1 24 2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca42644c383418158d2d380c040df47e.pdf 8b3936a2a36beb2a8ee986a1f4cc65d0 PDF Text Text The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox Text: Matthew 1:23; II Corinthians 12:9-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Christmastide, December 29, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon Søren Kierkegaard was an interesting Danish thinker, Christian, philosopher, theologian. He thought a lot about the divine-human relationship and he told a story one time about a king who had the misfortune of falling in love. He fell in love with a peasant woman, and for a king to fall in love with a peasant woman is to create a great problem. It is a royal dilemma, for kings ought to know better than to fall in love. When one falls in love, one loses control. When one falls in love, one is tempted to do foolish things. When one falls in love, one no longer operates rationally, using one’s head. One leads from the heart and it creates all kinds of difficulties. Anyone who wants a smooth ride, a well-managed life, free of pain, would be well advised never to fall in love. But, especially if you're a king, because if you're a king, there is an added dimension to the dilemma. You see, the king knew that he had the power to command the woman's presence. But, when you're in love, the only thing that will satisfy you is love in return. We know that, don't we? The only thing that satisfies the deep yearning of love is to be loved by the beloved, freely and spontaneously in return. The king understood his problem. He called all his wise advisers around him that they might strategize with him as to how he could win the love of this peasant woman so that it would really be her love. Well, they came up with all kinds of schemes, as you can imagine. That's what they were paid for; that's what they were kept in the king's care for, in order to help him out in difficult situations. And so, they devised one strategy after another. Arrive at her door in a golden coach, dazzle her with diamonds. They say that diamonds will do anything. But, the king was in love. His advisers were not. They were using their head, and he knew that what he really wanted was her heart, and he knew that not even a king can command love. Being frustrated by their ill counsel, it finally dawned on him. One evening he slipped out the back door of the palace, evaded the Secret Service agents and made his way, dressed as a peasant, to the door of the cottage of the woman he loved. And he knocked on the door and offered his heart and asked if he might come and dwell with her. © Grand Valley State University   �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Well, if you want to know how it came out, come next week. But, you can see the analogy to the divine dilemma that God dealt with at Christmas. Because if it doesn't help to be a king when you're in love, it helps even less to be God, because if God is the incurable lover that the biblical story tells us of, then God has a problem, for the one thing that God cannot command is the freely offered and spontaneous love of the other. And so, of course, at Christmas time, we speak of incarnation, we speak of how God came to dwell in one of our kind, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone in order that the eternal and infinite One might be localized in the person of Jesus; in order that the Eternal God, the Infinite One might have a face, a face with which we might fall in love. God becoming one with us, identifying with us, making God's love known to us in the deep passionate hope that we might love God in return, because it doesn't help to be God when you're in love because Love is a thing that is not even at God's disposal. When one is in love then, as the king knew, the only love that can satisfy the deep ache in the heart is the freely offered love of the one beloved. Well, the king was foolish, of course, to fall in love. He might better have been, as that famous king of Persia, Ahasuerus, whose wife was Vashti. Ahasuerus, the king of the great Persian empire, called on all of his generals and all of his officials from across the empire and threw a great party. They knew how to do it better than we. They partied for seven days. And Vashti, the queen, was quite willing to go along with this. She even entertained the spouses of the officials. But, on the seventh day when the food had been plenty and the wine had flowed liberally and the king was feeling no pain, he wanted one last time to impress all of the company gathered around his table. He wanted his queen Vashti, known for her striking beauty, to come on and be on display. Well Vashti said, "It's a pretty good deal here, but enough is enough," and she said no. The king was enraged to be turned down by his queen. And so, he called his counselors and he said to them, "What should I do? What has she done?" They said, "What she has done is very serious, for she has not only disobeyed you and offended you. She has set a precedent in not obeying her husband and, if it should leak out of the palace, the whole of society should go down the tubes. There would be no more family values if women are not subservient to their husbands." (Oh, come on now. That's funny!) Well, in the case of Ahasuerus and Vashti, they had a royal connection and a royal arrangement. Vashti had a role to play and, as long as she played her role, she got her baubles. And when she didn't play her role anymore, the king simply dumped her. No problem, because he didn't love her. He simply held a beauty contest, the first Miss America contest held in the ancient world, and of course, you know the story. Esther, the beautiful Esther, the Jewish young lady was chosen as the queen for her beauty. She comes into the court and eventually - I'll tell you the ending - she saved her people and is celebrated for that fact. The point is this: between a king and a queen there cannot afford to be love because arrangements, relationships get fouled up when love is involved, because © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 3   love makes one vulnerable and love puts one out of control, and, therefore, a wise sovereign will put love on the back burner. The story of Christmas is the story of God Who is a hopeless and incurable lover, who was willing to yield sovereignty in order so radically to identify with the other, the creature, that the creature might be put on a level playing ground with the Creator. Well, now, that's a radical statement, but I want you to think about it with me this morning. This was the divine dilemma. If it is true that God is a God of passionate love, Whose yearning for the other knows no limits, then God has a problem, because there is no way that a king, human or divine, can be certain of the freely offered love of the other unless there comes to be a kind of equality , an even playing ground, where the love of the lover is displayed with a human face to which the other may love in return or say no. Matthew's Gospel, the birth story of Jesus, picks up that name Emmanuel. Emmanuel is reflective of the old tradition of Israel that knew God as a lover, as One yearning for God's people. Emmanuel - God with us, a sign back in ancient Israel, a child so named in order that the king might constantly be reminded in the presence of the child that God is with us, God is with us, God is with us, even when the king was not interested in having God with them. He would rather have had Egypt with them. Emmanuel - God with us - the Gospel writers said, was the reality of Christmas, that now the eternal One dwelt in the human form and we beheld grace and glory in a human face, because the whole biblical story is the story of a divine dilemma, of a God Who loves and will be satisfied with nothing less than the love of the other. The Gospels say it. And then I think of the first letter of John, the 4th chapter. John is the one who writes, "God is love," and he says no one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and God's love is perfected in us. God is love and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. This is the John of "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so," that we might translate it, “Love became flesh and dwelt among us,” so that those who look into the face of Jesus and fall in love, are falling in love with God, but on an equal playing ground, because only love freely offered, only love spontaneously given will really satisfy the heart of one who is in love. This was God's problem. Of course, that created a second facet of the divine dilemma, because then God had to create another over against God's self to whom God could give love and from whom God could receive love. But, to create one like that was to create an awesome creature. That's why that biblical phrase that the human person was created in the image of God says something very profound. It says that the human creature is the mirror image of God. God created one over against God's self to be in relationship with, and the only other that would be worthy of the love of God would be an other who had the dignity to say, "Yes," freely and spontaneously, but to be able to say "Yes" freely and spontaneously, genuinely to love God would also be to have the possibility of © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 4   saying "No" to God. It is part of the human dignity of the human person that we can say no to God. This, of course, was the risk of the whole creative venture of God, the whole impulse to create, the calling into being that which was not, the out flowing of the love of God, God's breath, God's spirit lacing the other with life, sustaining the other in life - that whole episode was fraught with the possibility of disaster, because if you create another that is another worthy enough to love, a worthy lover, then you have created the possibility of one who can say no. In fact, you have created the possibility of one who just might play God. I think that's what the Apostle Paul understood. Paul, I think, from what I read and sense in the New Testament, was one that would not have minded a day or two running the universe. Paul always wanted to fix everything. First of all, he wanted to make the whole world Jewish. And then he wanted to make the whole world Christian. He was an accident going about to happen; he was feverishly fanatical, not always right, but always certain. And I suppose it came from the fact that he had had such an experience of the wonder and glory of God. When he's in trouble in the Corinthian congregation and he must defend his apostleship and his ministry, he tells them something he says that happened fourteen years before. "I've never spoken of it," he says, "I don't even know if I was in the body or out of the body. It was totally ecstatic. It was a vision. It was a kind of experience about which one simply cannot speak. But," he said, "I had that." And then he says with, I think, some real insight, knowing his own tendency to like to run the universe, to play God, "In order to keep my feet on the ground, I was given a thorn in the flesh." We don't know what it was, but it must have been something with which the Apostle Paul agonized, creating great pain, creating embarrassment, great humiliation, who knows? And he said, "It was so bad that I urgently prayed to God to remove that thorn, until I came to understand. I heard the voice of Jesus say, 'My grace is sufficient for you; my strength is made perfect in weakness.'" Or, I like the New English translation: "My grace is enough." You can take that with you for 1997 - "My grace is enough." Paul says, "You know, I came to understand that it was in my very brokenness that I experienced the love and grace of God that enabled me to be whole, to be strong, to love, to be gracious." The human paradox is that, having been created, this awesome creature that can stand over against God and say "Yes" to God or to say "No" to God, this human creature who can seek to usurp the place of God, try his hand at playing God, this human creature is resistant to the very thing that God would give, in that haughty posture, in that God-like frame of mind. And so, Paul says, "The very thing I dreaded, the very thing I sought to have removed was the thing that was the minister to me of a grace that enabled me to see God's love for me such as I had never known it before." That's the human paradox. The very thing that we are inclined to do to secure ourselves, to build walls against the world, to make certain that we are in control © Grand Valley State University �Divine Dilemma; Human Paradox Richard A. Rhem Page 5   and that we can manage and on a good day, try our hand at running the universe, that very posture is what keeps us from the deep experience of God's love and grace. It's really quite fascinating that the divine dilemma issued not only in God's identification with us in the flesh of Jesus, but that identification was so complete that when the human rebellion rose up to reject that offer in the face of Jesus, the lover God withheld His hand and allowed the word made flesh to be rejected, even to the point of crucifixion, so that we can speak of the crucified God. Such a lover that God would suffer rather than crush and strike out and cut off the possibility that ultimately the lovers will find each other. I suppose that simply is another instance of the fact that love always involves suffering, because it will not control, coerce, overpower or abandon. Ah, if only we could play God for a day. If only we could realize the impetus of our hearts to secure ourselves, to guarantee ourselves against suffering and hurt. If only we could keep our hearts, not lose our heads, and manage our lives. But, you see, the story of Christmas is the story of a crucified God, identifying with us, dying in order to show us that there is only one thing that will satisfy the divine yearning. It is when at the cottage door of our hearts there comes the knock of a God veiled in flesh who says, "I would come in and dwell with you." And we say, "Come in. Dwell with us." That is Christmas. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/725cca6c33ac0a00a96e02cef79dd94a.mp3 4f3d6938468c445efc7109c4276e4506 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Christmastide I Scripture Text II Corinthians 12:1-10, Matthew 1:18-25 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19961229 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-29 Title A name given to the resource The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 29, 1996 entitled "The Divine Dilemma: The Human Paradox", on the occasion of Christmastide I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 12:1-10, Matthew 1:18-25. God of Love Grace Incarnation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d0cbc4c2f0b9f7e6e1b19de7c6956fb8.pdf 6385cb79fef014fcf82e08e237e04668 PDF Text Text To Bring Joy From the series: Waiting For Messiah To Come – Text: Isaiah 65:18; Luke 2:10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent, December 22, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon It is appropriate that twice a year the sanctuary is resplendent in beauty and we take a moment to remember those we've loved and lost a while, and to honor others whom we would value and affirm. It is appropriate that we do it on the two high feast days of the Christian Church. We do it, obviously, on Easter, because we celebrate the Resurrection and our confident affirmation that this is not all there is, that there is something more, and that those we've loved and lost a while are home in Eternal Light. But, it's appropriate that we do it also on Christmas, the Festival of the Incarnation, for if Easter declares that there is something more, the Incarnation declares that what is now is really good. It is the story of God's identification with the world; it is God's affirmation of creation; it is God's affirmation of the body, of material, of this life, of the human drama being played out in time and space - this present life, this present moment. Thus, the Christian faith makes two great affirmations. It says on Easter that this is not all there is, but there is something more; and it says on Christmas, what is now is very good. It is appropriate that we celebrate the Resurrection remembering those we've loved and lost, and that we celebrate Christmas as an affirmation of God with us, here and now. As we do that, we understand that this world is God's world and this life is a gift of God. What I've been trying to say in this Advent season is that there are some things that cannot be put off. I want to be very clear about my affirmation of that which lies beyond, but this morning I want to say that we ought not to wait for Messiah to come for the gift of joy, for joy is for now; it is for this present experience. To enter deeply into the experience of joy is the invitation of God and is that which enriches and deepens this present human experience. I've been suggesting during Advent that there is a tendency in the Christian Church to project into the future that which God intends for the here and now, that there has been a tendency in the Christian Church to miss this moment, throwing up our hands as though what is, is and cannot be altered and we simply endure this life, waiting for it to pass until we enter into that perfection, that © Grand Valley State University   �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 2   bliss, that perfect state of righteousness and peace. I believe that if we are waiting for Messiah to come to do justice or to make peace, or to live with joy, we are missing God's intention for this moment, for this world, for this life. And so, at the risk of being misunderstood, let me be clear again - what I say detracts not at all from our Christian affirmation that this life is not all that there is. But, let me suggest to you that the way to live life fully with joy is to live as though this is the only life and this is the only day we'll ever have. Joy is not for the future. Joy is for now. I realize that to say that is simple enough, but I don't have some magic wand I can wave over you and send you on your way rejoicing. I also know that we're all programmed differently, our genetic makeup, the environment in which we've been raised - all of those things constitute the person that we are, and there are some of you that are sunny personalities. I can tell by looking at your face. And there are some of you that are grumps. I can tell that from your face, too. (No fair poking one another, now.) Well, it goes without saying that we do have a certain personality. And there are some of us that just live life in a happier mood than others. But, I'm not talking about happiness. Happiness is a surface thing. Happiness is having your Christmas list all fulfilled on Christmas morning; happiness is having the Detroit Lions win their final game on Monday Night Football; happiness is having Wayne Fontes back for another season or whatever it may be. Happiness is up and down; there are moments when things go well and we're happy and then everything falls apart and we're sad. I'm not talking about happiness. I'm talking about joy, which is something deeper. I'm talking about joy, which is a consistent perspective, a posture over against the whole of life and the whole of reality. I'm talking about a joy that sees through the surface, deep down in things, and has come to a kind of lightness of heart quite independent of the immediate circumstances of one's life. It is that posture of heart that keeps us steady, in sunshine and rain, in light and in darkness. Joy is a present possibility for those who get their thinking straight. And I do believe it is a matter of thinking correctly. We are shaped, finally, by our thinking and that's true of us as individuals, and it's true of us as a community of people. The Christian faith, the Christian Church was born out of the womb of Judaism, and somehow or other, Jewish people with that rich Hebrew scripture tradition, have been able to enter, I believe, more wholesomely into the celebration of this life than is often the case with Christian people. I believe that, in the Christian Church we have tended to project into another world God's intention for this world, and we have failed to celebrate Creation as God's creation, and we have often failed to enter fully into this present life with zest because we have tended to see it under a cloud. Oftentimes the impression I get from Christian preaching that I hear on occasion, or the expressions of Christian piety, is that this life and this world are something to be gotten through and endured in order that we © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 3   might enter into that final blessed state beyond. That is a denigration of this human existence in time and space, and quite illegitimately so, for this life, this creation, this human existence, these days have been affirmed by the Eternal God Who called it into being and in the Incarnation fully identified with it. We did not bring along with us out of our Hebrew past that celebration of this world, this life, this day. Now, it was not that the Hebrew Prophet did not know of the darkness and the pain of human existence. The 65th chapter of Isaiah indicates that the writer had experienced the darkness that is all too true. He says there's a day coming when they'll build houses and dwell in them, they'll plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof. No longer will they build houses and another dwell in them, or plant gardens and another eat. He says the day is coming when there will no infant die in infancy and everyone will live to a ripe old age. He's looking to those, to that future day when those things that are so painful in the present will be overcome. There was a future orientation in these prophets, to be sure, but it was a future within this world, it was a future within history. It was not projected into another world; it was not something about heaven out there. It was about here and now, this world, and it would come, the prophet said, because God would send a shoot out of the stump of Jesse. This one would judge according to righteousness and truth. There would be that day when one would come and they would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they would not learn war anymore. They would not hurt. There was a day, this prophet says, when they'll not hurt in all my holy mountain, when the lion and the lamb and the wolf, the whole of creation will live at peace. There will be Shalom. But, it was a this-worldly reality. So, they knew the darkness, but they knew something else, and this is where joy comes in. They knew that God was about something deep down in things. They knew that what was, the darkness they were experiencing, was not the intention of the Creator, because the intention of the Creator was for this life to be a sacrament, for this life to be a joy. God intended it as such, says the prophet. Listen to what he says: I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. I am about to create Jerusalem as the joy and its people as a delight. And God caused the people, in turn, to rejoice. The creator says, according to the Hebrew prophet, "I delight in you. I delight in my people." Creation's end is delight. I have a friend who threatens to write a theology book, "The Theology of Delight." He was a student of A. A. Van Ruler at Utrecht in The Netherlands. Van Ruler used to chide the Church for putting so much stress on salvation, redemption, sin, guilt and that stuff. He said that's almost an appendix to what God is about. God is about creation. God is about new creation; God is about this whole drama and the bringing to fullness the human experience before God's face. God says "I delight in my people. I create Jerusalem with joy, so rejoice, my people." © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 4   That was the vision that shaped the thinking of the Jewish people, to be able to celebrate this world rather than seeing this world as a vale of tears to be traversed, endured and delivered from in order that we might finally arrive home in heaven. No, that is to fail to live fully into the gift of now which is marked through the Incarnation with the presence of God, Immanuel, God with us, here and now. So, I want to suggest this morning that if we wait for Messiah to come for joy, we will have sadly missed God's intention for our present, which is to revel in creation, to live fully, to actualize our potential, to live lovingly, embracing one another, to savor this world. I was driving down Lakeshore in the middle of the week, and all the snow had just fallen freshly. It was cold and crisp and snowballs tufted the pine trees and laid the dunes with a coat of ermine. For a moment the sun broke through. It was a transforming magnificence, and I thought to myself, "Dear God, what a world! What a splendid garden in which to dwell. What a home in which to be at home and celebrate God, the Creator of it all, who would have the creature live with joy on tiptoe, celebrating this present gift." I cannot speak of joy this morning without acknowledging that that joy must transcend the darkness. We've had too much death around here in this community of faith. I have buried too many recently whose lives were too brief. I know the agony; I cannot preach on joy this morning, having walked through the week that I have just walked through, without having to face up to the fact that there is a full complement of pain and sadness. But, again, if I cannot this morning speak of joy now, then our gospel is hollow. Then we're just kidding ourselves; then it is true what we need is a rescue operation to release us from this present wicked world. Ah, but the Church has majored in bad news, casting aspersions on Creation and this present existence. Joy is something that sees down more deeply and is able, even in the present circumstance, to say neither sword, nor hunger, nor famine, nor peril - none of these things will separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, who is Emmanuel, who is God with us here and now in this present moment. There is nothing in life or death or principality or power, or things in the heights or the depths or anything in all of creation that shall ever separate us from that God who at Christmas has come to identify with us, and who, through the Easter miracle, promises that this is not all there is. But, if we could only live as if this were the only day we had, if we could only live as if this were the only life we had, the only world we had, the only possibility we had if we could so live so fully, then we could throw ourselves with abandon into today - then, whatever else there is, is pure bonus. But already, this is pure gift, and so not when Messiah comes, but today. You see, today is the only day you'll ever have. If the gift of tomorrow comes, it will be today. So, if there are words of love to speak, speak them today. If there are those to embrace, embrace them today. If there are dreams brewing in your © Grand Valley State University �To Bring Joy Richard A. Rhem Page 5   heart, make work of them today. God delights in you and God calls you to delight in this present moment, in this present world, for it is a God-drenched world and it is made for your joy. So, enjoy and the rest will take care of itself. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c01dbe14d761e17da905328d9338ce97.mp3 246a81a530cc7d0e317bfefb5cc16979 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Advent IV Series Waiting for the Messiah to Come Scripture Text Isaiah 65:17-25, Luke 2:1-20 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19961222 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-12-22 Title A name given to the resource To Bring Joy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 22, 1996 entitled "To Bring Joy", as part of the series "Waiting for the Messiah to Come", on the occasion of Advent IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 65:17-25, Luke 2:1-20. Advent Divine Intention God of Love Incarnation Joy