different
tone, than so much of the rest of Scripture. It raises those questions about the
nature of our experience of being human, seeking to find the meaning and
purpose of it all. And it reads that meaning and purpose off from experience
itself; it doesn't go to a priest, it doesn't go to a sacred text, it doesn't go to an
institution, but rather the sages of the tradition of Israel were careful observers of
life, trying to discern meaning and purpose from what was observable and what
could be comprehended within the parameters of human knowledge and human
understanding.
With Ecclesiastes, we come to the farthest extreme of wisdom in the Hebrew
Scriptures. The author purports to have lived widely, broadly, deeply. He tried
everything—pleasure, riches, work, everything that his heart desired he granted
to himself. And, in the end of it all, his conclusion was that human life is empty.
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the Lord." Chasing wind. He is a person,
who having entered broadly into human experience, concludes that its meaning
and its purpose is not discernible by the human mind. Just reading from human
experience, he can find no ultimate purpose. He doesn't deny that God is, he
doesn't deny that God will hold us accountable, but God is largely absent and God
is inscrutable. The meaning of our human existence is inscrutable. So this is a
very pessimistic account of what it means to be human. He simply says over and
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
over and over again... there is nothing new under the sun...whatever has been will
be again. It’s an endless cycle... a dead end street or, as in the title of the French
existentialist Camus’ novel, No Exit. That is his analysis of the human situation
from what he sees in human experience. He recognizes that the human person
isn't satisfied with that. He himself isn't satisfied with it. He says God has "put
eternity into the human heart." It’s a wonderful phrase isn't it? "Put eternity into
the human heart." Or the other translation is that God has put it into the human
mind to know that there is past and future, but without being able to discern
what God is up to. If there is anything that distinguishes the human person, it is
that, while knowledge is limited, nonetheless there is a consciousness of those
limits. And the consciousness of those limits makes the human person restless—
always trying to transcend those limits, always trying to reach out beyond, always
trying to break through. But to no avail, he says.
I have often spoken of the writer of Ecclesiastes as cynical, but I think that's the
wrong word. The more I reflect on it and the more I come to understand the
Wisdom literature, he was not cynical, he was sad. He was lonely. He was
disappointed. He wanted to find something. He wanted to break through. He
wanted to penetrate the barrier, but he couldn't and he felt a sense of alienation.
He wasn't sure that there was anyone home. From what he could observe about
human experience, there certainly wasn't anybody with any kind of logical
purpose that could be discerned, no management in control. He was sad, so he
said the conclusion of the matter is this: Human experience is empty.
I sort of like this writer because he is honest person, so honest he almost didn't
get into the Old Testament Canon. (There is only so much reality we can stand,
and you can't have too much truth in church.) You say, "How did the book ever
get in there," and I would have to say, "With great difficulty." But in the Synod of
Jamnia," in about 100 AD the rabbis put the book of Ecclesiastes into the thirtynine books that we have in the canon and called it part of Hebrew Scriptures. You
might still seriously ask, "What is it doing in the Bible?" I want to respond by
suggesting that there ought to be a place in our religious devotion for expressions
like Ecclesiastes. I want to suggest that we've got far too much piety and firm
assurances of faith, and arrogant triumphalism. What we need is a healthy dose
of Ecclesiastes, particularly in church.
In the harvest festival of the Jewish people, the Festival of Booths celebrated in
the fall, they read on the fourth day of this celebration the book of Ecclesiastes,
just in order to lace into the celebration this very somber note. I want to suggest
that it is a healthy corrective to what generally comes spewing forth from
preachers’ mouths. Isn't there a place for a document within our religious book
that says, "I can't make sense of it at all”? I mean, be honest with me. Haven't you
ever had days like that, or seasons? Have you had periods of your life when you
had to say as you left church, "I really don't believe it." Would I scandalize you if I
said that sometimes when I climb off this pulpit I have to say, "I can't figure it
out. I don't understand it." You know, it is not as simple and as neat as we
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
preachers try to portray it. I want to make a plea for listening to the writer of
Ecclesiastes, not as a cynic, but certainly a skeptic, a thorough-going agnostic,
who simply confesses that the data of human experience doesn't add up to
anything meaningful as far as he can determine. Don't you need, sometimes, not
to feel that you are somehow or other excluded from the community of faith just
because you can't figure it out? Isn't it good to know that even in the Bible itself
there was someone who at least in one period of his life threw up his hands and
said, "You know, it doesn't make sense. God is inscrutable. Human experience is
inscrutable. I can't figure it out. I don't know what to make of it."
The questions that are raised by one like the writer of Ecclesiastes are the
questions that are raised in a culture like ours, in which we have the luxury of
being able to take a step back and think and reflect on life. You won't find this
kind of philosophical questioning coming out of Rwanda today. Those poor folk
are simply trying to keep body and soul together. They are trying to survive. You
don't find dissertations on the meaning of human existence or the purposes of
God in primitive cultures where it is simply a matter of day-by-day existence. No,
you find these questions in an advanced culture, in an advanced stage of
civilization where people do have the time, the luxury, to think reflectively about
their life and their experience. What happens when people begin to think this
way, and reflect on their life is that they are not necessarily content just to take
the given answers—to take the whole package wholesale, when their human
experience runs onto the rocks of reality and where the old answers don't make
sense, where human experience collides with the traditional given and accepted
line. In such a situation one comes to the kinds of questions that the writer here
raises. That's the kind of culture we live in. There was a day, there were centuries,
when the old answers simply weren't questioned, when no one stopped to say,
"But is that really true? Do I really believe that?"
In the modern period, beginning with the eighteenth century, when human
experience and human knowledge exploded all over the place, people did begin to
try to relate that explosion of knowledge to the structure of their faith. What
happened is that the church as an institution, and authority figures such as
myself, got very nervous because of that explosion of knowledge. Faith and
human experience brought together in some kind of reconciliation is not so
simple. So, if you would read the history of the modern period you would find
that there was a growing bifurcation of the academic world and the Church,
thoughtful people, the best and the brightest who raised their questions but got
the cold shoulder in the Church and, therefore, the body language pushed them
out, until you have a whole society today in the West which is largely alienated
from the Christian Church. We don't get a true sense of that in Western
Michigan. This is a kind of ghetto; we are a minority of people and we are not
keeping up. But in Western Civilization, Europe, the Continent, the institutional
church is in trouble, not addressing civilization, not addressing culture with the
dilemmas that face culture today. So, the whole explosion of knowledge, the
development of the natural sciences, the technological revolution, which created
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
the modern world in which we live six days out of seven, all of that sort of drifted
off on its own because we got very defensive. We really didn't want to hear the
questions. There was trouble on both sides, of course, but eventually there was a
shrinking body of people who were a people of faith, and a large body out there
that were alienated at least from the institutional forms of religion. What
happened? The writer of Ecclesiastes is absolutely right. If you try to live in this
world in a human way, strictly within the parameters of what's possible in human
knowledge, you're going to come up empty. That's where modern society has
come. It has come up empty.
We recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of Woodstock, which was a
symbolic expression of the 60s. The 60s has become that symbol for the rebellion
against institutional forms and the foundations of Western culture. In the Church
we widely decried that whole movement and were scandalized by hippies and
long hair and beads and earrings. The alienation and the gulf grew even greater,
but all that was symbolic of the fact that the writer of Ecclesiastes has it right,
that human existence pursued in strictly human fashion, a one-level fashion
within what is possible by human knowledge and understanding, comes up
empty.
Like I said, the writer to Ecclesiastes was not cynical; he was sad... he was
lonely... he was disappointed. What has happened in the modern culture with the
emptiness, because certainly you could write the model of Ecclesiastes over our
culture today, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Emptiness. Therefore, the rush to
drugs, alcohol, sexual license—describe what you want about the ills of our
present culture, and you probably could not over react against it. But, what is it?
It is not just bad people. It is the hungry human heart questing for meaning,
looking for purpose and meaning that is denied an analysis strictly based on
human experience. If all you know is what you can observe in human experience,
you cannot come to that transcendent dimension which is planted in the human
heart, but which cannot be grasped. So, where there is a vacuum it will be filled,
and it has been filled with a lot of the wrong stuff, to the disaster of so much of
our culture today.
What does the Church do? It grows fearful. It grows conservative. It becomes
fundamentalist in its outlook. In the political realm—conservatism, law and
order, crime bills. In the theological realm—fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is
the reiteration of yesterday's answers to today's questions. It is irrelevant. The
body language of the Church that wants to go back to a former day where
righteousness reigned says to the world out there, "You are condemned—the
judgment, the condemnation, the self-righteousness, super holiness of the people
of God stinks! Super holiness of the people of God stinks in the nostrils of the
world. The world may be hungry, and it may be longing for something, and it may
be at loose ends, but it will not take the arrogance and the triumphalism of the
Church that thinks that all the world has to do is come on back into the
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
seventeenth century. That, it seems to me, is a mistake of large segments of the
Church today.
The Jewish community, I noted, reads the book of Ecclesiastes on the fourth day
in order to interject a somber note into the celebration. I would like to go to some
of the praise gatherings of the Christian Church across the country and read the
book of Ecclesiastes in the midst of all the singing and foot stomping. I would like
to say, "What are you all worked up about? What are you all excited about? You
haven't begun to see the depth of the question, the seriousness of the social
situation. All you are doing is attacking the symptoms of the culture and never
getting down to the root of a human heart that is empty and longing for God." A
human heart that is empty and longing for God and that has lived in this modern
world is not going to go back and knuckle under authority figures like priests or
institutions like the Church, or a sacred text. Oh, I have to admit there are more
that do that than I would believe possible. I can't believe how easily the masses
can be led like sheep. But I have got to say to you that I believe that the writer of
Ecclesiastes gave an accurate and honest analysis of the human situation seen
strictly within the parameters of human observation and human knowledge. The
end of that is emptiness and sadness and loneliness, but what will not work is to
trot out a paradigm out of the seventeenth century, to try to go back to the
Reformation of the sixteenth century.
What we need to do is to appropriate all of the explosion of knowledge and the
understanding of the human situation and the cosmos and the environment, and
all of that and then begin to sit down and to reason together, to learn what the
real questions are and to begin to communicate in a level of reasonable discourse,
to be sensitive to the hunger of the human heart and the anguish of the human
soul that acts out in all kinds of self-destructive ways, rather than simply to
condemn the masses as though somehow or other they have become animals and
that culture is going to finally explode and go to hell.
You see, we're not so smart. We don't have the answers. The writer of Ecclesiastes
was right. You just look at the human situation and what he says is right. Things
don't add up. So you are faced with an alternative. Either throw up your hands
like he did and say, "Eat and drink and work, and grasp what little bit of pleasure
there is at the moment." Or you hear the witness of, for example, Paul who was
encountered from beyond himself and came face to face with Jesus Christ. The
alternatives are not matters of intelligence or accurate analysis. The alternatives
are matters of the posture of the heart. It is a matter of looking at the data, and
then trusting or not trusting.
Jacque Monod is a world-class biologist, a Nobel Prize winner who wrote the
book Chance and Necessity. What he describes in these little lines that I will read
could very well be the modem description of the human situation to which the
writer of Ecclesiastes referred. Monod writes this,
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 6
"If he [that is, the human person] accepts this negative message, [that is,
what he can read from the human situation, the cosmological situation], in
its full significance, then one must at least awake out of his millenary
dream and discover his total solitude, his fundamental isolation. He must
realize that like a gypsy, he lives on the boundary of an alien world, a world
that is deaf to his music, and as indifferent to his hopes as it is to his
sufferings or his crimes."
That is honest and hard hitting, and clear eyed. If there is no one home in the
universe, then we are alone and the world is deaf to our music. The world is
indifferent to our hopes, to our sufferings, to our crimes. So says Monod, so says
the writer to Ecclesiastes. That's as much as you can decipher. That's as much as
you can discern just from the observation of human experience. On the other side
of the coin, an equally intelligent twentieth-century person, Hans Küng, in his
book Does God Exist? wrote this:
"To trust in an eternal life means, in reasonable trust, in enlightened faith,
in tried and tested hope, to rely on the fact that I shall be one day fully
understood, freed from guilt, and definitively accepted and can be myself
without fear, that my impenetrable and ambivalent existence like the
profoundly discordant history of humanity as a whole will finally one day
become profoundly transparent, and the question of the meaning of
history one day finally be answered."
He agrees with Monod, he agrees with the writer to the Ecclesiastes—"my
impenetrable and ambivalent existence,” but this is written by one who trusts.
St. Paul addressed Greek culture, Greek classical culture. Greek culture is called
classical culture, classical because it has never been surpassed, a gigantic
achievement of the human spirit. Paul came there and proclaimed Jesus Christ
crucified and risen. Some laughed, and some believed. Some said, "I don't believe
it," and some said, "God, I believe it." Paul in writing to these people said that the
parameters of humans experience, this flesh, this perishable, this is not all there
is. This has to be overcome, this perishable has to put on imperishable, this
mortal has to put on immortality. Then will be brought to light that which has
said death is swallowed up in victory. Paul said that because he was encountered
by one whom he believed to be Jesus, whom he knew to be crucified, whom he
experienced to be living, whom he therefore deducted was God's "Yes" to this
world, to this ambivalent, impenetrable human experience. God had acted in the
case of Jesus, had brought him to life, had said "Yes" to the Way of Jesus, and
that simply, absolutely changed everything so that Paul could write to the Church
of Corinth, "Be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
in as much as you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." Empty.
Chasing the wind. The writer in that old Hebrew book said, "Vanity. Empty." Paul
said, "Not in vain," because this is not all there is, because the story cannot be
written simply from the data available to the human mind observing human
© Grand Valley State University
�A Healthy Perspective–But Is This All There Is?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 7
experience. There is, in other words, the possibility of the gift of sight, of trust
that breaks through and that washes all with a radiance from the eternity which
the Creator has planted in the human heart.
Most of the time the Church reads Ecclesiastes and makes a beeline for Jesus, not
even hearing the question, not admitting the depth of the dilemma. I hope I
haven't done that. But if I couldn't conclude where I just concluded I'd have to get
out of the business. I believe that the best is yet to be, and I never believed it
more strongly than when I am preaching a funeral message. And as long as I can
still preach before a gaping grave with hope, I'll keep preaching.
© Grand Valley State University
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1e27923360bda53d76dc814b4299d0c0.mp3
adca69114e6551055a3cb97a2ac3a209
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
Wisdom Literature
Scripture Text
Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13, 20, I Corinthians 15:54, 57
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-0-19940828
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994-08-28
Title
A name given to the resource
A Healthy Perspective - But Is This All There Is?
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 28, 1994 entitled "A Healthy Perspective - But Is This All There Is?", as part of the series "Wisdom Literature", on the occasion of Pentecost XIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13, 20, I Corinthians 15:54, 57.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Hebrew Scriptures
Meaning
Pentecost
Spiritual Quest
Wisdom Literature
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5c1c0599df0066206e4b97c1289e22a0.pdf
eaaca59c6b5ee71ae2f424f5009e636b
PDF Text
Text
A Hope Too Narrow
From the series: Memory and Hope
Text: Isaiah 35:4; Matthew 3:12
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Advent III, December 12, 1999
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Have you noticed how you might hear of a person or a region or perhaps discuss a
disease, you've never heard of them before, you had no knowledge of them, and
the next day you go out and you see the same thing referred to and within the
next few days you find that particular new piece of information everywhere? It's
not as though it suddenly came to expression, but simply because you suddenly
had an awareness, your attention was called to a certain phenomenon and then
you began to see it everywhere. You had a fresh awareness that caused the filter
of your mind to take in that piece of data and to register it. It's a common human
experience, and I have found that to be the case as I have reflected on the larger
religious scene and, more specifically, the Christian tradition and the Christian
church. It continues to impress me, startle me, and amaze me how narrow is the
hope of the Christian church. I want to suggest to you today that the Christian
church has traditionally had a hope too narrow and, that being the case, it is not
true simply for Christian faith, but I come to see more and more that it is an
aspect of religion itself.
Ironically, religion doesn't always make us very nice people. Religion can bring
out the worst in us and can feed the baser nature, which is a part of our human
creaturehood, and so this morning I had you open your Bibles to that section in
Isaiah to see the contrast between Isaiah 34 and 35. I didn't intend to do that,
frankly, until I got studying the whole thing. I was going to simply use 35; it's a
wonderful passage. However, there is one verse in there, verse four, which
contrasts the blessing of God for Zion, for God's people over against the
vengeance with which God will come to judge the rest. But, as I was studying and
I read Chapter 34 before, I said, "Oh, my goodness! What a picture!"
Did it shock you just a bit? Did you know that that was in there, this chapter
about the vengeance of God, the furious God, the God who is furious with the
nations, who is going to come to judge the nations, whose sword is sated with
blood? The judgment scene of the devastation of the nations and specifically of
Edom.
© Grand Valley State University
�2
A Hope Too Narrow
Richard A. Rhem
Page
Edom was a neighboring tribe, a neighboring people, and perhaps you will
remember that Edom comes from Esau so that what we have is the old rivalry
between Jacob and Esau, the rivalry between the brothers and, of course, no one
gets our vengeance more than those who are closest to us. So, what we have in
Isaiah 34 is a picture of a coming devastating judgment on the nations about
Judah, and in Chapter 35, the restoration of Judah and the desert blossoming as
a rose. Some phrases out of Chapter 35 you have seen on greetings cards,
Christian greetings cards - streams in the desert, for example. How many
sympathy cards haven't you seen with the last phrase that I read, that time "when
all sorrow and sighing will flee away"? Chapter thirty-five is magnificent in the
images that it portrays for the people of faith; it is as wonderful as chapter 34 is
terrible in that awful judgment that is depicted for all of those who are not the
people of God, Zion, Jerusalem.
As I see that contrast, I see something that, unfortunately, I am seeing
everywhere and that is the tendency of religion to polarize people, the tendency of
religion to become tribal. Tribal religion. Now, we don't face that fact very often
because we say, "Well, the Bible begins 'in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.' We're talking about the one true God, the creator of all," and so
forth. And to be sure, there is a complex tapestry that makes up the Hebrew
Scriptures as well as the New Testament documents. There is not a one-party
line, there is not a consistent witness, and so next week I'll take a couple of
passages that will show that larger hope. But this morning I want simply to call to
your attention that aspect of religion that tends to hold a hope too narrow. That
tendency of religion, in all kinds of religious communities and in all kinds of
religious traditions, to become tribal, to put it bluntly in a word, the tendency of
too much religion that tends to hope for God to lift one up and damn one's foes,
tribal religion which can become very violent and which shapes an unsavory
human character.
Bad religion is really bad stuff because it is so powerful, because it is so potent,
because its claim is that it puts one in touch with God, because its claim is that it
gives one truths that are absolute, and therefore that will justify almost any kind
of human action in the name of that God and that absolute truth.
That kind of religion is alive and well in our world today, and in this Advent
season as the millennium is about to turn, we have an added emphasis on that
end time drama. You'll hear from various angles in various forms, that kind of
religious faith set forth that says this is the way to salvation, and either says
explicitly or leaves for you to draw your own conclusion that, for all the rest, there
is condemnation, eternal suffering, torment, and darkness. That's tribal religion.
That is religion with a hope too narrow and there is something in the human
person, it seems, an insecurity and a fearfulness that tends to make us vulnerable
to that kind of message that will secure us over against the others, that will
convince us that we have the absolute truth and the corner on the truth and the
only way of salvation. The violence of Isaiah 34 can be duplicated throughout the
© Grand Valley State University
�3
A Hope Too Narrow
Richard A. Rhem
Page
Hebrew scriptures, to say nothing of the Book of Revelation which you had wellexpounded to you last week, that apocalyptic frame of mind that so permeated
the century before Christ and into the first century, that apocalyptic frame of
mind that was expecting the end of the world and was hoping for the judgment of
God to fall on all of the rest.
I can understand how it comes about. You have a little people like Judah, just a
little tribal people and they're the pawn of the power brokers from Egypt up to
Assyria to Babylon. You have them as this pawn in the power plays of the great
empires; they are occupied, abused and oppressed, and the most natural reaction
in the world for the human creature is anger, frustration, and finally the crying
out for vengeance. It’s all in the book and it is expressive of a tribal religion, of a
tribal God, my God, not the God of my enemies, the kind of religion that divides
the world into my kind of people and all of the rest, the kind of religion that
wants God to lift us high and damn our foes.
I call it to your attention because it's so alive and well in our day. As I began,
sometimes you become aware of something and then you see it everywhere, and I
have to say that, having been in this business all of my life, which is a long time
now, I have become increasingly aware of the tribal nature of much religious and
especially Christian expression in the media, newspapers and journals. Then,
being somewhat masochistic, I tune into late night evangelical television. Now,
it's not exactly the kind of thing that soothes me and puts me to sleep, but the
thing that concerns me is that those who are the true believers cough up the kind
of funds that keep this kind of mentality and this sort of spirit alive and well so
that it almost seems to me that the public expression, the broadcast expression of
Christian faith is permeated with more of the spirit of Isaiah 34, or if that's too
strong for you, consider John the Baptist.
Now, John's situation was different. John wasn't talking about "us" and "them."
John was talking about us and those of you within the circle, the religious
leadership whom John condemned in strong terms. But, the spirit is the same.
John the Baptist breathes fire. John the Baptist speaks about a God who is
violent, a God who will come with vengeance, a God who will square the accounts
with a wicked world, and it is a God that cannot be squared with the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the kind of religious message that betrays
what we really believe about the grace of God and the love of God. If it is true that
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, if it is true, as Jesus says according to
John's gospel, "If you've seen me, you've seen the father," you're talking about
another kind of God than the God of Isaiah 34, and you're talking about a God of
quite another spirit than the God of John the Baptist. I've gone through that more
than once here. Jesus distanced himself from John the Baptist, distanced himself
from the ministry of John, the ministry of fire and judgment, and, if you want the
starkest contrast reflective of Jesus over against this other mentality, then just
remember him in the anguish of crucifixion praying, "Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do." There was an awareness in Jesus of a God who was
© Grand Valley State University
�4
A Hope Too Narrow
Richard A. Rhem
Page
beyond the tribal gods, and at this time of the year, in the lines of George
McDonald,
They all were looking for a King
To kill their foes and lift them high.
Thou cam'st a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
I wonder why it is that there is such a tendency to hold on to the spirit of John the
Baptist rather than to see through the eyes of Jesus the totally different
understanding of God, a God full of grace, the God of whom John wrote, "God is
love, and those that dwell in love dwell in God and God abides in them." Why is it
that so much of religion even to our day is marked by the kind of arrogance that
says we have the truth and the whole truth and there is not truth or salvation any
other way? Why is it, in spite of the possibility of the experience of other
traditions, there is still in our day such a shrill note sounded about the exclusivity
of Jesus Christ? Why does what I find in Jesus Christ, why is it in any way
diminished if that is not the only way?
I know from personal experience the difference in my whole demeanor, in my
whole being, having moved from an exclusivist position with a God of vengeance
whose vengeance would never have come on me, of course, but always on the
other; I know the difference it makes to live with a larger hope.
Why is it that so much of religion lives with the hope too narrow, shaping people
with a spirit bristling, on edge, condemnatory, afraid, defensive? Why have we
not been able to see that so much of religion is focused on a tribal God rather
than on the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Why can we not see that no
understanding of God is worthy that doesn't understand that God will not rest
until all God's children are home, because God loves all and embraces all and has
come to us so wonderfully in the vulnerability of the child that should give us a
clue from the beginning that it is not by domination, coercion, and
condemnation, but by the embodiment of grace that God is best served. Only
such will keep us from living with a hope too narrow.
© Grand Valley State University
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/58322d63d5e461ed39770445a48efe9a.mp3
3dd10fe480640b1328b808102b473f77
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
Memory and Hope
Scripture Text
Isaiah 35:4, Matthew 3:12
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-19991212
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-12-12
Title
A name given to the resource
A Hope Too Narrow
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 12, 1999 entitled "A Hope Too Narrow", as part of the series "Memory and Hope", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 35:4, Matthew 3:12.
Advent
Grace
Inclusive
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9445892e6745eaea3baa99dfee206709.jpg
b05e70b9ba084ad765414621b7406a39
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS645.H6 1901
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0325
Title
A name given to the resource
A House Party
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A House Party, by Paul Leicester Ford, published by Small, Maynard & Company, 1901.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1901
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fda7a0e5216eb03418aba5cbb81eb94.mp3
dea6d0833a8d98fb4cf3ea91754689af
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
God in the Mirror of Christmas
Scripture Text
Isaiah 11:1-9, II Cor. 4:1-6, John 1:1-18
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-20011216
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001-12-16
Title
A name given to the resource
A Human Face
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 16, 2001 entitled "A Human Face", as part of the series "God in the Mirror of Christmas", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 11:1-9, II Cor. 4:1-6, John 1:1-18.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7982a29b6c9f4a4b7ddda20ef5d936ed.jpg
da8d6486d6ef2fc1631bbc268d1708bd
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PS1034 .K46 1967
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0386
Title
A name given to the resource
A Kentucky Cardinal Aftermath, and Other Selected Works
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Kentucky Cardinal Aftermath, and Other Selected Works, by James Lane Allen, published by, The Macmillan Compay, 1900.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ae5e534c680856bf9660d549235a3dff.jpg
e31fdf9d3423db09a13bf4a167ac18d2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Lincoln and the Civil War. PS3513.A337 K58 1909
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0183
Title
A name given to the resource
A Knight of the Wilderness
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Knight of the Wilderness, by Oliver Marble Gale and Harriet Wheeler, published by Reilly & Britton Co., 1909.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e47f89aecad3ff2f122dd65210985108.pdf
178abf2b8ef5b8d34919c89b876537a5
PDF Text
Text
A Larger Hope
From the series: Memory and Hope
Micah 5:1-5; Luke 4:16-30
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Advent IV, December 19, 1999
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Advent is a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation - preparation for
what? For the future, surely, but what future? A future in this world and this
present age, or a future in another reality, in heaven? The Kingdom of God - is it a
present reality and experience, or is it a future state? Advent is a time of
remembering, for we have our minds focused on the coming celebration of
Christmas and thus on our founding story as Christians - But, Advent is a time of
expectation - a time of waiting and the biblical sense of waiting is waiting in hope.
The biblical story is a story about God's engagement in history past and the
promise of God's action in history future. History is the ongoing story between
God's action, past, and God's action, future. That is the biblical notion. In
traditional biblical and liturgical terms, we are in the time between the times - the
past coming of God in our flesh and the future appearing of the one who came,
coming now to judge and bring all things to their consummation.
Year after year, the same story - The child was given; the King is coming. And it is
quite a lovely story that is lodged deeply in our hearts and overflowing with
affectional memories as well as filling us with hope and confidence - It is a story
that enables us to negotiate the passages of our lives in this world, speaking to us
of another world. The story originates in another realm and culminates likewise
in another realm.
We speak of God's salvation and, while that is a present experience, its real
significance is the promise of eternal life beyond the limits of our earthly journey.
Salvation becomes a very personal matter. We hear much about having Jesus
Christ as our personal savior, the one who came to die for us in order to make
possible God's forgiveness and eventual entrance into heaven.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Larger Hope
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
Now I'm speaking about Advent and Christmas in traditional terms. I could have
you open the hymnbook and over and over again I could demonstrate the
primary focus of our Christian faith as we have learned it.
God so loved the world that God gave the son - Born a child of Mary, to live for us
and die for us and bring us to heaven. Annually we are immersed in the story of
one born a child who became a King - a King who will be coming in blinding glory
to judge and rule and bring us to heaven. I'm not really telling you anything new.
This is the old, old story. God's gift of Jesus, our savior, to take away our sins and
open heaven's gates.
And what about this in-between time, this time between his first coming and his
coming again? Well, it is a time for the Gospel to be preached, a time to offer the
salvation God has provided through Jesus' death and resurrection.
The story is about a spiritual Kingdom, about salvation, about heaven. There are
present responsibilities - to preach the Gospel, to work for human well-being,
acts of charity and the alleviation of suffering. But, essentially, there is no hope
for this old world, this present age, this earthly reality of which we are a part. The
world is simply reeling toward hell. It will be destroyed; we must be saved out of
the world.
But, what if we get it wrong? What if we missed the point of Jesus? What if we
made a religious cult out of what Jesus intended as a revolutionary movement of
world transformation? What if we got all bogged down with sin and guilt and
threat of damnation when Jesus was about social, economic and spiritual
transformation?
Let me read a description of the world. See if you recognize it.
... a world where dreams of limitless material wealth and technological progress
danced in the heads of the great entrepreneurs and in the rhetoric of ambitious
politicians - and where the looming nightmares of family breakdown, crime,
sudden loss of livelihood, and untreated and untreatable illnesses plagued the
minds of the vast majority. It was, in short, a world that should seem ominously
familiar - in which sweeping social and economic change was embraced by some
and condemned by others, dramatically transforming the life of all the empire's
people, from the wealthiest nobles in their palaces to the poorest shepherds
wandering with their flocks in the hills. This is becoming increasingly clear
because modern scholars have at last begun to explore the vast area covered by
the rule and civilization of the Caesars to search for the life styles of both the rich
and famous and the far larger, yet mostly hidden, world of the Roman havenots,
peasants, plebians, and slaves.
Richard Horsley, The Message and the Kingdom, p. 2F. As this citation begins,
one might think one is reading a description of life at the end of the 20th Century,
© Grand Valley State University
�A Larger Hope
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
but it is, as becomes clear, a description of the Roman Empire at the time of
Jesus' life in the occupied land of Israel.
Through archeological exploration and cross-cultural studies we are
gaining a wealth of information about the ancient world of Jesus' time and
beginning to understand the poverty and suffering of the lower classes
which formed the vast majority of the population. Occupied by a foreign
power, exploited by the imperial rule through taxation and land
appropriation, there was a brewing cauldron of frustration and anger. And,
where was god? What if the promises of prophets of a new creation, of a
time of prosperity and peace - the shalom of the peaceable Kingdom when
swords and spears would be changed into implements of agriculture?
Where was God? When would this awful suffering cease?
Is it not a natural human question and normal human response? Why, O Lord,
why? How long, O God, how long?" Well, one answer - a common one found in
the Hebrew prophets was that Israel was suffering for its sin. That is how
Jeremiah explained the Babylonian Exile. I could cite passage after passage from
the prophetic book - You have sinned; God is punishing. But, why should the
righteous suffer? Another solution must be found. And thus the rise of the idea
that the world was in the grip of an evil power. For the time being, God was
allowing Satan to hold sway creating havoc in history, the suffering that was
everywhere. But God would not always remain passive. God would act. God
would intervene.
This was the origin of Apocalypticism - Apocalypse - meaning "unveiling" or
"revelation." God would intervene in history; God's judgment and grace would be
unveiled or revealed. In the cauldron of suffering and discontent, there was the
feverish expectation of the exploited and suffering masses when John the Baptist
preached. And John was not the only one. There was a widespread anticipation of
God's dramatic intervention to destroy the evil one and all the agents of
oppression and darkness and the vindication and salvation of the suffering
righteous.
We noted John's preaching of the coming Kingdom in the last sermon - God
would wreak vengeance on the enemies and oppressors of God's people, whether
foreign agents or native collaborators. This was the angry God of Isaiah 34, a God
whose cup of wrath was filled up, ready to overflow in burning judgment.
Jesus came to John to be baptized. Jesus was caught up in the Baptist movement,
himself baptizing down the river a piece. After a time, he distanced himself from
John and his preaching took on a different note - a grace note.
There is a wonderful debate going on in the circle of historical Jesus scholarship
as to whether Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet like John or not. We will have
that issue debated here next March when Dom Crossan and Amy-Jill Levine
discuss Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. But, whether or to what degree Jesus
© Grand Valley State University
�A Larger Hope
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
was part of the apocalyptic expectation, this would seem to be certain - Jesus was
dealing with earth, not heaven, this life, not some life to come, concrete, down to
earth human existence, not some spiritual Kingdom in another dimension.
Jesus left John the Baptist because he pointed to an alternative vision of God and
called for an alternative community. Luke writes his Gospel with an opening
scene of Jesus' ministry in which he announces what he is about.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
John's hope was an apocalyptic hope of imminent judgment and salvation from
beyond. For Jesus, that was a hope too narrow. I used the word tribal last week.
Religion tends to become tribal - our God looking after our well-being and
destroying our enemies. God on our side. God favoring and saving us. God giving
us the truth, the way to salvation: others need not apply.
For Jesus, that was a hope too narrow. Jesus embodied a larger hope. In his
home synagogue in Nazareth, they were not happy with the expansiveness of his
vision and hope. He pointed to an Elijah story where the Sidonian widow was
provided for in famine, and the Elisha story where the Syrian Naaman was healed
of his leprosy, thus pointing to the broader swath of God's care and concern. The
hometown folk were not happy about God's wider grace and their anger rose
against Jesus.
Jesus lived by and offered a larger hope from which no one was excluded. There
were no outcasts in Jesus' purview. He pointed to a God whose grace was of
expansive embrace.
But, the grace he offered was the grace that created human dignity and worth to
people who had lost their dignity and all hope. The Kingdom is in the midst of
you, he told them. This is the year of the Lord's favor. To the poor, the blind and
the lame, he brought the Good News of God's presence and called the people to
care for one another.
This was an appeal to the traditional covenantal life of Isaiah, to community of
mutual respect and care.
And the life to which Jesus called the people was revolutionary in its impact. He
touched the anger, frustration and despair of the people, but in a positive way of
giving them dignity and solidarity before their oppressors - the covenant ideal of
Israel where God was King alone and the people lived in covenant community.
That was Jesus' larger hope - a hope that embraced all.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Larger Hope
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
This was the Kingdom that was already present for Jesus, in the towns and
villages, if only people recognized its sanctity and reoriented their community
accordingly - They were poor, oppressed, fragmented. They were disoriented and
dislocated. They had lost hope and they forgot how to live in community. Jesus
called them to remember who they were and to reclaim their lives as children of
God. He called for an alternative community, an alternative society.
Jesus was not a revolutionary of the type that was certainly present -the guerilla
bands that roamed the Palestinian hills, the Zealots that pressed for armed
conflict against Rome - and eventually in revolt brought out the legions of Rome
that destroyed Jewishness in 70 C.E.
But Jesus was revolutionary in calling for the transformation of human society.
This is why he was proved too dangerous to let live. This is why he was crucified.
That he was revolutionary has been proved in our own time by those who learned
civil disobedience from him.
First of all, people must be given a sense of themselves - their dignity and worth
as human beings, as children of God. Then they can resist, non-violently, passive
resistance, civil disobedience, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the South African
Black Church - all examples of Jesus' Way.
Jesus was not tribal. He had not a hope too narrow. Jesus had a larger hope for
human transformation in this down-to-earth concrete reality of history. Jesus
gave people hope for the transformation of their life here and now.
That is a striking fact. Do you at all sense how revolutionary and radical that is? It
should give us pause.
Who is Caesar? Who is Herod? Who are the Priests and Sanhedrin? Who has the
legions and the swords?
Who are the poor whom Jesus called to awareness of their human dignity and
thus to their birthright as children of God?
How are we doing as the Millennium turns? We are the rich and powerful. Jesus
was engaged with concrete human social, economic, and religious conditions.
Then, can we honestly make him into a savior of a spiritual Kingdom whose issue
is heaven?
Wherein lies the hope for the world? Will it not call for transformation - social,
political, economic? The world could be transformed - what if the vision was
caught not by the poor and powerless, but by the rich and famous?
I can't think about it too long and hard. I would have to change. Better simply to
go once more to Bethlehem and see him as God's gift to save us from our sins and
bring us to heaven - And forget about what he was really about.
© Grand Valley State University
�A Larger Hope
Richard A. Rhem
© Grand Valley State University
Page 6
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ef97da966eca29767cef3f84008e9752.mp3
dab6cf4bdefc5177b69f3adcc2fdbe2a
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
Memory and Hope
Scripture Text
Micah 5:1-5, Luke 4:16-30
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-0-19991220
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-12-20
Title
A name given to the resource
A Larger Hope
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 20, 1999 entitled "A Larger Hope", as part of the series "Memory and Hope", on the occasion of Advent IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 5:1-5, Luke 4:16-30.
Advent
Community of Grace
Inclusive Grace
Transformation
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ecce3927c50d92c2d697551339ab56f4.jpg
6d81163ccefe708c6f26ac093431e9c4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Michigan Novels Collection. PS1549.D614 L52 1902
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0019
Title
A name given to the resource
A Little Girl in Old Detroit
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of A Little Girl in Old Detroit, by Amanda Minnie Douglas, published by Dodd, Mead, 1902.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1902
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives