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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2604f904c012abfbf1317cc7b030b11e.pdf
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God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
From the sermon series on the Cosmos
Text: I Chronicles 29: 11-13; Ephesians 1: 4-6, 9
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1981
Transcription of the spoken sermon
And now we thank thee, our God, and praise thy glorious name.
I Chronicles 29: 11-13
In Christ he chose us before the world was founded…. Determined beforehand in
Christ – to be put into effect when the time was ripe; namely, that the universe,
all in heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ.
Ephesians 1: 4-6, 9
Worship is the ascription of worth to God; it arises from a sense of awe before the
majesty and marvel of who He is. It arises, that is, it is a spontaneous,
irrepressible expression of praise and adoration.
Gratitude is likewise a spontaneous feeling that wells up in the human heart in
the wake of the recognition of some grace or mercy or kindness done, some
blessing received. We teach our children to say "Thank you" but we cannot teach
nor can we coerce gratitude. How often do we not say of some person helped who
fails to express gratitude, "What an ingrate!" But if it is not felt, then it cannot be
forced.
In this marvelous and moving outpouring of thanksgiving and praise of David in I
Chronicles, we sense the essence of worship and gratitude - a heart totally
transfixed in the presence of the grace of God. Let me tell you briefly about the
situation that called forth this eloquent expression of praise and thanksgiving.
Having consolidated his throne and expanded and secured Israel's borders, David
wanted to build a great temple for the worship of God in Jerusalem. However,
according to the prophet's word, that task would be denied David; it was rather to
be his son, Solomon, who would build the temple. David yielded to that prophetic
word, but he nonetheless made preparations for the building and used his power
and persuasion with the people to gather gifts and resources with which to build.
© Grand Valley State University
�God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
The occasion of our text is the great service of thanksgiving at the ingathering of
the gifts of the respective tribes. A great outpouring of generosity to make the
temple project possible was celebrated in a service of thanksgiving which was led
by David, the King. The majestic doxological prayer, which is our text, is David's
expression of the gratitude and praise he felt to God Who had moved the hearts
of the people to support so generously the temple offering. David can hardly find
words adequate to ascribe to God the worthiness of His grace.
…Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is
thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above
all. Both riches and honor come from thee, and thou rulest over all. In thy
hand are power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great and to
give strength to all. And now we thank thee, our God, and praise thy
glorious name. I Chronicles 29: 11-13
The deep emotion surges through that ascription of praise. We still "feel" it. It
poured out. And true worship, praise and thanksgiving are the irrepressible
expressions of a heart touched by mercy, overwhelmed by grace, subdued by love.
True worship has the note of doxology and doxology cannot be coerced or
conjured up. It arises.
Doxology was a hallmark of Paul's worship. The burning passion of that great
apostle was the consequence of a grand vision of the Truth. Paul's vision of God
was no narrow understanding of some local, tribal deity, but rather of the Eternal
God Who from eternity had a plan of cosmic scope to bind together all things into
a glorious harmony and the very heart of that eternal purpose was grace.
Like David, Paul can hardly find words adequately to express the grandeur and
scope of the grace of God at work in the world, culminating in the grace that
appeared in Jesus who is the very center of this vast cosmic drama.
Listen to his outpouring of this cosmic vision:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of
his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. …For he
has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the
fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on
earth. Ephesians 1: 3-6, 9
In this series of messages, I have been attempting to sketch the amazing
dimensions of the universe of which we are a part. To catch even a fleeting
© Grand Valley State University
�God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
glimpse, to gain even a faint impression of the wonders of the natural world is to
stand in awe.
And this I have tried to say to you – that the power and might and majesty of the
Creation can be seen in another realm, the realm of His gracious reaching of us,
creatures of His making, created to reflect His image, to live in communion with
Him and one another.
The God of Cosmos is the God of Grace. Our Creator is Our Saviour.
As we reflect on the first chapter of Ephesians, we can sense the excitement of
this insight into God's cosmic plan of salvation. Paul had received the revelation
of God's gracious plan as we saw in the previous message. God had acted in Jesus
to bring to the world the knowledge of Himself and in Jesus, to accomplish the
salvation of the whole world. If we read the various letters of Paul, we know that
salvation for him involved nature and people - the whole cosmos. It was this
amazing revelation that Paul could hardly fathom, before which he bowed in
adoring praise. Worship, praise and thanksgiving arose from the depths of his
being.
God had a plan.
Before the foundation of the world He loved us and included us in His gracious
purpose of love. When the time was ripe, He unveiled His hidden purpose that
the universe, all in heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ.
Mindboggling, is it not! It was to Paul. He broke out in doxology.
David and Paul both understood the grandeur and the wonder of God's gracious
purpose. They knew God's grace was as expansive as the Cosmos and as personal
as the individual person touched by grace. Grace is the secret of the universe - the
world of nature. Grace is the secret of our human existence. Grace is the ultimate
ground and cause of praise and thanksgiving.
The Hamburg Times, dated October 9, 1981, has an extended article telling of a
conference sponsored by the Thyssen Foundation. The purpose of this conference
of scientists was to explore the "Anthropic Principle" - looking at the universe
from the perspective of humankind. The amazing result was the realization that
this whole cosmological process of billions of years is delicately balanced to
provide at this point in the cosmic drama the presence of persons able to know
who they are, know the history of the cosmos and assume responsibility for its
future.
Taking all the data available to us today through the research of the natural
sciences, this convention of scientists discovered the universe to be delicately
balanced, finely tuned in order to provide an environment in which life such as
ours is possible.
© Grand Valley State University
�God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
Were the speed of expansion greater than it is, our universe would not have
formed as it has. Were the force of gravity less or greater, our universe would not
have formed as it has.
The author of the article, “The World Is As It Is,” Reinhard Breuer, at the Max
Planck Institute for Plasma Physics at Garching, Bavaria, concludes by declaring,
The interplay of exactly four forces seems, thus shows the anthropic
principle, to have been already a quite frugal method for making possible
an evolution through diversity and selection. The structure of the cosmos
through natural laws as well as also a special process of evolution evidently
cooperated effectively in an almost unique manner within the network of
relative relations of forces in order to bring forth an intelligent civilization
- us. The American physicist Freeman Dyson once said: "If we look out
into the universe and recognize how many chance occurrences worked
together for our benefit, then it almost seems as if the universe had known
in a certain sense that we were coming."
The anthropic principle thus permits a new and uniform valuation of the
seemingly (at least in part) accidental development of the world and of the
role of man in it. This indeed does not yet make possible an "explanation"
in the sense of a scientific theory. Until today it has been shown that
terrestrial life is most closely anchored in this structure, that our roots
reach back all the way into the properties of the big bang. This
transparence doubtlessly orients itself by the example of terrestrial life; it
remains open whether an alternate cosmos could be populated by an
entirely different form of intelligence.
The new mode of thought underpins at any rate the thesis that the world is
as it is because with any other constellation of natural laws we would not
be here at all. To talk of an "accident" or of "chance" as the cause of our
existence is therefore meaningless.
Carl Sagan is fully aware of all the data of which these scientists were aware. He
looks at it and is enthralled by it, but ascribes it all to chance, accident,
coincidence. You and I look at it and fall to our knees as we begin to sense the
Grace-Structure of the Cosmos. And with Paul we do more. We see in the vast
Grace-Structured Cosmos a point in time - when the time was ripe -when one
appeared whose name was Jesus, in whose face we see reflected the image of God
Who is first and last the God of Grace.
Could it be that this vast cosmic drama involving such immensity of space,
billions and billions of years, could have been effected and set in motion for the
purpose of love being shared, community being formed, community of God and
humankind? That would seem to be the case.
© Grand Valley State University
�God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
What does that do for us? It certainly is no cause for boasting and pride. Are we
not rather overwhelmed? Do we not identify with David, who in the ecstasy of
experiencing the grace of God, cried out....
But what am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to give
willingly like this? For everything comes from thee, and it is only of thy
gifts that we give to thee. I Chronicles 29: 14
What am I? I am known and loved of God!
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Grace is the ultimate truth, the final reality. Whether we search the distant stars
or probe the mysteries of the minute atom, it is grace that meets us. Thanksgiving
and praise arise from a heart transfixed by the grace of God.
It is good in the Season of Thanksgiving to count our blessings, to take stock of
our situation. Yet the immediate circumstances of our lives may not cause praise
and thanksgiving to arise spontaneously. Perhaps our situation presently is one of
adversity. Can we still give thanks?
Certainly we can if we take the broad view, if we catch the vision of the cosmic
grandeur of the Divine Purpose. In the long view, our immediate circumstances
lose their urgency. In the light of the "big picture", we cannot but stand in awe
before Grace.
Grace is the ground of thanksgiving. Grace, as broad as the Cosmos, as personal
as our names, engraven on the palms of His hands, is the first and last word.
…Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is
thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above
all. Both riches and honor come from thee, and thou rulest over all. In thy
hand are power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great and to
give strength to all. And now we thank thee, our God, and praise thy
glorious name. I Chronicles 29:10-13
Amen.
© 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
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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
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Rhem, Richard A.
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
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English
Type
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Sound
Text
Identifier
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KII-01
Coverage
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1981-2014
Format
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audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
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Event
Thanksgiving Day
Scripture Text
I Chronicles 29:9-18, Ephesians 1:1-10
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19811126
Date
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1981-11-26
Title
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God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Rights
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<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
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Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 26, 1981 entitled "God, Cosmos, Grace and Thanksgiving", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Chronicles 29:9-18, Ephesians 1:1-10.
Format
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application/pdf
David
Divine Intention
Grace of God
Gratitude
Thanksgiving
Worship