1 24 3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7b7620556e1232522192a960710aee18.mp3 1f35ab8354264a48923ae7f1a7d2b45a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/deef5b30b46a24f2772556b0d257fe38.pdf 2cfaf9afa030f01f92e4dc61794e9c42 PDF Text Text Humility That Opens to Wonder Text: Exodus 4:13; I Corinthians 15:9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 12, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon Well, I imagine that all week long you had conversations about the election which even six days later has failed to deliver for us in any certainty the President elect. It’s a very interesting period of time through which to live. The positive side of it, I suppose, is that we are talking about it together and one can also see some positive significance in the fact that maybe we are learning how important is the single vote, and perhaps we also are taking a look at the whole process, wondering about the Electoral College, for example. And certainly we can see a positive thing in the fact that, although we are at an impasse and stalemate and we don’t know just what is going to develop in the next few days, nonetheless, there isn’t any panic around. We have a confidence in that long tradition of Constitutional rule and the judicial process and, although however it comes out may not please everyone, nonetheless, I think basically we all believe that somehow or other decently and in order this matter will be resolved. But it also gives us added lengthened opportunity to reflect on the whole elective process, the political campaign that seems to get longer every time. It also gives us occasion to wonder about that point at which we find ourselves when the parties are bought and paid for, when the debate is reduced to sound bites, when the multitude of television ads becomes more shrill and frenzied, asserting an agenda bought and paid for and denigrating the other. Language fouled and conversation polluted. As a people we wonder, don’t we, if there isn’t a better way? You may think that Bruce and I consulted about his remarks this morning, but I assure you that we didn’t at all. I’m glad that he called us to revisit two weeks ago when Huston Smith was here. Last week being the beautiful All Saints Service, I didn’t really have occasion to do it, but I want to revisit that, along with what he said this morning, because I sensed such a sharp contrast in what we experienced in Huston Smith’s presence in our midst as over against the shrill frenzy of political rhetoric whose decibels go higher and higher. Here was a gentleman, a scholar, a man of great knowledge, great wisdom, and great grace who was with us in significant conversation, leading us in reflection on matters that are of deep importance to the well-being of society, the well-being of our lives and our future, and in his sermon, “Beholding the Glory,” suggesting to us the glimpses, the © Grand Valley State University   �Humility That Opens to Wonder Richard A. Rhem Page 2   intimation of transcendence that come to us in those thin places in our lives if we are able to see them. A friend knew that I was going to preach on humility this morning and called me with a quote from Huston Smith to the effect that humility is not low self-esteem, but it is, rather, the coming to recognize and distance oneself from one’s own separate ego, to be able to step back and recognize that one counts as one, but not more than one, and that in charity the other counts as one, as well. And in that humility that we saw embodied in him, we were able to think with him and see with him the glory, for I believe that humility opens to the possibility of wonder. Following the worship service, I had the wonderful privilege of sitting here between Huston Smith and his friend of many years and a relationship many years ago, Duncan Littlefair, and we experienced conversation between these two men, conversation that was lively, encountering, engaging, with different personalities, Duncan in his powerful determination to make distinctions that lead to clarity, Huston in marvelous candor, admitting that he always has a hard time choosing between dichotomies and his words “mealy-mouthed Huston.” I hope you didn’t miss the rarity of that encounter, a conversation between two prophetic figures with decades of experience, knowledge, and wisdom, differing personalities but engaging one another with civility and with candor and with grace and affection, to the end that truth might be glimpsed, not to make a point, not to win an argument, not to establish some absolute claim to the truth, but in the cause of truth in order that understanding might be furthered, conversation sacred, its holy, honest exchange where there is the loss of ego, the dissolving of self and the focus on truth to the end of understanding. My, that was a marvelous and all too rare experience, and we had just heard Huston pointing us to the way to behold the glory, pointing to those places where the layered reality becomes luminous in nature, in art, human relationship, and in the wisdom traditions. The advantage I had over you is that I had also just recently listened to a funeral meditation that Duncan had shared with me in which the transcendent one, the holy, the sacred could be glimpsed if only there are eyes to see it, in a blade of grass or a blossom or a bird or a leaf, or a sunset or a human relationship, and the wonder which is a consequence of the pointers of both of them being exactly the same. Huston said, “I use the word God.” Duncan said, “You don’t need to use God, but it’s okay if you do. It’s a philosophical concept.” It is a means of explaining, but the means of explaining is not the important thing. It is the reality, that reality to which it all points. Whatever we call it, whatever language we use, if there has been an emptying of the self, if there has been that vision of something beyond, then that awareness that brings wholeness and holiness to our being, however it is spoken of or expressed as we try to give expression to it, it seems to me that in both cases, the secret is humility. It is not an accident that the word human and humility and humor have a common root, the root of humus. You know what humus is - the little residue that worms leave after moving through the soil, it’s © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Humility That Opens to Wonder Richard A. Rhem Page 3   vegetative decay; it’s that brown-blackish, rather unpleasant stuff. It is no accident that we are named human, for we are of the humus, we are of the soil, we are earthy and therefore, the most appropriate manifestation of the human is humility, and in order to come to an appreciation of the human, humor, because we are rooted in the soil, we are earthly, but we are more than that, as well. Because we know that we are earthly, we know that we are so rooted, so grounded, we know, as well, that we are more. We know that we are beckoned by the spirit to the experience of spirit, to the life of the spirit. Here we are, these ridiculous animals who know, who experience, who feel, who intuit, who have that sense of transcendence that calls them even while being rooted in the soil. They are anchored solidly. Humus. Human. Humility. And humor, one of the best antidotes to the egoism that shuts us off from wonder, being so filled with self, so self-assertive, so self-securing, so self-aggrandizing that we have no eyes to see nor ears to hear and our life is devoid of wonder and of joy, of grace and of peace. How do you come to it? Ah, that’s where preaching is stumped, for what does one say next? How does one come to it? Moses came to it, but was given a revelation an epiphany, a manifestation of the sacred and the holy that made his life holy, set apart to a great task because of a great vision that came after the brooding wilderness experience. Someone said in the scriptures it speaks of Moses 120 years old at his death, twenty years in Egypt as a prince learning to be somebody, forty years in the wilderness learning to be nobody, forty years learning what God could do with someone who had learned both lessons. No lack of self-esteem, but a brokenness, an honesty, an awareness, the simplicity of seeing truthfully and then acting in light of the wonder of the vision that comes when we’ve been emptied of the self. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth, but he had a vision, a revelation. Paul, frenzied, passionate, defensive, threatened by this new movement with the name of Jesus, going about to destroy, to obstruct, to hold down, to stamp out, in a moment’s revelation, a vision, a light. How does it happen? I don’t know. It’s a grace; it’s a given. It’s not at our disposal, but it happens if we are serious, if we are engaged, if we can come to some honest estimate of ourselves, if we can let go. Moses had to let go of Egypt. Paul had to let go of all that which was sacred and holy to him that structured his whole life. Those security systems that we have built tightly around us - if only for a moment we could let go, if we could see through, there might be a bush that would burn or a light that would shine. It reminds me of the political campaign - noisy assertion, frenzied activity, absolutist claims, dogmatic assertions, control and manipulation. There is so little honest conversation that seeks not to make a point, but to open the truth more clearly. It is humility, it is that dying to myself, it is that recognition that I © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Humility That Opens to Wonder Richard A. Rhem Page 4   am not God, that life has been given and is gift and if only for a moment I can step outside this frenzied drivenness of contemporary life, I can just pause long enough to look at the face of a child or a flower or a sunset and know that I am embraced in something marvelous and wonderful beyond my imagining - then my life will be bathed in wonder and there will be joy and peace. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XXIII Scripture Text Exodus 4:13, I Corinthians 15:9 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20001112 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-11-12 Title A name given to the resource Humility That Opens to Wonder Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 12, 2000 entitled "Humility That Opens to Wonder", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Exodus 4:13, I Corinthians 15:9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Epiphany Humility Transcendence https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4cbaa1aa74bb0e10e45f309d4d993b60.mp3 8157d684f729cc063b4a7fa133a7ab2d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0cbbe6a3d86b44e18868513cedbeb6c8.pdf 0094c72fee3e0a90dc260c1c9870cdcc PDF Text Text Emmaus: Now You See Him; Now You Don’t Eastertide Luke 24:13-35 Text: Luke 24:31 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan April 30, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon My name is Cleopas, not that it matters a great deal, because I didn't have anything particularly outstanding about me or any reason to be noticed in the Gospel narrative of the appearance story that was read a moment ago, but I was chosen as the example, I suppose, of that which was the experience of so many. I went to the Passover celebration; I was a part of that larger movement that was following Jesus and hoped that something would happen in Jerusalem, hoping that, somehow or other, we didn't know how, but somehow or other, God would move upon that city, would move through that man in whom we had come to trust, believe, and in whom our hopes were placed. I was there when he entered the city with acclamation. I was there when he made his bold statement in the Temple. I was proud of him, the courage, the unflinching courage with which he made his claim and pointed us to the eternal God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I was there when they crucified my Lord. The next day, Saturday, was the Jewish Sabbath, of course, but the day after any kind of a trauma becomes a rather formal affair. One just sort of goes through the motions. Thank God there was that ordinary Sabbath day to be observed, something one could just simply plod through without thinking, without feeling, just to get through. But, Sunday dawned like your Monday, and I was beside myself. It's as though the whole world came crashing in around my ears. Oh, there were some rumors. Some women said they'd been to the tomb and that it was empty and they had seen the vision of angels, but no one gave it much credence. Around noon, I said to a friend of mine, "You know, I have to get out of here. I'm going to burst open if I don't get away from Jerusalem and all of the memories and all of the crushed hopes and dreams. I can't stand it; I have to get out of here. Let's go to Emmaus." He said, "Fine. I'll join you." Well, you know how it is; you think you can escape; you think you can get away, leave it all behind you, but you can't, and so we found ourselves on the road, © Grand Valley State University   �Emmaus: Now You See Him; Now You Don’t Richard A. Rhem Page 2   taking apart every aspect of the week, trying to figure out what went wrong, wondering where was God and questioning our own understanding. How could we have gotten so mixed up about who this was and what might have happened through him? It was strange as we – obviously, as deeply in depression as we were as we left the city limits – sensed a presence with us, and sure enough, a stranger came up alongside us and said, "What is this conversation you're having?" Well, I couldn't believe anybody didn't know what had just happened in Jerusalem. But, he said, "No, what things?" And so, I told him, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man mighty with God, a prophet whom we hoped would set Israel free, they killed him. He's dead. And it's over. And frankly, we're just running away." And then, you know, the strangest thing happened. The stranger began to give us a Bible lesson like I've never had in my life. Oh, all the things he mentioned were familiar; I knew them from a child, all those scripture passages to which he referred. But, the case he was making is that we had totally mis-read our own scriptures, that what had just happened, after all, was something that we might have known would happen inevitably if we had understood our own scriptures. He took us into the Torah of Moses and through the Psalms and the prophets, all very familiar to me, but I was hearing it again as for the first time. It was all very familiar to me, but I never understood it before; I never put it together before; I never had a clue before. I knew the Psalmist's cry, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” I knew the suffering servant's story of Isaiah 53, the Lamb led to the slaughter. I knew the one who without violence does not lift up his voice in the street, but who with gentleness will never break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. I knew all of that, but I never put it together. I guess, as a matter of fact, I was more turned on by, for example, the fiery prophet Elijah. My own expectation, I suppose, was shaped by Malachi who was looking for one to come to judge, to bring fire from heaven. And all of that other stuff in there, it's all there, but somehow or other I never identified it with Jesus. I guess I'd have to say I never recognized who he was at all. It was probably my own agenda I was projecting on to him, thinking about sitting on thrones and judging Israel and being in the top spot for the new regime. It was a Bible lesson like I'll never forget. In retrospect, my friend and I talking about it later realized that while it was going on, our hearts were burning, our hearts were palpitating. There was a blood rushing through our system; something amazing was happening to us. We approached the village and the stranger was going to go on, but we encouraged him to stay with us and we came to the evening meal, and again, a rather strange thing happened - he who was our guest became our host. He took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to us, and we knew it was he. Our eyes were opened; we recognized him. It was Jesus. He was with us. He was alive! Just the moment we began to feel the excitement rise and the joy break over, he was gone. Vanished from our sight. Disappeared. No trace of him. © Grand Valley State University �Emmaus: Now You See Him; Now You Don’t Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Well, you can imagine we couldn't put all that together, but one thing was certain - even though the day was far spent, we headed right back to Jerusalem and you know what we found there? Well, he'd also appeared to Simon and so there was already a party underway and they were celebrating and we said to one another, "The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen, indeed." And then, there he was again! Strange. Well, that's my story. But, you understand, the version of it that you have in the evangelist's Luke's Gospel is a version of my story some fifty years later, wellhoned. If you read Luke or, for that matter, Matthew or Mark, you'd think it was all settled on Easter Sunday afternoon. Of course, that wasn't the way it was. It was my experience, but it was my experience condensed. It was my experience as example of the experience of that numberless crowd that had put their hopes on Jesus and found their dreams smashed and who eventually came, as I came, to experience him once again alive. Because what the evangelist wanted to do was, in concise a manner as possible, tell the good news, and so, it's all in there, but it's sort of squashed together, that disappointment, that disillusionment, that sadness of heart. Oh, my God, it was awful and it didn't evaporate in a day or a week or a month or, frankly, for a year. We pretty much scattered after that traumatic crucifixion, back to Galilee, into the Judean countryside, sad of heart, with crushed hopes and broken dreams, wondering if there was any meaning to anything, wondering if one could believe anything anymore, wondering if one ever could put one's trust in someone or something, wondering if the noblest ideas and ideals of the human family would amount to anything, ideals of freedom and love and justice, whether grace and mercy, whether any of that would make any difference in the long run. Of course, you don't have an experience as we had with Jesus, even through the trauma of the crucifixion, without continuing to reflect on it, to think about it, and that Bible lesson that he gave us, of course, points to the fact that that is exactly what we did. We went back to our scriptures and we scoured them for some clue as to what in the world we had just experienced, and we did find the Psalm, "My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me?" we did find the Lamb led to the slaughter, we did find all of those pointers that represent the graciousness of God in humility. As we did, we began to share with one another, and as we came together, we told Jesus stories and as we told Jesus stories and as we remembered, now and again, here and there, it was like he was really there. And, of course, for him in the days of his flesh, when he was with us, the meal was always the high point and everybody was welcome and he would take the bread and bless it and break it and give it to us. I remember the first time I gathered with a few friends as we had been talking about our hopes, our dreams, our disillusionments, and our sadness, and someone took the bread, it was like Jesus was there. It was as though his presence was as tangible as the presence of the © Grand Valley State University �Emmaus: Now You See Him; Now You Don’t Richard A. Rhem Page 4   one next to me, and we knew, in that community, breaking bread together, that he was alive. And so, as we began to understand with new eyes, as we looked at old, familiar scriptures and suddenly saw something we'd never seen before, hope began to rise in us and we began more and more to experience the wonder of that presence that was full of grace. And then, we came to the most amazing discovery of all and it was simply this - that Jesus wasn't about Jesus at all. Jesus was about God. That's why he never pointed to himself. That's why he never put himself forward. That's why he was marked by such humility, such gracefulness. That's why he was like one who refused to be the broker of the grace of God but, rather, said God is accessible to you all and grace is for you all. That's why he never set up shop and hung up his shingle because he wasn't about himself. He was about God. He was a God-presence. God was embodied somehow or other in that one, and when we were with him, we sensed the presence of God, and now the amazing thing was that he was dead and we experienced him alive, really just as before. We couldn't reach out and touch him as once we did, but he was there. Was it his spirit? Was it God's Spirit? I don't know. But, this I know - this we came to discover, that Jesus wasn't about Jesus. Jesus was about God and the fact that Jesus was no longer in the flesh was not at all any handicap for our experience of God as we experienced it when he was in the flesh. Can you sense what I am trying to say? I don't know how to say it any differently than that. If s like he wasn't there, but he was there. But, not being there, whatever we experienced when he was there, was the same, just as real. When we looked one another in the eye, when we held the one we loved, when we gathered in community, breaking bread, our eyes would be opened and we would know the presence of God. So, you see, I guess what I want to say to you is, maybe if you could, you would have liked to have been there. But, to have been there then in the days of his flesh would be no advantage to where you are now, because, as a matter of fact, he was the mediator of that mystery of life, that ultimate ground of all being, that creative spirit, that source of all, that guide of all, that goal of all. He simply was the presence of that One living God, whom death can never destroy, and he embodied forgiveness and love and justice and peace which all of the cruelty and violence and ignorance in the world can never put to death. So, you see, that's what the evangelists were trying to tell you when they honed the experience of the whole community over decades. They called it my story, Cleopas, and it was my story, but it wasn't really my story as though it happened just like that. Oh, there was real history there. That's why 2000 years later you're still struggling with it, but I have to admit that I am amazed and somewhat amused at how much you struggle to figure out what really happened. I want to tell you - we couldn't figure out what really happened. But, it was the presence. It was the God-presence. It was the embodiment of grace and community. It was © Grand Valley State University �Emmaus: Now You See Him; Now You Don’t Richard A. Rhem Page 5   the deep assurance that when the powers of darkness had done their worst, light burst forth and the last word was not sadness, but joy, not a broken heart, but a burning heart, not death, but life. © 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 Eastertide II Scripture Text Luke 24:31 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000430 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-04-30 Title A name given to the resource Emmaus: Now You See Him, Now You Don't 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 April 30, 2000 entitled "Emmaus: Now You See Him, Now You Don't", on the occasion of Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 24:31. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Epiphany Humility Jesus Presence of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6fd4ef89af77cff0482a45870bfdd8f7.mp3 e17b783ad80ade701de0df7a632beeca https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/317666d5c073b7eb886135e979808b1c.pdf 5688549704c5c610d5126701eb2023b6 PDF Text Text The Grace That Enables Us To View Ourselves Honestly Fourth sermon in the series: What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers Text: Psalm 139 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 15, 1982 Transcription of the spoken sermon Thoreau said that all men live lives of quiet desperation, and I often believe that he was right. One evening this week the telephone rang and the person on the other end told me of a young man who had entered this sanctuary some months ago. Being in his 30th year and never being a part of the Church, he was amazed at what he heard and what he felt here and was one of the most sincere and serious seekers with whom I had ever dealt. In a number of sessions I developed a real fondness for him, the reality of his questions, his search, his struggle to find meaning, his reaching out after God. The voice on the other end of the telephone line informed me that last week he committed suicide. And so, one recognizes that Thoreau was right. All over this community churches gather, congregations assemble to worship very much as we have done here with our Sunday clothes, our respectability, and our cordiality. We meet one another, but we do not really meet. We manage to keep things on the surface and we major in trivialities. We major in trivialities because any deeper probing might unmask us and reveal the quiet desperation and the storm that rages within. Churches meet, people singing hymns and saying prayers and going forth from the sanctuary still bleeding and bruised and wondering what to make of it all. And not only in the churches, but also in the streets of the city, the throngs go to and fro, carrying within the raging storm. How can we penetrate the thick armor with which we shield our deepest hurts, our anxieties, our fears? How can we learn to live lives of health and wholeness? How can we come to an honest self-awareness that is the prelude to human wellbeing? Today we make a significant shift in our study of the parallels between the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous and biblical faith. In the terminology of the Church we begin at Step Four to speak of the Christian life. To use the doctrinal term, we begin now to speak of sanctification or the way of holiness, which I would like to translate as the way to wholeness. © Grand Valley State University   �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Step One was a step of diagnosis - Our lives had become unmanageable. Step Two took us beyond our misery to a Power beyond ourselves - We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Step Three was the watershed moment - We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him. With those three steps we have admitted we have a problem - or better, we are a problem - and we are powerless to help ourselves and we have committed our lives, turned ourselves over to God. In biblical terms, we have entrusted our lives to God. Where do we go from here? I have entitled this series "What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers" because AA is actually doing what too often for us in the Church is only a way of life acknowledged but too little lived. AA is responsible for the transformation of millions of lives that once were broken and miserable. Human transformation is what we in the Church are about. We must learn again our own faith in order again to be effective in changing human nature, bringing healing and creating wholeness. Step Four calls for a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. For the alcoholic, sobriety has been won through the admission of powerlessness and the commitment to the Power of God. But now that sobriety has been achieved, how can one go on to a new life? How does one appropriate the power of God on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis not only to stay sober but to find the fullness of life? Step Four calls for an honest self-appraisal - true self-knowledge as the way to a transformed life. Self-knowledge is not an end in itself. It is, however, a necessary first step toward the goal of accepting responsibility for our own lives and beginning to work at behavior modification. The Gospel too calls us to an honest appraisal of who we are and sets before us the model of Jesus Christ as that fully human existence to which we are called. My thesis in this message is that the Grace of God enables us to view ourselves honestly. Knowing that we are loved unconditionally and accepted just as we are gives us the courage to accept ourselves, own our own behavior and take responsibility for our lives. Let me suggest first of all that seeking self-knowledge takes courage. We must admit that we avoid self-knowledge both because we are proud and we are afraid. By self-knowledge, I mean a knowledge of who I am, an understanding of myself, why I react as I do, my strong points and my weak points, my deepest desires, my greatest fears. I mean a knowledge of how I react in given situations, how I affect © Grand Valley State University �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 3   people and how other persons affect me. By self-knowledge I mean understanding myself, understanding the past which has shaped me and the present which conditions me and the future which determines me. By selfknowledge I mean an honest appraisal of my strengths and my weaknesses. In a word, self-knowledge is knowing who I am. In the case of AA, it is obvious why the new life begins with a searching and fearless moral inventory. Alcoholism is a disease and for some persons there is an immediate chemical reaction, which leads to addiction. But for most people alcohol is first of all a way of escape from life and its realities. It is a cover for fears and anxieties, feelings of resentment or frustration, a compensation for feelings of inferiority. The first requirement was the admission of powerlessness and then the willingness to turn one's life over to the power of God. Thus sobriety is achieved. But the problems that lie behind the turning to drink in the first place remain. It is those problems that need to be named, owned and dealt with. But the alcoholic is not unique. He is not the only person with problems. We are all alike. Our problems differ. The way we handle our problems differs. But we all devise some method of coping with life. We may choose some escape mechanism that does not lead to an addiction such as alcohol, but we all have our ways. Some of us chain smoke. Some of us bite our fingernails. Some of us keep on a merry-go-round of activity. Some of us overeat. Some of us withdraw into ourselves. Some of us overwork. Some of us play too hard. Some of us know it. Some of us don't. Self-knowledge is painful, but living without self-knowledge is pitiable. AA is very serious about the moral inventory. As I have mentioned in each message, AA is a spiritual organization but it is not a religious organization. It is not precise in the definition of its terms. It leaves to each person to form his own conception of God and, in regard to the moral inventory; it leaves to the individual the freedom to define the problems of his own character. The biblical term would be sin. That term is expressed by several biblical words meaning missing the mark, or transgressing the bounds, something twisted or distorted; sometimes it refers to rebellion. Sin is not a popular word. If one prefers, as one approaches the inventory one can speak of character defects or maladjustments. However one speaks of it, what is being asked is to be completely candid about those attitudes and actions and behavior patterns in one's life which are the roots of the disruption one experiences within one's self and in one's relationships. AA is not only very serious about this process; it is very practical, as well. It calls for a written report. The inventory is very concrete and specific, naming the fault, © Grand Valley State University �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 4   how one behaved in light of the fault and the consequences of that behavior. For example, from the outstanding clinic for alcoholic recovery, Hazelden, comes this pamphlet, "A New Fourth Step Guide", which is an instrument to help one do the Fourth Step meaningfully. In the instructions it says: Step Four (like each of the Steps) marks the beginning of a new way of life. It says that today I will begin to take a realistic assessment of myself. We hope this guide will help you begin to learn to know yourself. Three attitudes are important: To be searching, fearless and moral. 1. Are you searching? Are you really digging into your own selfawareness and describing your behavior as it really is? 2. Are you fearless? It takes courage to face yourself in terms of what has really been going on in your life. 3. Are you moral? Take a good look at the "good-bad" implications of your behavior, your own values? How does it size up with your own values? Then there are some thirty pages, most of which are blank spaces for one to write in response to questions raised at the top of the page. Let me cite just a couple: FALSE PRIDE What we mean is excessive pride; being so thin-skinned that we have trouble admitting any human weaknesses at all. Another word for this kind of pride is grandiosity. Describe how your pride has kept you from looking at your own behavior. HUMILITY Now that you are learning that it is safe to admit your powerlessness and unmanageability, do you find it easier just to be human? Being humble doesn't mean being weak. It means accepting ourselves - our strengths as well as our weaknesses. Do you know something now about what humility really means? Are you able to be less defensive? To enjoy the peace that comes with genuine humility? Explain. SELF-PITY This is hard to recognize, and it's something no one likes to admit. It's a matter of feeling sorry for ourselves. Maybe because we feel people just don't understand us. Or maybe it's feeling that people don't respect us or don't love us enough. It means feeling hopeless, feeling like a victim of © Grand Valley State University �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 5   circumstances. Have you ever felt self-pity? Do you feel sorry for yourself right now? After each brief statement, it is your turn to respond. Sounds scary, does it not? That is why I began by saying that honestly to seek knowledge of ourselves takes courage. As I said earlier, self-knowledge is painful. Yet I also said to live without self-knowledge is pitiable. That brings me to the second point I want to make Self-knowledge is freeing. As much as our pride and our fear resist self-knowledge, there is nothing more freeing than the honest admission and acceptance of who we are. So many of us expend so much energy covering up who we are. We spend our days in selfjustifying behavior. We explain ourselves and excuse ourselves and when we are cornered, we strike out in defensiveness. To some degree we all play roles. We wear masks. We hide the person we are behind a cloak of respectability. The roles we play, the masks we wear depend on where we are and with whom we are. We tend to live up to others' expectations and so much of human relationship and human society occurs on a very superficial level. We have surface contact and we major in trivialities. What a relief it is to be able simply to be ourselves in the presence of someone with whom we feel safe, not worrying that we will be discovered for what we are rather than known for what we project as our facade. This brings me to the Old Testament lesson, Psalm 139. This magnificent poetry sings of the sovereign and gracious presence, power and knowledge of God. After reciting the completeness of God's knowing, His inescapable presence, His limitless power, the Psalmist concludes with a morning prayer for God to search his inmost being, to make him transparent and to lead him in the way of truth. I submit to you that only one who has found God to be gracious would dare to offer such a prayer. Obviously this is the prayer of one who knows God intimately and has been convinced of His steadfast love for he cries out, "How precious are Thy thoughts to me!" To be known completely, and to take comfort in that, is to know that God is gracious. But does the recovering alcoholic necessarily know God in the intimacy of His love and grace? Not necessarily. He may still be at the stage of speaking of an Anonymous Power. Whence, then, comes the Grace? © Grand Valley State University �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 6   In the AA experience it comes from another person, perhaps his sponsor, and from the AA group. The mediation of grace comes through persons who know where the recovering alcoholic is coming from and who reach out without judgment offering total acceptance. The AA fellowship provides the tangible expression of God’s grace to the person who has finally come to seek help much as Jesus mediated grace to the woman at the well. That fascinating narrative which John has written into his Gospel for his own purposes of telling the story and significance of Jesus is a beautiful instance of the Grace with which Jesus dealt with persons. Jesus, gracious Jesus, able to engage in conversation a woman of Samaria. Every word is loaded; for him to talk to a woman, for him to talk to a Samaritan woman - all of that immediately spoke volumes, which he did not have to say in so many words. Jesus, gracious Jesus, reaching out to a woman living in quiet desperation, communicated to her that kind of grace that enabled her to come to self-knowledge. It is an interesting little story. Starting out at Jacob's Well, a drink of water, Jesus moving directly to the point... "Bring your husband." "I have no husband." "You're right, you have no husband. You have had five husbands, and the one you are with now is not your husband." She says, "My, you must be a prophet. Let's talk about worship." But he had gotten to her. Not an unmasking that left her denuded, but a gracious peeling away of the facade that opened her up to the healing of his acceptance and unconditional love, enabling her to go back home to say, "Come, meet a man that told me everything that I ever did." Honesty can only happen in the context of grace. I wish the Church could learn that. The Church is the last place in the world you would want to be honest. A sinner wouldn't be caught dead in church, for the Church is for the righteous, for the religious, for those that need no physician. But Jesus said, "I came to call not the righteous, but sinners, sick people, people with problems, people with fears, with resentments, wallowing in self-pity, people with self-destructive tendencies. People who are poor bets and high risks, bleeding people, bruised people, people beaten in the game of life. I've come to help people say, "That's who I am, and God loves me anyway'" - the prelude to movement toward wholeness. © Grand Valley State University �The Grace that Enables Us to View Ourselves Honestly Richard A. Rhem Page 7   It is grace that enables us honestly to look at ourselves. Apart from grace we keep our defenses up and go on our self-justifying way, expending tremendous energy to avoid the reality we would rather not face. Grace enables the courage of self-knowledge. Grace, enabling self-knowledge, creates the possibility of freedom. Grace alone provides the climate for healing and the fullness of human existence. When we have seen the Father in the face of Jesus and experienced His grace in the acceptance of another in whom the Word becomes flesh, we can view ourselves honestly, accept ourselves and take responsibility for our lives and find the flow of God's power, which moves toward wholeness. Thank God! Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 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 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. Series What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers Scripture Text Psalm 139 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-0-19820815 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-08-15 Title A name given to the resource The Grace That Enables Us To View Ourselves Honestly 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 15, 1982 entitled "The Grace That Enables Us To View Ourselves Honestly", as part of the series "What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers", at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 139. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Alcoholics Anonymous Grace Humility Transformation