1 24 11 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ddc155b6533655547c7ae7d49becf601.pdf cec48942478c6d9084ae3ef3ce811b26 PDF Text Text Human Being in Freedom Marguerite Holcomb Lecture Muskegon Council for Arts and Humanities 2004 Festival On the Theme Freedom and Privacy Richard A. Rhem Torrent House Muskegon, Michigan October 11, 2004 Prepared text of the lecture I want to express my appreciation to the Muskegon Council for Arts and Humanities for being invited to be a part of the 2004 Festival and to the Marguerite Holcomb Lecture Committee for the opportunity to be the tenth lecturer in this series. I am honored to be a part of this Muskegon community event. The theme for 2004 is Freedom and Privacy and I’m certain that theme is coming to expression in various ways through the multiple events and media of the Festival. Recognizing that the selection of the theme may well have been influenced or determined by our present societal and global situation with the threat to our freedom and privacy through government measures to counter the terrorist threat, as well as the whole new set of complex issues arising from the worldwide Internet that has created the Information Highway, turning our global home into a neighborhood, I have chosen to think about the theme philosophically, theologically, reflecting on the nature of Human Being and thus the ground of freedom and privacy in the Creative Source of the cosmic drama of which we are a part. In the last lecture entitled “The Emergence of the Sacred in Human Being,” I sought to establish the claim that the freedom and privacy, the dignity and worth of the human being lie in the Creative Source and Ground of Being which I refer to as the Ultimate Mystery of Being, however that Ultimate Mystery may be experienced and named in the respective religions of the human family. This was clearly expressed in the American Declaration of Independence, as well as other writings of those Enlightenment thinkers who were the shapers of a new experiment in human government. These authors of our founding documents were shaped by the biblical story of Creation found in the early chapters of Genesis. The explosion of knowledge of the natural world and the rise of historical consciousness called in question the biblical paradigm and, in leading intellectual circles, unhinged the human from its grounding in the sacred. © Grand Valley State University   �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Those who divide the human drama into periods claim the Modern period is over and we are in the post-modern period - a period so named because its contours are not yet definite enough to define. Clearly, the term post-modern indicates movement beyond those centuries which witnessed the unfortunate and unnecessary conflict between Science and Religion and the emergence of modern atheism. If, indeed, we have moved philosophically and culturally into a new period in the human story, it is time for the religions and, in my case, the Christian tradition, to let go of those pre-scientific religious sagas and myths which conveyed profound religious/spiritual insight and wisdom, finding new language with which to speak of the spiritual dimension of Reality, language that is reflective of the best knowledge we have of the nature of cosmic reality. Thus, my major thesis in the previous lecture was: The freedom and dignity of the human will be best affirmed and protected if the biblical worldview is replaced by a worldview that is conceived and imagined in light of our present knowledge of the cosmic reality into which our lives are woven. Specifically, the biblical paradigm of a Creator God “out there,” calling into being a created order separate from the Being of God and over against God should be replaced by a model that sees Reality as one, the emergence of its Sacred Source and creative center. Secondly, and following on that conception, the Human must be conceived as the emergence of the Sacred in the one cosmic totality. The sacredness, the worth, dignity and the freedom of the human being is not something conferred on the creature by a God “wholly other,” in the language of Karl Barth, but rather intrinsic to the creature, the creature being the emergence of the Sacred in the evolving cosmic reality. The human then is not a creation in perfection in an initial state of innocence from which the creature “fell,” marking the human race as fallen. Rather, the human is the product of a process of billions of years of cosmic unfolding, the emergence of consciousness, of awareness, the emergence of spirit. I concluded the previous lecture with the contention that we are not robots marked by an inevitable fate, cogs in a cosmic machine grinding on its way. We are sacred, for we are the emergence of the Sacred Ground and the Source of Being in the concrete drama of cosmic unfolding, the drama of history whose future lies in our hands. We possess the terrifying gift of freedom to create paradise or destroy the human experience as the emergence of the Sacred in the cosmic story. Our world is at a crisis point because we have not only emerged to this stage of consciousness with the gift of freedom, but we have the technology that can either transform the Earth into a Garden of Eden or into an uninhabitable wasteland © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 3   cutting short the human story. I closed the last lecture with a question as well as a beautiful image. I asked: Will we be able to break free from old paradigms and patterns of behavior that have written a history of violence, war and destruction? Is human transformation possible, given the entrenched ideologies that continue to find expression? Barbara Marx Hubbard in Conscious Evolution (p. 10) provides the image. She writes, Let’s compare our situation with the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. When the caterpillar weaves its cocoon, imaginal disks begin to appear. These disks embody the blueprint of the butterfly yet to come. Although the disks are a natural part of the caterpillar’s evolution, its immune system recognizes them as foreign and tries to destroy them. As the disks arrive faster and begin to link up, the caterpillar’s immune system breaks down and its body begins to disintegrate. When the disks mature and become imaginal cells, they form themselves into a new pattern, thus transforming the disintegrating body of the caterpillar into the butterfly. The breakdown of the caterpillar’s old system is essential for the breakthrough of the new butterfly. Yet, in reality the caterpillar neither dies nor disintegrates, for from the beginning its hidden purpose was to transform and be reborn as the butterfly. I have been working in this area of the human as the emergence of the Sacred, Creative Center of being, what I speak of as the Ultimate Mystery of being, for some time now because I see this complex of ideas as providing an understanding of God, the human, and contemporary cosmology. The Ultimate Mystery of being is the Creative Source of the one cosmic reality, immanent within it and coming to extrinsic manifestation as consciousness and spirit, as awareness and creativity in the Human. I was pleased to come on a book just a short time ago written from the perspective of a scientist who was probing the same ideas. Harold Morowitz has written The Emergence of Everything, published by Oxford University Press in 2002. A reviewer, Philip Clayton, gives a concise summary and affirmation of the work: This is a brilliant book. Biophysicist Harold Morowitz has provided the first state-of-the-art overview of the theory of emergence across the scientific disciplines. Neither too detailed nor too abstract, his 28 stages of emergence trace the history of the universe from the Big Bang through the appearance of cuture, philosophy and spirituality. No other work has laid out the core case for emergence - and hence against the ultimacy of reductionism - across the whole spectrum of science. This introduction to emergence theory should guide philosophers of science and © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 4   anthropologists, theologians and metaphysicians, as they reflect on the nature of Homo sapiens and our place in the cosmos. It is always exciting to discover that one is not alone in wrestling with questions of profound significance for the understanding and destiny of Human Being. Much of the scientific data is beyond my capacity to comprehend, but Morowitz not only chronicles the emergents that mark the history of the universe, but goes on to reflect philosophically and theologically on the data and comes to a view very similar to what I have been setting forth. For example, in a chapter entitled “Science and Religion,” he writes, Thus far we have been dealing with 15 billion years of emergence. Sometime over the last 5 million years, something radically different occurred: the emergence of a species capable of attempting to understand cosmic history and purpose and capable of altering some small portion of the universe in ways far more radical than anything in the past.... Twelve billion years of emergence finally led to a creature who had the ability and chose to ask, “What does it mean?” Eating at the tree of knowledge seems like an inevitable consequence of the development of the universe. There is little doubt from current understanding that there must be a large number of planets upon which intelligent beings may be asking for the meaning of the universe. (P. 194) Morowitz points to the emergence of consciousness as I have above, although my concern has been to create the context for the Freedom of the Human Being. But he acknowledges the same possibility for good or evil that inheres in the magnificent emergence of the Human. He writes, But the kind of transcendence that comes with the human mind is a twoedged sword. The same kind of activity that leads to antibiotics can lead to germ warfare. With transcendence comes the awesome power to choose good or evil. Choice emerges with consciousness. We have argued that the fitness of consciousness is that, given the huge variety of environments, one can distinguish far more states than can be encoded for. Making the fit choice then becomes advantageous. This is the beginning of free will. When it is finally combined with the ability to understand the consequences of interactions, our collective behavior becomes transcendence. I am aware that this is a startling, frightening, and thoroughly heretical conclusion. If our evolving minds are the transcendence of the immanent God, then the responsibility of making a better world is ours, as is the responsibility of figuring out what we mean by a better world. Our exemplars, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and many more are those who have struggled the most in the search for the path of life. We have no © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 5   one to turn to except ourselves and our exemplars. We are the third branch of the trinity. We dare not turn away from the task. There are no limits. Computers and genetic engineering give us whole new pathways in our transcendence. Emergence is not through with us or our universe. We must celebrate our divinity and go on with the nitty-gritty of the world. We can change the world for the benefit of mankind. We, Homo sapiens, are the transcendence of the immanent God. “We are God,” the best and worst of us. The statement embodies such hubris that it is hard even to announce, but I believe it contains a profound truth. The immanent God is knowable to us through our science, and the transcendent God is knowable to us through our actions. It is not the God of our ancient and revered faiths, but the world has changed, and we too must change our thinking. The intermediate emergent, God, must be understood next. (Pp. 194-95) Morowitz’s final chapter is entitled “The Task Ahead,” which concludes: To those who believe that we are the mind, the volition, and the transcendence of the immanent God, our task is huge. We must create and live an ethics that optimizes human life and moves to the spiritual. To do this, we must use our science, our knowledge of the mind of the immanent God. I am reminded of the words of the Talmudist: “It is not up to you to finish the task: neither are you free to cease from trying.” (P. 200) Perhaps by now you are thinking that all of this is a long way from the assigned theme, “Freedom and Privacy,” and I acknowledge that. However, I began with the intention of reflecting on that theme philosophically and theologically. I have attempted to establish that the Human is the emergence of the Sacred and that, although operating with what for us is an untenable worldview, a worldview dissolved by the discoveries of modern Science, the American Creed of “certain inalienable rights,” among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, rooted as it was in the Biblical Story, was grounded in the conviction that the Sacred Ground of Being is the Guarantor of Human Freedom and Dignity. We have rooted those inalienable rights, the freedom and dignity of the Human in the Ultimate Mystery of Being as well, but I have argued, in contrast to traditional theism, that the Human is the Emergence of that Sacred Source of Being - indeed, that the Human Being in Freedom is the incarnation of that Ultimate Mystery, now become the agent of ongoing Creation responsible for the future unfolding of the Cosmic Story. The awesome truth is that the gift of creativity and the freedom that we possess by the very nature of being human, place the future in our hands. One might respond that such a responsibility and such a task to create the Human Future in the unfolding Cosmic Drama is more than the Human can bear. © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 6   No wonder the religions that claim an omnipotent God who creates, grounds, and guarantees the universe and cares for the human creature has had such an attraction. But, knowing what we know, fleeing to such a refuge is irresponsible wishful thinking. There will be no dramatic intervention from some imagined Beyond to save us from our destructive, warring ways. What will we do with our freedom and privacy? As I have wondered about this question, I have come to the realization, in light of what rests in our hands, that I must re-think Freedom and Privacy. We have experienced the precious heritage of freedom and privacy in this nation. Not only is the Human free as emergent of Ultimate Being and not only does the human possess privacy because finally the inner sanctum of the mind and spirit cannot be penetrated, but in the American experience, in contrast to so many of Earth’s children, we have lived the human experience in a nation whose constitutional structures were expressly shaped to protect our freedom from the encroachment of government and to guard our Privacy from invasion by the agencies of the State. We have shared a precious heritage in a grand tradition of constitutional liberalism - understanding liberalism in the classic nineteenth-century sense, meaning concerned with individual, economic, political, and religious liberty. In light of our discussion, placing the Future in our hands, I suggest that we must think again about Freedom and Privacy as they relate to what we might envision as a more humane human future in the emerging cosmic drama. I am nudged in this direction by the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann in an essay entitled “God Means Freedom,” appearing in a volume, Humanity in God. Moltmann does not develop cosmology and emergence as I have done here; he operates out of a traditional theistic conception of God. His discussion of Freedom, however, is most helpful as I think about the task before us. Moltmann distinguishes between Freedom as Lordship and Freedom as Fellowship, an important distinction, I must say, of which I had never thought. In his words: Politicians and revolutionaries, pietists and atheists - many people talk about freedom, but they do not mean the same thing. Obviously, it is not easy to define freedom. There are so many freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, freedom of thought, freedom of trade, free economic exchange, free enterprise, free love, and even alcohol-free drinks. There are many things we call free. What then do we mean by freedom? And what is true freedom? The first definition we know from political history defines freedom as lordship. Since all previous history can be interpreted as a continuing battle for power, the so-called free, the victors in battle, are those who rule. Those who lost, who are subjected and exploited, are called unfree ... © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 7   When we say today that people who can do or have what they want are free, then we understand freedom as lordship, a lordship of people over themselves. When we say today that someone who is not pressured by inner or outer forces is free, then we understand freedom as lordship... Modern liberalism involves possessive individualism. It replaced royal absolutism and feudalism in Western Europe and remained cast in the mold of the feudal lord. The liberals say that everyone who carries the human face has the same right of freedom. The limit of the freedom of each individual is only the freedom and property of the other. Those who claim their own freedom must respect the same freedom for others. But that means also that for modern liberalism, freedom is defined as lordship. Each one sees the other as a competitor in the battle for power and ownership. Each one exists for the other only as the limitation of freedom. Each one is for himself or herself free, but no one takes interest in the other. This results in a society of freer, but lonelier, people. No one cares for the other; everyone cares for himself or herself. Freedom has then really become public. Every person has a right to freedom. But is this really true freedom? Is this not the narcissism of the modern Western world? The other definition we know from social history defines freedom not as lordship but as community. In my earlier comments on the glory and misery of modern liberalism, I said that the truth of freedom is love. Only in love does human freedom come to its truth. I am free and feel myself to be free when I am recognized and accepted by others and when I, for my part, recognize and accept others. I become truly free when I open my life for others and share it with them, and when others open their lives for me and share their lives with me. Then the other person is no longer a limitation of my freedom but the completion of it. A communal and mutual freedom - that is, our freedom - evolves out of your freedom and my own freedom. In this mutual participation in life, individuals are freed from the limitations of their own individuality. They can transcend themselves in the open community. This is the social side of freedom. We call it love or solidarity... Divide et impera - divide and conquer - this is and was the well-known method of lordship. As long as freedom means lordship, people must separate, isolate, segregate, and differentiate everything in order to control it. But if freedom means community, then one experiences the wholeness of all separated things. The history of German and Anglo-Saxon languages confirms that community is the root of the word freedom: Whoever is free is friendly, well disposed, open, delightful, and loving. This understanding is found in the concept of hospitality - in the German gastfrei, which means, literally, “free for guests.” Those who are hospitable never rule over their guests and © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 8   they are never without them. They are capable of community with strangers. They let strangers participate in their life; they are interested in the lives of others. Freedom as lordship destroys community. Freedom as lordship is freedom in its untruth. The truth of human freedom lies in love. It leads to unrestricted, solid, and open communities of mutual help. Only this freedom as community can heal the wounds, which freedom as lordship has caused and continues to cause. (Pp. 62-65) I am struck by Moltmann’s distinction between Freedom as Lordship and Freedom as Community. Having taken for granted the Freedom defined by classic nineteenth-century Liberalism as the highest human possibility, I must face Moltmann’s claim that it does have the element of Lordship at its core and thus I am wondering if we do not need to think again about our present human situation which has become a Global Village. Is it not time to give up Freedom as Lordship and begin to work for Freedom as Community which, at its heart, is love that creates unity rather than Lordship that divides? Let me speak personally; I am a Christian and a religious pluralist. I reject all Christian exclusivism and triumphalism. But, I find my human vision in the Way of Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish Rabbi whose life and death became the inspiration of the Christian Religion. I have been working in another area besides the imagining of the Human as the emergence of the Sacred, as the incarnation of the Ultimate Mystery of Being. That other area of concern has been the possibility of Peace in a dangerous world teetering on the brink of disaster. I see our only hope in pursuing a path such as that that came to expression in the Way of Jesus, that is in a concrete human existence that was so remarkable that those who encountered him saw in him the embodiment of God. And here I connect my two claims: that the Divine has emerged in the human; that the Way of Jesus is an instance of emergence that holds hope for our world. What do we see in Jesus? Obviously, I cannot begin here to spell that out, except to say, here was a teacher and leader who in that historical context of Roman Imperial power dominating and exploiting the life of the Jewish people, ordering the everyday life of the people through the collaboration of the Sadducean Priestly elite, dared to speak truth to power. In the finest tradition of the Hebrew prophets, Jesus made a prophetic protest against the domination system that held the Jewish people hostage. I need not flesh that out more than to say, as I have so often said, © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page 9   He died the way he died because he lived the way he lived. Death through crucifixion was the imperial response to Jesus’ prophetic challenge, even though that challenge was non-violent, an instrument of prophetic protest used by Gandhi in India’s freedom drive and Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement. That Jesus captured my imagination and the passion of my heart. No longer was my mission the salvation of souls for an eternal reward in heaven. No longer was the main event in another place and another time, but rather the creation of a new humanity for global community marked by justice and compassion and issuing in Shalom where no one would hurt or destroy and all would dwell without fear in Freedom. It was at this point that I began to feel compelled more and more to follow the Way of Jesus in concrete human existence. Where once I avoided the Sermon on the Mount because I did not know what to do with the impossible ethic there advocated, I now came to see Jesus’ teaching not as hopelessly idealistic and wholly unrealistic, but as truly the only hope of the world. My Lenten preaching pointed more and more to the Way of Jesus that led to his death with the painful recognition that in our present situation we are the Imperial Power which once was Rome. I was troubled when our President began to speak of the “Axis of Evil” and in a sermon I suggested it was our place as the concentration of power - the only superpower - to attempt to sit down with these so-called “rogue nations” and ask about their hopes and dreams, to learn of their humiliation and their frustration that were driving them to dangerous desperation. And then the group of Neo-Conservatives presently dominant in the Administration released their working document on that New American Century advocating the Pax Americana and American Empire, advocating the build-up of military might in order to create and dominate a “unipolar world.” The horror of 9/11 was the opening these ideologues needed to actualize their vision. The tragic debacle of Iraq is the consequence which now hangs as an albatross around our neck - and the world is more dangerous than ever. Being absorbed with the Iraqi misadventure, we turned our focus and our resources from the real issue - dealing with terrorism - its perpetrators and its roots and we have provided the greatest motivation possible for further terrorist recruitment, while alienating most of the international community. So, I come in this consideration of Freedom and Privacy to a place I could not have predicted - recognizing the Freedom conceived in our founding documents the Freedom of classic Liberalism which, for all the benefits it has provided and all the amelioration of the human situation it has effected, is finally a freedom of © Grand Valley State University �Human Being in Freedom Richard A. Rhem Page10   Lordship in a world that has progressed to a point where that is a dangerous enterprise that must be replaced with a movement toward the Freedom of Community whose heart is Love. The Human is the emergence of the Sacred, the coming to expression of the Divine, the Ultimate Mystery of Being. The Human is thus sacred marked in essence by creativity, freedom, worth and dignity. But, the freedom and privacy of the Human must begin to be understood and actualized not in narrow individualism, but in community - global community bonded in love. Hopelessly idealistic? No, rather, utterly realistic and the most urgent imperative of our time: The only hope for a Human future! References: Barbara Marx Hubbard. Conscious Evolution: Awakening our Social Potential. New World Library, 1998. Jurgen Moltmann, “God Means Freedom,” a chapter in Humanity in God, authors Elizabeth Moltmann-Wendel and Jurgen Moltmann. Pilgrim Press, 1983. Harold Morowitz. The Emergence of Everything. Oxford University Press, 2002. © 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 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Event Muskegon Council for the Arts & Humanities Festival Series Second Talk of Two Location The location of the interview Torrent House, Muskegon References Barbara Marx Hubbard. Conscious Evolution: Awakening our Social Potential, 1998. Jurgen Moltmann, "God Means Freedom," in Humanity in God, 1983. Harold Morowitz. The Emergence of Everything, 2002. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RA-3-20041011 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Human Being in Freedom Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Description An account of the resource Talk created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 11, 2004 entitled "Human Being in Freedom", as part of the series "Second Talk of Two", on the occasion of Muskegon Council for the Arts & Humanities Festival, at Torrent House, Muskegon. Tags: Emergence of the Sacred, Immanence. Scripture references: Barbara Marx Hubbard. Conscious Evolution: Awakening our Social Potential, 1998. Jurgen Moltmann, "God Means Freedom," in Humanity in God, 1983. Harold Morowitz. The Emergence of Everything, 2002.. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-10-11 Emergence of the Sacred Immanence https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/23bf80c3a82938490b9b7a24d76047a2.mp3 f15449eecc2b240a0bc7af3c0a3ae477 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d66c40aced804a74961170240adc57d.pdf 561cdae4dfcfa06cb5430d2f926d4b19 PDF Text Text The Garment of God From the series: Creation – God’s Ecstasy Text: Genesis 1:24-31; Psalm 8; John 1:1-5, 14-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 18, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon Before we begin the Reading From the Present, let me introduce the author to you. She is Beatrice Bruteau, an author I do not know. Someone gave me her book, which happens now and again, and it went on that tall stack, “To be read.” Then I was pursuing things and thinking about what I would be preaching, and for some reason, I picked up that book and found out that it was precisely what the preacher ordered. Bruteau understands the things I have been contemplating. Beatrice Bruteau is a contemplative and co-founder of Schola Contemplationis, an international network of contemplatives. The Roman Catholic tradition does that a lot better than the Protestants. The whole contemplative tradition in the Roman Catholic Church is very strong. Bruteau was part of the founding of the American Teilhard de Chardin Association and founded the Teilhard Research Institute at Fordham University. Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit scholar, worked in the science field and had a fascinating conception of nature, of reality as moving toward an omega point. Fordham is a great Catholic university where scholars have done a great deal of work in spiritual formation and the mystical tradition. Beatrice Bruteau is also a scientist and handles with great facility chemistry, biology, and physics as they play into cosmology. She lays open the universe, the cosmos as it is understood scientifically in our day, but doing so as a contemplative, as one who follows exercises and disciplines which enable one to be in communion with that transcendent reality, that mystery we call God. In short, she is a scientist who is also deeply spiritual, and her pursuit of science is really to have a better understanding of natural reality in order that her spiritual life be consistent with her understanding of nature and vice versa. Beatrice Bruteau’s book God’s Ecstasy provides us the theme for these summer messages. She speaks about the nature of reality in a way that a spiritual person can pray and contemplate. At the end of her book, she addresses the contemplative because, all the talk about the cosmos, about science is really so that one may pray, that one may speak of God in a significant and meaningful © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 2   way. (That is true here, also, in case you didn’t know it.) In this paragraph, she addresses the contemplative: So, what now in light of this cosmic miracle, this cosmic drama that I have been talking about, what about the contemplative? Does the contemplative have some special role? I say to the contemplative, “Feel at home in the universe. Study it. Try to understand at least some of its innumerable marvels, including ourselves who are more and more capable of this understanding. Marvel at that. Rejoice in the cosmos. In spite of all its hurtful ways, look at what it has done, is doing, is capable of doing. If you can see the God you love as present in, even as, this world, then feel that union and rejoice at that. And be active in it. Contribute to it, participate in the building, in the artwork, in the healing, in the understanding. This is where reality is. You yourself are both a member of the finite and a member of the infinite. You are a participant in the trinitarian life cycle, for you are doing the incarnating and the creating and the realizing and the rejoicing. God’s ecstasy creates the world and the world’s ecstasy realizes God, and you are right in the midst of it all.” You can read that again this afternoon, but let’s see if I can make some sense of it for just a moment. The sermon is entitled “The Garment of God,” and my intention is to point to the natural world, the universe, as the garment of God. You will remember that we are talking about all of this because what we want to try to do is to be able to speak of God in a meaningful way in the light of everything else we know about our world. Too often, tragically, the conflict between science and religion caused science, in part, pridefully to say, “We don’t need the hypothesis of God.” And it caused fearful religionists defensively to say, “That science can’t be true.” So you get an impasse and there has been a conflict. The first Sunday in October, David Ray Griffin is coming, and he is a process theologian, a process philosopher, who is doing very much what the author of the morning is doing. His latest book is Reenchantment without Supernaturalism. His book before that, Religion and Scientific Naturalism, is an attempt to deal with the world and its “stuff” as we know it today, and translate our understanding of God in such a way that there is not dissonance between our understanding of the world and our image and imagination of God. And so, in Griffin and in Bruteau, the world is understood not as being static, something simply there, but rather as process, something underway. It is an unfolding drama which involves matter, beginning, they tell us, with an infinitesimal spark or speck of explosion, and an expanding universe has been a consequence of that initial “Big Bang.” This universe, which is expanding as we speak, has eventuated not simply in matter, but also in people like us who are matter, flesh, but who have minds and spirits as well. This cosmic process has moved to a point where the conscious human is aware and able to reflect back on the process and to conceive of an infinite mystery that becomes incarnate in the finitude of the universe. The © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 3   universe has moved to a point of consciousness and awareness where it is able in its finitude to have a sense of the infinite. So the loop is closed, as it were. From that Infinite Mystery we call God, the ground of everything, being flows out, and the being that flows out is incarnate in cosmic reality. The cosmic reality in us becomes conscious so that we are able to look back to our source, and to worship, to be moved, and to offer alleluias to that Infinite Mystery. The world, then, is the garment of God, the incarnation of God. Ecstasy, God’s ecstasy. Ecstasy comes from the Greek preposition ek, which means “out of,” and statis, and when you are ecstatic, you are out of yourself. We speak of people in ecstasy as being beside themselves. Well, God is beside God’s self in ecstatic flow in a world which is matter, a cosmic reality which is in process—not a thing, not a static being, but an event—a happening that has eventuated in us who say, “Oh, a happening! Hallelujah!” I love the prologue of John’s gospel. That is why I go back to it again and again. “In the beginning was the word....” I like to translate that as “In the beginning was the intention.” I’m not claiming this morning that the biblical writers had the sense of this that David Ray Griffin or Beatrice Bruteau have, but something’s going on in that writer. “In the beginning is the intention and the intention is with God.” Or, let me say, if we don’t quibble too much about terminology, that Infinite Mystery had an intention which flowed out in the form of cosmic reality, and in the midst of that process, that intention became flesh, human. In classical Christianity, we have said that the word became flesh, meaning Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ becomes the revelation of God the Father, and we have made that a unique, once-for-all kind of event. But what if we move beyond that? What if we sense behind that a deeper genius, an insight, an intuition that the intention of the Infinite Mystery which becomes flesh in Jesus finds Jesus not once-for-all, but as the paradigm or the model of that which is true of the whole process? What if the intention becomes cosmic reality and in the human becomes conscious, able to pray and to praise? In verse fourteen, “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And then we have the eighteenth verse: “No one has ever seen God.” No one has ever seen the Infinite Mystery but the only son, the one that became flesh and revealed this God. Someone translated that in a marvelous fashion, particularly if you are one of the rather to be pitied people who ever went to seminary. What you do in seminary is take a text and learn how to exegete a text. Exegesis is a particular disease of people who work with the Bible. Exegesis is how you open a text, interpret a text. Someone marvelously translated the eighteenth verse as this eternal, this only son exegeted the father. Isn’t that beautiful? As though Jesus is the exegesis of God. The Infinite Mystery becomes manifest in the exegesis of the human. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 4   I wonder about the Hebrew poet who penned Psalm 8: “When I consider the heavens, the moon and the stars, what am I?” The writer knows, and we know: a speck of cosmic dust that has breath and mind and consciousness and is able to contemplate the moon and the stars and the heavens and is able to wonder and to sing “Alleluia.” But then he says, “You have made us,” not as the old translation has it, “a little less than the angels.” Someone translated it that way because they didn’t dare say what it really says: “You have made us a little less than God.” I suspect that was a reflection of Genesis, the first chapter, which speaks about the creation of the human, the male and the female, in the image of God, the likeness of God. The ancient writers are not dealing with cosmology as we know it. They have not a clue as to the cosmic reality which is unfolded before our eyes through all of the sciences. But wasn’t there some deep intuition of that close connection between the Infinite Mystery and the finite creature bearing the image of God? Wasn’t there an awareness and consciousness that as they looked into each other’s eyes, they were experiencing God? In our human experience, we have personified God as a father, or as a mother, a mother hen gathering her chicks, or a nursing mother who would never forsake her child. We have learned in our human relationships, we have intuited, we suspect that that Infinite Mystery is the source of all and the expression of that which is the highest and the best of our own human experience. And so the world, the cosmos, is the garment of God, the finite incarnation of that Infinite Mystery, an incarnation that has become conscious in the human who is able to pray and to praise and to be in communion with the source of all being in contemplation. Beatrice Bruteau has another book which I have never seen, but I smiled as I read the title. I suspect what she says in that book entitled Radical Optimism. Because as the Infinite Mystery in ecstasy flows into being, and that being becomes conscious and in communion again with the Infinite Mystery, who knows where it is going? Who knows what is yet before us in the unfolding drama? I have to say this: We can no longer sit passively by as spectators, for we have become actors, indeed co-creators, and we have it in our capacity to make heaven on earth or let it all go to hell. We have it in our capacity to make it a humane cosmos or to allow the horror of which we also are capable to run loose over the earth. Ah! What an amazing way to live—with wonder and awe before this miracle unfolding. But you say, “What I really want is that intimate relationship with God. What I really want is that immediate intervention of God the Father.” I understand that. That is a totally natural desire and yearning, and it is probably much of the source from which religion arises. But you can’t have it, because that is not the way the world is. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �The Garment of God Richard A. Rhem Page 5   If we are honest about our human experience, as much as we wish we had that personal immediacy and a God who now and again would tweak and twist and arrange, we know we are part of a self-creating universe. That is the most difficult thing as a pastor I have to say to you, my people, because I take away from you then that which is dearest and most desired. Do I leave you desolate? No. Because if you have my arms, you have God’s arms. If you have my tears, God weeps with you. If you experience grace and forgiveness from me, that’s a cosmic experience, and of course, I receive the same from you. Does that mean, then, that all simply is human? No. The human is divine, the finite incarnation of the Infinite Mystery. After all, God is a speculative idea, friends. It is a philosophical idea. God is a word. It is a label. But, flesh, flesh and blood, arms, compassion, human compassion, human love and care, all this is the incarnation of God. It is not to say that’s just human. It is not, and you ought not to say, “You’re not enough.” Because I’m all you have. But I’m God, and you are God. We are God to one another. We are the flesh and blood of God. We are the incarnation of God, and as the future unfolds, that Infinite Mystery with the lure of love beckons us to love, because God is love and the one who dwells in love, dwells in God, and God dwells in that one. To love one another is to make heaven on earth, and it is wonderful. It is amazing, and when you have loving human arms around you, there is nothing you cannot go through. References: Bruteau, Beatrice. God’s Ecstasy, the Creation of a Self-Creating World. New York, NY: 1997. © 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 XIII Series Creation: God's Ecstasy Scripture Text Genesis 1:24-31, Psalm 8, John 1:1-5, 14-18, Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Beatrice Bruteau, God's Ecstasy, the Creation of a Self-Creating World, 1997. 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-0-20020818 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-18 Title A name given to the resource The Garment of God 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 18, 2002 entitled "The Garment of God", as part of the series "Creation: God's Ecstasy", on the occasion of Pentecost XIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:24-31, Psalm 8, John 1:1-5, 14-18, . Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f19af46a2657853b0973785495faf2ad.mp3 041a1fce9d2d02f3618913e2fefc1ce8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XII Series Creation: God's Ecstasy Scripture Text John 1:1, 14, 4:16 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References David Griffin, A Process Philosophy of Religion, 2001. 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-0-20020811 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-11 Title A name given to the resource The Self-Creating Universe and the Problem of Good Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 11, 2002 entitled "The Self-Creating Universe and the Problem of Good", as part of the series "Creation: God's Ecstasy", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 1:1, 14, 4:16. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d50ad709ca0b20bb1befd2f1e4aec212.mp3 3b35367fdc7222d6c20cbd5c228e41c9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24b1463cffbd75c2802d725667441ab6.pdf a64babc4fe998529e3a523e825a13713 PDF Text Text   Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism Text: Genesis 1:1-23; Revelation 21:1-7 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 4, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon The Reading From the Present comes from the book Reenchantment without Supernaturalism by David Ray Griffin, and that title of the book is the title to this sermon. David Ray Griffin is a philosopher-theologian who concerns himself with finding a way to express the faith, to experience God in a world which has become disenchanted. He quotes the German scholar Max Weber, who says that it is modern thought that has disenchanted the world. The more we know of all of the science and technology, the more we discover, the more we understand, the less mystery and the less magic there is— the less enchantment there is. I have been saying to you that I would love to create a new sense of enchantment for you in your spiritual life experience. The word “disenchantment” is cited by David Ray Griffin, although now I find it popping up all over the place. Griffin says that the consequence of that disenchantment is that the world is no longer believed to contain any inherent meaning or normative values around which human beings should orient their lives. That is serious. There has been a reaction to that, and Griffin says the majority of those who have reacted say that the mistake was to leave the supernatural God, the Creator, who was the foundation of morality. But David Ray Griffin disagrees and says: My title, Reenchantment without Supernaturalism, signals that this is not my view. Completely rejecting supernaturalism, understood as the belief in the possibility of occasional interruptions of the world’s most fundamental causal order, I present a world-view that, although saturated with values, is fully natural. This world-view does involve a form of theism, but it is a fully naturalistic theism, according to which divine influence is a natural dimension of the world’s most fundamental causal order, never an interruption thereof. In so many words, David Ray Griffin is trying to speak of God as one who is immanent in the process of reality of which we are all a part, and not a God external to reality who now and again dips in, pulling a string or shifting a gear or tweaking that natural process. He wants us to have a vision, an understanding of the totality of reality, which is a naturally moving event, an ongoing event, laced © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 2   through with the mystery of God. But this is not the God of the old tradition who snapped his fingers and let it all come into being, guiding it providentially through the whole process to an end that God had set. That conception, that old orthodox conception, is one that has run aground on the shoals of modern knowledge. Consequently, we have a world that is in large measure, in terms at least of the leading intellectual voices, a world that is devoid of God, and so devoid of mystery—devoid of wonder. Griffin’s intention is to recapture that which the old system was able to communicate, but in terms of a story that is resonant with our present human experience. So I invite you to think together with me about it, to see where we are. Although it seems that science has laid bare the reality of which we are a part, the scientists say the more we know the more the mystery grows, and the gap between what we know over against what we don’t know is tremendous. But scientists continue to look and to study and to uncover, and it is a dramatic process. In the process information has trickled down and the world has become, in many respects and for many people, disenchanted. It becomes a mechanism, a machine. It is bloodless, spiritless. The consequence of the scientific method and the empirical method and the pursuit of the natural sciences is that, in some quarters and with some leading voices, the conclusion has been reached that matter is all there is; there is nothing more. There is no such thing as spirit. There is a naturalism that is materialism, which is atheism in so much of the modern world as a consequence of modern thought, and I think Max Weber probably was right in his observation. His life stretched into the twentieth century and he was a towering scholar. He looked at the whole modern experiment and said it had left us with a disenchanted world. Science is powerful because it produces results. It sends airplanes into the sky and rockets into outer space and men to the moon. That compelling power makes the one who would speak of spirit or religion or the spiritual life tremble in their boots before the amazing accomplishments of the sciences. Of course, to deny spirit, to deny a sacred dimension to reality is not going to work very long, because we are people who desire meaning. We are more than the physical body that houses us, and so there has been reaction. One of the phenomena of the last century is the rise of Pentecostalism. In his book Fire from Heaven, Harvey Cox documents the global expression of Pentecostalism, which is the immediate experience of God, God the Holy Spirit, an immediate experience of the holy. If you watch any late-night television, you will see on occasion some Pentecostal services where there are thousands and thousands of people. Hands are raised, people come forward, and they are slain in the Spirit. If I would describe it a bit unkindly, I would call it an emotional orgy. But, as a matter of fact, it is a spiritual, emotional fix, and it is a global © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 3   phenomenon. It simply points to the fact that the human animal is more than simply a physical body. The other reaction that we are perhaps more familiar with is Fundamentalism, which is a militant mind that would reverse everything to a former paradigm, to a former understanding. The old way. Of course, you cannot go home, but this militant Fundamentalism is in reaction to the myth of science that claims that there is nothing beyond what you can touch and taste and handle. The reaction to that has become violent in our day. Thus, there is Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism. The problem with the old tradition and with Fundamentalism is the literalization of our biblical stories. It was appropriate that the scripture lesson was read by the choral readers this morning. There was a touch of theatre. There was a little bit of drama, which points to the fact that Genesis 1 is a poem, and it is a myth of origins. That beautiful picture of the city of God and the union of heaven and earth in Revelation, again, is a marvelous image. The way it was read enables us to sense that there is something more going on here beyond a literal description of reality. Let me try a little experiment this morning. Let’s think of the whole cosmic process of billions of years. Let us think of it as a river of being unfolding, the River of Being unfolding. If you go down to the end of Washington Street in Grand Haven, you can see a map of the Grand River with its various tributaries winding their way here and flowing out into Lake Michigan. Let us just think about the Grand River as the River of Being. As the river nears Grand Haven, the human species arises. The human being becomes conscious, self-conscious, conscious of the other; community grows; the mind develops. Let’s picture that budding human phenomenon on a houseboat on the Grand River, plopped right there in the middle of the river. They don’t know how they got there. They have no sense at all of that river on which they have streamed. They don’t know where they are going, either. The analogy breaks down with the Grand River, because you know the Grand River empties out into Lake Michigan. But the River of Being is being formed as we move on. The human project is right on the threshold of the unfolding drama, and we don’t know where it’s going. But people need to have a sense, a sense of where their houseboat came from and where it is going. And so people create stories, stories of origin and stories of ultimate destiny. The Genesis story is such a myth. Where did we come from? Why are things the way they are? What does it mean? That vision of Revelation—where is it all going to end? What is it going to be? Whence have I come, whither am I going, what does it mean in the meantime? Those are the kind of stories that you have in Genesis. They are the kind of stories you have in the Bible. They are the kind of stories you have in every religious expression of humankind and in every circumstance and every geographical location. They are the same questions. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Ultimate questions. Because we’re human. Because we wonder about that. How did it begin? Where is it going? What does it mean? The River of Being continues to unfold. Along the way, the human being continues to think, to experience. He or she gains some knowledge and has a beginning sense of history. One day the mechanically minded among them develops a helicopter, and they go up and trace that river, study the course over which they have come. It’s fifteen billion years of river, and they say, “O, my God! Look at the Big Bang! Look at the billions of years it took for this meandering stream to reach this point. Look at what we are a part of and where are we going!” Well, we can make some projections; we can speculate. But the scientific mind begins to take over and experiment. Pretty soon we have the scientific method, which I described a moment ago, with testing and inductive reasoning. In the midst of the human story we develop a very potent myth that this is all there is. And we cannot deny the stuff on which science has based this information. That knowledge is hard knowledge, although it continues to be adjusted. Scientists continue to refute themselves in order to find a better understanding. But why would we fight knowledge? Isn’t it ridiculous that there is a Fundamentalist Christianity that is heralding Creationism in the twenty-first century? Isn’t it interesting that there is a more sophisticated stealth bomber approach with this Intelligent Design idea, trying to get God back into the equation? So what is it we need? And where are we? Well, let me suggest that the Genesis account of creation is still profound. I can read it and understand it and appreciate it. I understand the profound insights that were coming to expression there, and I can understand the longing for that holy city and the union of heaven and earth. Those are images and they continue to be fruitful images. They continue to inform us in the River of Being where we are traveling together in our particular little houseboat. But don’t you think that it would be better if we could find a way to incorporate all that the sciences lay bare for us, all of that knowledge, with a sense of the holy and the sacred woven through it? Wouldn’t it be better if our River of Being was not simply matter, not pure materialism as opposed to any God-presence, so that it does not lead to atheism, but rather to an understanding of God in terms of the human experience which is common to us all in our day? Wouldn’t it be better if we embraced a naturalism without supernaturalism, a reenchantment without supernaturalism, a God-presence without the engineer tweaking things from above, dipping in here and there? I did mean to tell you about my friend Bud who is critically ill, but still with us. Last evening was a bit difficult and so I was called in. He has not yet awakened, and the day before the family gathered around him. One of his daughters is an ordained pastor. She put together a beautiful healing service, just for the family. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 5   They read scripture and said prayers and they anointed Bud with oil, oil for healing. Does that work? Yes, I think it works. Can it heal? Yes, I think it can heal. Is there something miraculous about that? No, not really. But the love and the care of those who are concretely present with a ritual involving anointing and touch will trigger whatever is possible to be triggered in terms of the healing potential of that body. If you go into the room, you will find computers of every sort— banks of them. Medical science can tell you everything about the blood, liver function, kidney function, the dialysis process, the breathing tube. They can tell you everything about neurological function, blood pressure, temperature, all of that. It is amazing. You want to talk miracles, that is a miracle. And I’m thankful for every one of those machines, every one of those tubes and wires, and every one of those competent medical personnel who can calibrate it all in order to sustain life. But when you know all the statistics, when you know everything about that body that is lying there, you still don’t know anything about the human being. I could always get Bud to laugh, particularly when I would talk a little Dutch to him. So I shouted a little Dutch in his ear, and I got just a little flicker of the lip, a little recognition, a little communication. That is so much more than all of the statistical data that you could offer me. Yet there is no conflict whatsoever. For when science has done everything it can do, and I want it to do everything it can do and in the best possible way, then it still has not answered the question of who are we, because that’s a human question. That’s a spiritual question. That is the transcendent dimension that hovers over the tapestry of the natural connections and causal relationships and all of the processes that make up what we call nature. What we need is a new story. I can still preach from Genesis meaningfully because I understand what they were getting at, and it was a profound word. But when you are in the River of Being, and Being continues to unfold, and you have just begun through your intellectual capacity to understand something of the past, you realize that you are the consciousness of the process now, and you are the voice of this process. It is unfolding before your very eyes, and your stories of origin and ultimate destiny were told as tales way back there. Look where you are now. Are you going to absolutize an ancient story that was profound, a profound myth with deep understanding? Are you going to say that it has to be literalized and it has to be the template over which I look at my world today? No. That story isn’t sacred. It’s marvelous! There has never been Eden; there has never been Paradise. There has never been a moment of perfection from which we “fell.” The story, according to everything we can learn and know, is the story of emergence, of spirit, spirit seeking to soar while still anchored in the mire. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Reenchantment Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Human beings—what marvelous creatures we are! Look what we can do. Look what we can create. Look at the beauty we can create. Look at the love we can make. Look at the joy. Look at all of the wonder of the world, the human world, and all of the hell we create. We are emerging creatures full of ambiguity, torn in two directions, knowing the life of the spirit, still very much of the flesh, fleshly. I need a story, a new story that will honor the integrity of creation and that process, that tapestry into which our lives are woven. I need a story with all of life’s meaning and all of its wonder and beauty, but a story that sees it all with enchanted eyes, knowing that there is more than meets the eye, knowing that it is all permeated with God-presence, with the Creator Spirit, the spirit that seeks to come alive in us. For you see, the Christian story at its heart is the story of incarnation, that God became human. In the beginning was the word, God spoke the word, creation came forth. In the beginning was the word and the word was God, and the word became flesh. The word became human. In the River of Being unfolding at some point, God became human and the human became the vehicle of divinity, the voice, the soul, the spirit, the instrument through which the whole process is made divine by the God who is present, not apart from it. Thank God for the richness of all we know and the mystery that beckons us still, and in the meantime, that sense of community in which we experience life together, enchanted. Griffin, David Ray. Reenchantment without Supernaturalism— A Process Philosophy of Religion. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2001. 140 © 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 XI Scripture Text Creation: God's Ecstasy, David Ray Griffin 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-0-20020804 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-08-04 Title A name given to the resource Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism 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 4, 2002 entitled "Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism", on the occasion of Pentecost XI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Creation: God's Ecstasy, David Ray Griffin. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Natural religion Process theology https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/94e4df00ba4878d5c4a72b3ff090593d.mp3 a3f6823c52a3bcc3033b79fe3485710a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/984a2f525e497d79e71875e52bc69cc0.pdf 48f10236a28aa7762104bd06b1e766b0 PDF Text Text God and History: What’s Happening? Pentecost XXIV Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25; I Corinthians 15:20-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 11, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon There is in your liturgy printed a reading from Carl Sagan, which I am not going to read in its entirety, but in a paragraph at the end, commenting on Planet Earth as it is seen from outer space, that little pale blue dot that we have all seen, Carl Sagan writes, Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It’s been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. The piece from Carl Sagan to which I referred is a statement that was sent to me immediately following the events of September 11, and I must admit they resonated with me more than the pronouncements of preachers and television evangelists in the immediate wake of that crisis. No help from outside. It's in our hands, and we are called to kindness and compassion. We see the symbol of that Planet Earth hanging in outer space, the image that has come to us from that picture taken from deep space in which we see the reality of that global community without any divisions or barriers, and we realize that we are on Planet Earth together. What Sagan says, he says as a scientist, as a great communicator of the mysteries of science, and also as one who has been rather outspoken in his denial of the traditional God that we image in the Church traditionally. And yet, what he says is not so different from what we have been saying here for some time, and that is that the God "out there," in control, sovereign of history who directs, governs, moves according to a pre-determined purpose, that that God is dead. That God doesn't really work for us anymore. Well, at least not for me and not for some of us. For all for whom it works, that's wonderful. As a matter of fact, what we know about the cosmic reality of which we are a part and the © Grand Valley State University �God and History: What’s Happening? Richard A. Rhem Page 2 historical development whose unfolding and in whose unfolding we have emerged, that God in control just doesn't seem compelling. Oh, I know. In crisis times we flee to old securities. A couple of old securities to which this nation has fled in these recent weeks are patriotism and piety. Patriotism -I won't ask you to raise your hands, but how many of you have flags on your cars or in your windows or in your shops? A rather natural and normal kind of response and reaction. After all, the flag stands for something precious and the flag is identified with this nation and we love this nation, and this nation has come under attack. And so, the flag is our effort to affirm our love and our devotion to this nation that has been so richly blessed and a source of such blessing to us all. But patriotism also has another side to it, another dimension, and I think some of that enters into our flying of the flag also. Namely, we are the United States of America and you really ought not to mess with us, and if you do, you'll get your due, you'll get yours. The flag is perhaps sometimes, on the part of some, at least, a sign of belligerence and determination not to succumb to those who would dare attack us. And then there is piety, of course. The first week or two the pews of the churches across the nation were filled. Thank God people got over that in a hurry. But, still, a flight to the piety of the past, to the old securities, to the God in control. Dear God, at a time like this, don't we long for, don't we wish for a God in control? A sovereign of the universe, the Lord of history, the one who is guiding it and directing it and who will bring it all to its consummation? Don't you realize that the greatest temptation to a preacher at a time like this is to secure you in that old security? That is a very normal and natural longing, as well. Deep down in the human being there is that desire for all to be well and for someone to be in charge and in control, the good and gracious God in charge, the omnipotent one, almighty God. There are many who are exploiting that old traditional image of God to give a kind of security which, frankly, we can't give. It’s not surprising that we should revert to that or flee to that. After all, our whole biblical tradition conditions us to look for that kind of a God. There is that beautiful vision in Isaiah 65, a passage to which I return again and again, that beautiful picture of shalom, that picture where there is no infant mortality, where everyone lives to an old age, where one builds a house and lives in it and plants a garden and eats its produce, where one is able to benefit from the fruits of one's labor, a world in which lion and lamb lie down together and there is no hurting, no destroying in all God's holy mountain. It's a wonderful dream, reflective of something deep in the human heart, reflective of something that I think we all think should be or could be or maybe will be - that beautiful harmony throughout nature in history, shalom. Is it any wonder that we who have been nurtured in the biblical tradition would flee to a God like that in a time © Grand Valley State University �God and History: What’s Happening? Richard A. Rhem Page 3 of crisis? The God who is judge of all the earth brought Judah into its exile, but now, as the savior of the world will bring Judah back home and will create a new heaven and a new earth, making it all right. I want a God like that. I would love a God like that. Or, Paul, who was nurtured on that same prophet but who had the encounter with Jesus Christ, the risen one, knocking him off his horse, that vision that Paul had that turned him around, that vision of the living Lord whom he believed would come shortly. In this great chapter on the resurrection Paul not only points to the resurrection, but in that paragraph I read he gives you the whole scheme as it is going to unfold very shortly - Jesus Christ risen from the dead, now ascended in heaven, ruling, putting all enemies and all adversaries down under his feet, and when he subdues all hostile powers, then he will take that kingdom and yield it up to the father and God will be God, all in all. Wonderful, wonderful drama. And Paul thought he was living on the very edge of history where it was about to transpire and, of course, 2000 years later, you can't take that same vision and still keep it alive. You just simply have to say Paul didn't understand where he was in the time line. And yet, you can appreciate what Paul was longing for, what turned him around, that which made him go to the ends of the earth proclaiming. It was a consummation, it was the resurrection over the last enemy, death. It was the subduing of all negative darkness. It was the overcoming of all evil. It was bringing to that moment when God would be all in all, maybe in different contours than Isaiah, but the same kind of thing. It’s really a silly thing when, 2000 years later, a series of books called Left Behind takes that thing literally and plays it out as though it is about to happen in the future. Ridiculous. But, I can understand what was in Paul's mind and heart. For me, rather than Left Behind, I'll take Harry Potter. Because Harry Potter deals with magic and mystery, and there is something in us that believes that there is more going on than meets the eye. If you want a couple of concise statements about what is going on in history, Jacques Monad, the Noble-winning biologist, in his classic Chance and Necessity, says if he accepts this negative message in its full significance, "man must at last wake out of his millenniary dreams and discover his total solitude, his fundamental isolation. He must realize that, like a gypsy, he lives in the boundary of an alien world, a world that is deaf to his music and as indifferent to his hopes as it is to his suffering and to his crimes." Wow! And Erich Fromm writes in Man For Himself. "There is only one solution to his problem - to face the truth, to acknowledge his fundamental aloneness in the universe, indifferent to his fate, to recognize that there is no power transcending him which can solve his problem for him." Sort of like Sagan saying no outside help available. At his inaugural at Cambridge University, G. N. Clark wrote, "There is no secret and no plan in history to be discovered. I do not believe that any future © Grand Valley State University �God and History: What’s Happening? Richard A. Rhem Page 4 consummation could make sense of all the irrationalities of preceding ages if it could not explain them, still less could it justify them." Well, just three voices of contemporary scholarship in the light of the tradition of faith of which we are a part which would leave us on our own. And to be left on our own in a time like this is a scary business. There is no wonder that we unfurl the flag. There's no wonder that we pray fervently to almighty God. And yet, there is Harry Potter, and there are the fairy tales that we all love, and what do we love about a fairy tale? Certainly it has its darkness, its demons, its shadow side. But, the fairy tale also always comes out right. Eventually, the good prevails and the light prevails. We love a fairy tale. I think we love a fairy tale because there's something intuitively in us that believes that the fairy tale is true. There is something in us that refuses to believe that there is nothing more, that there is simply this cosmic reality unfolding without mind or purpose or direction. There may not be someone grinding the gears of the universe up there. I think Sagan is right. There is no help out there, but there may be something in here. There may be something enlivening the process, the whole creative unfolding. There may be that which moves toward light and life. But, it may not win. It may not prevail. And yet, it will not finally be destroyed. I think that really is the story of Easter. As you think about this, we would so love an omnipotent God. We would so love that God Almighty. We so much want God to be in control and in charge, and yet the very God that we profess, revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, was revealed in the vulnerability of a child, and we will celebrate it here in a few weeks. The clue we have of the nature of God is a God who is incarnate in a child, who was embodied in a human being, a human being who with grace and love and compassion makes his way, speaking truth to power until finally he is crucified, and, as he is crucified, he says, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The God we want is a God who is in control. The God who is revealed to us if we could believe it is the God who is revealed in the vulnerability of love. The only persuasion is the persuasion of love. There is no coercion. There is no God Almighty. There is no omnipotent one. There is no one out there to pull the strings and move it around. What do we pray? What do we mean? What do we ask for when we say "God bless America?" It is time for us, of course, to be saying "God bless the world," but to know that that prayer is seriously offered as a commitment to be the embodiment of kindness and compassion and care, because there is no help that will come from the outside. There is only that persistent Spirit, that persistent deity that pervades, with which reality is pregnant, that calls us again and again and again to life and to love, and if need be, to sacrifice and to yielding up life. © Grand Valley State University �God and History: What’s Happening? Richard A. Rhem Page 5 We don't really believe the Gospel. We would hardly dare live according to the Gospel. It would be a dangerous thing if Jesus were in charge. I don't know if I would dare vote for him. Because everything would have to be different. I don't know about what we're doing in Afghanistan. I don't know about the military action. I really don't. Very early this morning they were talking about bin Laden on the videotape saying he had nuclear weapons. I'm not wise enough to know what we are to do in this kind of a situation, but I know this and you know it too, military might will not solve this crisis. We cannot bomb enough in order to bring out a good result. It's no use praying to Almighty God, for the God within us who would move us to kindness and compassion, to civility and human decency, and to a transformed earth - that is the only God we have, and the only power that God has is the power of love. It's a pretty risky business, good friends. It is the temptation of a preacher to make you secure in the arms of almighty God, but it is the task of the prophet to tell you that God would move through you to be the arms that would secure the world Something is going on. More than meets the eye. Thank God. © 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 Isaiah 65:17-25, I Corinthians 15:20-28 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-0-20011111 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-11-11 Title A name given to the resource God and History: What's Happening? 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 11, 2001 entitled "God and History: What's Happening?", on the occasion of Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 65:17-25, I Corinthians 15:20-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence Incarnation Pentecost https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/804d5784ce4832dc35b9b065627365b0.mp3 3d3e09307a76a88ce6dfa63e8468d1bc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/885ec2dd43d0a4f02b6a3446723d8822.pdf c4f46a25e2a3df2c2bb3fe3aa641e832 PDF Text Text As Intimate As Breathing From the series: Credo Acts 2:1-4; John 14:15-20 Text: John 14:17 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost, June 3, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon On this Pentecost, I want to say that God is as intimate as your breathing; that is, God is in you and you are in God, and that is good news. You don't have to look elsewhere, "out there," "up there," you don't have to wonder. You can be assured God is in you and God will be with you always. I don't watch television. I should, because it is a good connector to contemporary culture and one who preaches as I do ought to get his nose out of the theology books once in a while and see what people are thinking about. But, I understand that the dramatic series, "West Wing," in its finale, had some serious theology about it. Or, so the reporter in the Grand Rapids Press said in yesterday's edition, and, as I read that, I recognized that I probably had missed something to which I should have been attuned. The "West Wing" drama series is a fictionalized White House setting with a President, Jed Bartlett, who is apparently a very religious, deeply Christian man, and he is having one of those days, one of those days which we all have once in a while, although for a President, I suppose there are a few more dimensions to it. Hostages have been taken at the embassy in Haiti, a tropical storm is bearing down on Washington D.C., he's on his way to the funeral of his secretary who was killed in an accident, hit by a drunken driver, he has just revealed that he has Multiple Sclerosis after eight years of denying it. It's just not a good day for the President. He goes to the National Cathedral for the funeral and after the funeral, he asks that the doors be sealed because this man who was seriously Christian has some things to say to God. He becomes very much like one of those Old Testament prophets who rails against heaven. He cries out against God. All of these actions that are going on, he says to God, "Are those the actions of a caring God? Of a just God? Of a benevolent God? A wise God? Well, to hell with your punishments! I've served you, I've proclaimed your word and done your work and now to hell with your punishments, to hell with you!" He curses God. Because it is the season's finale and that is not a nice way to end a season, the secretary who has been killed appears in angelic form to say to him, "Come now. © Grand Valley State University �As Intimate as Breathing Richard A. Rhem Page 2 You know God doesn't cause cars to crash." And he begins to remember all the work there is yet to be done and, like the Old Testament prophets, he gets up and gets back at it. The journalist calls it "Serious Theology on Prime Time TV." Well, true. The railing against God - as I said, that has good, particularly Old Testament precedent. The shaking of the fist at heaven, the outpouring of an anguished heart or an angry heart - who has not been there? Who has not done it? And God can take it, as it were. I mean, it is not a problem with God, but it is a way that we humans react in the midst of our misery and our tragedy. There seems to be something almost endemic in us that, in the midst of that kind of crisis, causes us to cry out, shake our fist at heaven, to plead, cajole, whatever. And yet, that is an image of God that really won't wash anymore. Our knowledge and our human experience today tell us that that ancient conception of a God "out there" who is running the universe won't work anymore. I think the emotional response probably written into our genetic code – probably out of the early dawn of what it was to be human, confronted with the mysteries and the tragedies that are a part of the human scene – still find utterance in that kind of call and prime time TV 2001. And yet, I have to say that presentation on "West Wing" is very much of the biblical view, isn't it? It is a supernaturalistic view of things. There is this realm, this world, this universe, and there is another where God dwells. There is the ongoing drama of nature and there is one above nature who controls nature and intrudes into nature. On this Pentecost Sunday we would have to say in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the word made flesh who comes from the father and who returns to the father and who promises, "I will not leave you orphaned, I will come to you, I will send another advocate or spirit to be with you." So, "West Wing" is not only consonant with something that is intuitive in the human being, but also reflected in the biblical story. Too bad we can't believe it anymore. Because it is really counter to everything we know about the way things work, about our world, the cosmic drama, about the human being. There was something comforting about it, something "up there" in control. Somebody pulling the strings, working the gears, interrupting the process on occasion. But, I suppose the angel visitant at the end of the drama on "West Wing" which not only gave the season finale a softer touch and a bit of hope, a little sentimentalism and a little romanticism (don't we all love angels?) was also an admission, once we think about it, we know better. God doesn't cause cars to crash. We're on our own. There was a time, because I was nurtured in that biblical story, as were all of you, when I thought in terms of a natural realm and a supernatural realm, but I know now that that just doesn't work, that the God, whatever God may be, will be experienced and known in that total phenomenon of which we are a part called nature. And in terms of that ancient cosmology, I now must move to that which © Grand Valley State University �As Intimate as Breathing Richard A. Rhem Page 3 we understand, and that is that there was a moment, some 15 billion years ago when all of matter and energy was concentrated into one infinitely small point. I can't understand that. I'm only telling you what I have heard. But, I think that is the best scientific understanding of things today, that everything that is, this total universal system, all of the galaxies, all of the stars and the planets, the earth, the trees, the oceans, the mountains, and you and I are all the consequence of that which was all in a point in a moment. And that explosion in that infinite time past is still expanding so that this drama of which we are a part is underway. Someone has said if you would compress those 15 billion years into one year, the appearance of the human being would be in the last minute or two. I can't take that in. But, when I think about God in cosmos, God and human being, then it seems to me that that scientific picture is a picture which would indicate that the whole of reality must somehow or other be permeated by that divine presence, that sacred, that holy, call it God if you will. Not out beyond it somewhere, but within it. God as intimate as breathing. Even though the Bible is solidly supernatural and the day of Pentecost is an invasion from beyond, nonetheless, there are little hints in the biblical story itself. For the word becomes flesh and dwells among us so that God is in the human celebrated at Christmas. And Pentecost is a celebration of the presence of the Spirit of God and the breath of God within us, and John's Gospel you well know, "I am in the father and the father in me, and you in me." How do you intellectually understand that mysterious language? Isn't it a stammering attempt to hint at the fact that God is not "out there," but in here? You know, Graduates, if I were in your spot, if I had your youthful energy, your razor- sharp minds and all of your years, you know what I'd do? I wouldn't go to seminary. There is hardly a seminary alive that isn't still teaching that old biblical, supernaturalistic understanding of God. If I were you and I wanted to pursue God passionately, I would become an astronomer, a physicist. I'd study cosmology, because for years I have known and always said I should write a dissertation on the fact, which can be traced, of a shift in cosmological understanding, the nature of the universe. A shift there is reflected eventually in a shift in theological understanding. It can be traced down through the eons of the Christian story - change the conception of the universe, of the cosmos, of nature, and eventually, well, it takes the Church a long time, but eventually what we come to know impacts how we image what we believe. And so, let me tell you the good news - God is not against you. And to be spiritual is not to swim against the tide. But, rather, it is to move with the grain of the universe, for what is coming to expression, what is emerging in this drama of billions of years is Spirit. Think of it. An explosion 15 billion years ago, the cooling of that soupy chaos, the coming into formation of the stars and galaxies, eventually life, conscious life, conscious life that - here we are, reflecting on it all! It's amazing! How many generations before us could have some vista of 15 billion years of a drama that is still occurring as we speak, and within us? © Grand Valley State University �As Intimate as Breathing Richard A. Rhem Page 4 And then, this conscious life developing a spiritual dimension, a dimension of spirit, breath, which is the enlivening of the whole by the God who is not "out there" somewhere grinding the gears of the universe, but the God who is to be sensed in the stillness, in our very breathing. God present to us, in us. Thank God. Someone has said it so beautifully, speaking of you, "Offspring of the stars, children of earth, we are great mothering nature's soul-space. Her heart and vocal cords, and her willingness if we consent to it, to be spirited, to be the vessel of the holy one." God is not "out there." God is in here, and you are a vessel of the holy one, full of spirit and our task together is to make this world civil, decent, full of love and grace. God, as intimate as breathing. © 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 Series Credo Scripture Text John 14:17 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-0-20010603 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-06-03 Title A name given to the resource As Intimate As Breathing 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 June 3, 2001 entitled "As Intimate As Breathing", as part of the series "Credo", on the occasion of Pentecost, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 14:17. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Presence Grain of the Universe Immanence https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0d82df82783ef72dcde27a39425967bd.mp3 71f3f591546f4c44dd18133e904fdcb1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/011e839c2c66fe66d3525228da4b78ba.pdf c5a060c69fa9fb26fea4450cd7e2c710 PDF Text Text Where in the World is God? From the series: Spirituality in the Modern World Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8; John 14:8-20 Text: Isaiah 6:1; John 14:8 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan February 11, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon Some of us were on retreat yesterday and listened to a futurist whose business it is to think about what is coming. He described for us the world of 2010, a world not so far off, and yet a world that, frankly, I can't even begin to comprehend as he speaks about the technological advances that are just over the horizon with artificial intelligence and so forth. I don't know enough to make an intelligent statement about it. It is the kind of a world that is inconceivable and yet, it will be here before we know it. How do you experience God in a world that is developing with emergence that boggles the mind? There is too much to take in. Oh, there are those old images and the old clichés and the platitudes, and I suppose most of us will go to our grave with them. They will be pointers to us, indicators of the reality and the presence of God. And those of us who are in the Church are those who have stayed, but there are multitudes on the outside who have left because their experience and their knowledge of the world made it impossible for them to find the genuine spirituality within the context of ancient symbols and metaphors, stories. And so, it is always a challenge to the Church to think again its faith and, where it can, to revision and re-imagine in order that folk in every emerging age can live with a genuineness of faith, an integrity of human experience, or, as the song says, to "find Jesus in our time." What shape does he take? How does one say God today? How can we experience that presence of the holy and the sacred in the knockabout world of our everyday experience? We live at the far end of the modern period. We live in a time that has been called the post-modern period. The fact that we call it post-modern means that we don't know how to label it, we don't know how to name it, because it is a world that is emerging. Modernity had a very definite character. We speak of the Enlightenment. During that period, the amazing, amazing breakthroughs of the natural sciences, and the success of the natural sciences which have been registered in the technological © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 2 marvels of our day, which a person like me can't even begin to take in when told about them. That dominant scientific outlook has, for many, crowded out the possibility of God. We have lived in an age in which many, particularly in the intellectual establishment of our time, have said that there is nothing but material. The material universe which can be measured and tested and put into a formula. What you can touch is real, and there is reality denied to that which is invisible or spiritual. And so, we have one such as Huston Smith who, with his wonderful credentials, takes on the scientific establishment, and he makes room for God, calling to account those who have ruled out the possibility of Spirit, calling again to the celebration of that spiritual reality. There is room for God in the world, as we noted last week. Huston Smith reaches back to a philosopher born in Britain, but who spent much of his time in this country in the first half of the last century, Alfred North Whitehead, who said there are two great forces in the world, the force of Religion and the force of Science, and these two enterprises each have their respective dogmas and those are simply the crystallization of the best insights that they have formulated in rational propositions. Whitehead pointed out that you can be a dogmatist whether you are a scientist or a religious person. You can deal in obscurantism, denying any light or knowledge from the other side, from either perspective. Huston Smith is calling the scientific establishment in our day to a fresh awareness of the spiritual dimension of life, because, as Whitehead pointed out long ago, that religious experience is also a very real part of being human. We speak of the Sundays after Epiphany. Epiphany means manifestation. Suddenly one "sees" something. And Isaiah had an epiphany, or we might call it a theophany, a manifestation of God. It was in the year that King Uzziah died. Maybe that is a statement like, "It was that November day when John F. Kennedy was shot." Or, "The seventh of December when Pearl Harbor was bombed." I don't know - the year King Uzziah died, was there some political crisis? Was Isaiah a member of the court and was everything suddenly thrown into chaos in that time at the death of the king? It was such a time as that, anyway, that he went into the temple and he said, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the temple was filled with smoke and the pillars shook. I felt myself unworthy and experienced the ministration of angels and heard the voice of God calling me into prophetic ministry." Don't literalize that vision. Being one who was nurtured on that story from childhood, I could see the temple, I could see the smoke and smell the incense. But, that, of course, is to miss the point of it. The point is that there was some kind of a breakthrough in the experience of the prophet in that moment. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with the presence of God. Alfred North Whitehead would say that is experience, that is human experience that has to be taken just as seriously as the substance of some soil that may be analyzed. © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 3 Don't you love Philip's question? "Just show us the father and we'll be satisfied." Have you ever said that? Whether you said it or not, have you thought that? "God, just show me. Would it be so difficult to write in the sky, 'I Am. I exist'? Couldn't you give us some token, some hard evidence?" "Just show us the father and we'll be satisfied," Philip says to Jesus. Jesus says, "How long have you been with me? Still don't get it? If you've seen me, you've seen the father." I suppose that is because Jesus was special, right? I suppose that is because Jesus was the son of God, right? Wrong. What did Jesus mean? I'm not sure Jesus even said that. I'm sure that the author of the Gospel was saying that in the human face, there is God. And in Jesus, the encounter with Jesus, sixty years after, I still remember it, the encounter with Jesus - it was God. Because Jesus was special? I think he was special, special in degree, not other than you are. Special because the luminosity of God shined brighter there, but not because he was other than human. I think what the Gospel writer was trying to say was that we saw God in that human visage, and what the fourth Gospel seems to be saying in that classic statement, "The word became flesh and dwelt among us," is that God is found in the human. Isaiah, in a moment of personal epiphany, is overwhelmed with the presence of God in the solitude of the temple, but John's Gospel suggests that God is found in the human encounter, in the community, in that moment when soul meets soul and there is a melding of two making one, and there, in that relationship of love and grace, one says, "My God!" So, human experience of God is that which has been attested to by the generations. The whole human story is replete with that witness to the reality of the experience of God or the holy or the sacred. If you scratch the veneer of this world as it appears, there is that sense that there is something more, that presence. Here we are. We have emerged. We have emerged in this cosmic process and we didn't make ourselves, and there is something that buoys up this magnificent, awesome reality of which we are a part, and what do you call that? That which shines through now and again, that which becomes apparent here and there, that spiritual reality which suddenly is the vertical presence in a horizontal relationship, what do you call that? God. And so, people like us of the twenty-first century, with all of our toys and all of our gadgets, all of our technology and all of our knowledge of the cosmic reality, still attest to that experience of God. Alfred North Whitehead says you can create a chemical formula in a test tube and have empirically verifiable results, and you have to take that human experience of God seriously, as well. You can't put it in a test tube; you can't measure it. There's no way to verify it. God doesn't write in the sky. And so, it is a faith perception, but it is that spiritual dimension that is in and with and under, that encompasses the totality of our life and our experience. © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Having said that, and wanting to say that clearly, I want to say that from within the Church, it is necessary for us to do some re-imagining and some revisioning of those old faith stories and symbols and metaphors by which all of that has been communicated to us. That is, at least if we would communicate this experience of God beyond the walls of the church. Just think, for example, of the natural world as we know it. We call it cosmology, the cosmos, the totality of things. Think of what we know about it. Fifteen billion years old. At this point I should call forward our resident physicist-astronomer Dr. VanTill, who could tell us about the speed of light and the expanse of the universe and the expanding universe, and the amazing, amazing physical, natural reality of which we, too, are a part. It is awesome. It is mystifying. It causes one to be silent. It can well cause one to worship before the wonder of it all. And then, I think about the Genesis story, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and all with a click of the finger, all those things happened. And there's Adam and Eve in a garden of perfection, Paradise, and they are tested and they fail the test and so they are alienated from God. We speak about the fall and it is that fall into sin from which they have to be redeemed, and so we have the whole biblical story. That's not the way it was. We really know that. All natural disaster and all the trouble in the world is not the result of the initial sin, the original sin. There were storms, there was chaos, there was terror long before the human person emerged, and we have emerged, creatures of self-consciousness, awareness. Fifteen billion years of this cosmic, whirling mass of energy. Then, there was a moment when a creature emerges who looks at his hand and then looks at another, becomes conscious, self-conscious, aware. That creature has come, emerged out of the chaotic soup, cosmic juice and stardust, and we have just arrived, relatively speaking. We're still trying to find our way. We really need a new story. We really should write a new Genesis today because the writer was giving expression to his understanding of that human situation and God in the light of the cosmic understanding he had, which was so totally other. We would say so primitive and naive. I know what he was trying to do. That Genesis story is profound. Speaking about the torn tension within the human being, that beckoning toward God, that draw from below, portraying the human dilemma, trying to give expression to all that is rotten to the core, and yet that grace that would transform and redeem. That old story is not at all in terms of what we know about cosmic reality and the emergence of the human and the dawning of consciousness and the coming awareness of Spirit. Someone needs to write a new myth, a new story, which would portray God as not over against us, with that terrible gulf between us because of our sin, but would invite us to a growing consciousness and awareness of that spirit that is within us, that embraces us. We are a part of this cosmic reality, we are the cosmos coming to consciousness, we are the cosmic reality now with voice to praise, with consciousness to realize and to become aware. We are the cosmos reflecting on itself, with God, that Spirit © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 5 that is over and around us and within us, God not "out there," some supernatural being beyond the confines of the universe, as it were, clicking a finger and causing it to be, and then occasionally dipping in here and there. No, but God, that creative Spirit that permeates the whole, God who is closer than our breath. I don't know what the Gospel writer meant when he had Jesus say, "I am in you and you in me. I am in the father and the father is in me. I in you, you in me," but at least there is a hint there of something that we are becoming more and more aware of, and that is that God is as close as our breath. The Spirit of God, the Hebrew word Ruach means both breath and spirit and wind, and so, the enlivening within us and that wind that courses over us become the symbols, the signs of that ever-present God who is our life, not some lawgiver and offended judge ready to damn us. What a bad idea. Would the creator of the heavens and the earth, would the creator of this fantastic cosmic reality with all of its wonder, would this God create a creature, a human creature with consciousness and giftedness to damn? Hell, no. Hell, no. Just thinking about what we know, what has come to us through the human endeavor and greater understanding, broadening understanding, to think again - how can I be with God, knowing what I know? How is God with us, knowing what we know? Does that mean that all that stuff in the Bible about sin and corruption has no part? Of course not. Look in your own heart. Read the daily newspaper. We're animals; we're beasts; we're in a life and death struggle to, somehow or other, keep down the pride, throw out the fear, the hostility, the anger, and let the Spirit more and more control us, so we come more and more into an awareness of that wonder of grace and love that is God. It is just a matter of finding a new way to say it so that we could experience it without some of that old baggage. Just one more thought. We live out of our knowledge of the natural world, and our knowledge of our cultural context which today isn't Western Michigan and it isn't the United States of America. It is a global context, and in a global context where we rub shoulders with people from around the world, and we come to see and to appreciate the spiritual quest, the religious devotion, the multiplicity of practice, then obviously I can no longer speak about "our God." I can no longer think in terms of having some corner on the truth which is denied to all of the rest of humankind. Would God reveal God's self to one little people, leaving the rest in darkness? Don't we know in this world that has become as small as a grapefruit, where we rub shoulders with people of various religious practice, and we experience the seriousness of it and the authentic devotion of it, and the longing quest of it - don't we know that all the great religions of the world are hungering for that one taste, thirsting for that one God who is beyond all of our formulations and structures, for all of our religions are the human structures that we have created by means of which we can see through to that which cannot be seen, but which is as close as our breath? © Grand Valley State University �Where in the World is God? Richard A. Rhem Page 6 Ah, where in the world is God? Where in the world is God? God is in the moment of personal epiphany when the sun sets or, as it did this morning, rises so beautifully in the east. The sun is in the forsythia, forced a bit as it is, I suspect. God is in the human encounter when soul meets and there is a transparency. God is in the intuition of the human heart that there is more and that it is good and that we will be sustained, embraced, kept, and that we can rest in that. God is not some other place. God is with us. Thank God. © 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 Epiphany VI Series Spirituality in the Modern World Scripture Text Isaiah 6:1, John 14:8 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-0-20010211 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-02-11 Title A name given to the resource Where in the World Is God? 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 February 11, 2001 entitled "Where in the World Is God?", as part of the series "Spirituality in the Modern World", on the occasion of Epiphany VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 6:1, John 14:8. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Immanence PostModern Spiritual Dimension of Reality https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3677632459837cde67b6aec68e4af13f.mp3 72cfe66f9e79d468659c45c320523d88 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/544fc4d429c74315a24e5147864d471b.pdf ab516aea6965835a714cee54383358b8 PDF Text Text Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Epiphany I Scripture: Acts 26:19-32; Matthew 2:1-12 Text: Acts 26:19; Matthew 2:9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan January 7, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon It is the season of Epiphany and it has become a favorite time of mine. Epiphany is not really a season, although we have often spoken of it as a season here. Epiphany is a festival day, January 6, which of course, was yesterday. In the ancient Church tradition, we are now in that time which is not really a season in the church year. This is the first Sunday after Epiphany and next week will be the second Sunday after Epiphany, and if you want to be technically correct, on the Church calendar, we are in Ordinary days. But, for me, the Festival of Epiphany has become one of my favorite celebrations, I think because of the focus and the theme. The symbol, of course, is the star; the central idea is that of light, the light that has dawned upon us. The doctrinal or theological emphasis is on revelation. I like the word manifestation - God manifest in our midst, God present to us so that we become aware of that presence in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our world. Epiphany is from the Greek language and it means, literally, manifestation, and, of course, it reflects back on that season which is just concluded, the twelve days of Christmas and the celebration of Christmas itself, which is the celebration of the Incarnation, the embodiment of God in the midst of our human history, in the human flesh of Jesus. There is great wisdom in the celebration of the Christian Year. Over the years I have come to appreciate it more and more because it takes me back every year in that annual cycle beginning in the Advent waiting and then the celebration of the birth which is the embodiment of God in our midst. Then we move into those weeks between Epiphany and Lent in which the focus of the Church is on the life and the ministry of Jesus. If I followed the lectionary readings, which large portions of the Church use, every Sunday having assigned scripture passages, today's passage would be the baptism of Jesus, Jesus now on the threshold of his ministry. In these weeks between the celebration of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent, the focus is on Jesus and his life and his teaching and that which came to expression in him, what was experienced in his human journey in the midst of © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 2 our human history. So, it is a good season because it focuses our attention on that which is the center of our faith understanding, that which came to expression in Jesus, the manifestation of God in the life of Jesus Christ. In the older, traditional conception of things, the tradition of the Church, the orthodoxies of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church, this idea of revelation is very much a past reference. Now, the Church, at its best, knew better, but for all practical purposes, if you have grown up in the Church, if you've listened to sermons world without end, then you know that the emphasis has been on that revelation of God that appeared in Israel and in Jesus, that is told in the words of scripture, so that revelation becomes in our minds, popularly, something that happened in the past of which we have a record, to which we continue to return. Now, the Church, at its best, for example, John Calvin at the time of the Reformation, understood that God continues to reveal God's self, and Karl Barth, in our own century, reached back to Calvin to speak of the three forms of the word: the word in flesh, Jesus, the center; the word in scripture, the word written which in Israel anticipated him and in the New Testament reflected back on him; and then, a third form of the word was the word preached. The Church at its best understood that there was an ongoing revealing of God, an ongoing manifestation of God's truth and light, even as the word was preached in the present, the very dynamic conception of preaching, the very high estimate of preaching. But, for all practical purposes once again, if you have just grown up in an ordinary way in an ordinary church, an ordinary Christian experience, you have probably tended to think about revelation as something that happened in the past. In fact, in the old conception of things, God sent God's son like the divine intruder from another world, another realm into our world, there to be experienced, only then to leave again and return to that place from which he came. That is an old cosmology. That is an old conception of the structure of reality. Let me give you another image. Try this out. I can remember as a kid my mother used to bake bread and I can remember taking the yeast and kneading it into that dough and putting it in a bowl, and putting a towel over it and then setting it on a chair in front of the register so, with the heat, the yeast could do its work and the dough would rise. Let me suggest to you what for me has become a fascinating and exciting new conception of God's manifestation, of God's revealing. Rather than seeing God as dipping into our history, coming in and leaving again, it seems to me what we know about the nature of reality, the nature of the whole cosmic process, the nature of the unfolding of history, that one might better see the manifestation of God as the working of the yeast in the dough, not a light from another realm, but that light that enlightens the totality of things, not from outside, but from within itself, so that manifestation is simply the coming to luminosity of that which is always present within, but here and there comes to © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 3 striking, startling manifestation, so that we look and we say, "Ah! I see! I See!" That is an epiphany experience. It is the sudden grasping or the calm, quiet coming to realization of that which is true, that which is true about the nature of reality, about the nature of God, about the nature of human existence. Epiphany is the celebration of the manifestation of God, and I want to suggest, not a God "out there" somewhere, but a God present with us. The incarnation, the experience of Christmas, the truth of Christmas,is the embodiment of God in the human. It is the presence of God with us, and, for Epiphany 2001, let me suggest to you that we open our eyes to the light that still shines. The word still in the title of the message has the message in one word - still, the light shines. Still, God is manifest, being manifest, present, progressive tense. That's my Epiphany message to you today, and that, for me, is a critical and crucial movement from where once I was and where most of the Church, frankly, still remains and, if there is one thing that I wish I could send you out of here with today, it is that new and fresh awareness of the still shining light and the ongoing manifestation of God in the midst of our human experience, in the midst of our world history, in the midst of the unfolding, cosmic drama of which we are a part of billions and billions of years, an amazing evolving and emerging. Still, the light shines. Still, God is being manifest to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Still, the Spirit illumines and gives us fresh insight and helps us to bring into perspective the explosion of knowledge all about us in the modern world, so that we live as people on the way, as people on a journey, with the confidence that as we move into the future, the light will shine as it shines now and has shined in our past. You see, that is the very nature of human existence. That is what it means to be people who are caught up in the stream of history. It is not that in the scripture we do not have ancient truth and insight. The scripture is a record of the witness of those who have said, "Aha! I see!" and they recorded that, and it continues to be instructive and informative to us. We still read the Hebrew prophets of the eighth century before the Common Era with great profit. We still go back to the Greek philosophers who address the ultimate questions of life with profundity. Someone has said that the whole of Western philosophy is nothing but a series of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle. We still go back to the Gospels and we study the life of Jesus and the teaching of Jesus, and we gain insight and understanding, wisdom. But, the eighth-century prophets of the Hebrews or even Jesus in the time of Caesar Augustus, or Augustine in the fifth century, or Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, or John Calvin in the 16th century, or the orthodox formulations of Reformed faith, for example, in the 17th century, simply could not give to us what we need today in order to live with understanding, with freedom and with joy because, within the movement of history, there are no absolutes. That is heresy in the Christian Church! Did you hear me? Within the stream of history, there are no absolutes. The Church has claimed all through the centuries that © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 4 this is absolute truth, that absolute truth dawned in Jesus, and I am saying to you, "No! The wonder of Epiphany is that, in the movement of history that defies absolutes and final answers, the light still shines!" It is not that we are without insight. It is not that we are without revelation. It is simply that, in the very nature of historical reality, it is absolutely essential that the light still shines so that our new circumstances are illumined by that same light that came to expression in special luminosity in Jesus, that same light that informed the Hebrew prophets and the Apostles. It is a present experience of the manifestation of God, or it is nothing. That is the nature of our human, historical existence. That is scary. Scary, because we so much want certitude. It is scary because life is frail and fragile, perilous and pocked with pitfalls, and it is so deeply human to want a final solution, an absolute truth, an unalterable prescription for life. And the Church has been happy to accommodate. The Church has exploited the fears of people. It has promised absolute truth and the final answer, but it is a false promise that cannot deliver. For all of the light that has shined through the ages and all of the light that has been concentrated in the face of Jesus Christ, history continues to evolve and new situations call for new application of that truth. You cannot go into the scripture and find the ending or the proposed ending of slavery, for example. It took centuries of the ferment of the Gospel to bring people finally to the conviction that a human being was an end in him or herself, not to be used, enslaved. Oh, the Church has struggled with the Bible, claiming it to be inerrant and infallible, and it is not. And how can it be, for example, when the Church struggles with the position of women in leadership? You can't solve that biblically because it is an ancient book out of an ancient culture with all kinds of different sensitivities and understanding. How can you settle the question of the ordination of women in the Church, for example, by reference to the Bible? Sexual orientation? Why, it's not even in the purview of the scripture. And yet, you hear time and again claims, biblical claims, about sexual orientation, about which the Bible knew nothing. All it knew about was actual sexual practice which could be destructive and abusive. How can you settle that issue by reference to the Bible? You can't. And, unfortunately, the Church has not faced up to that and been honest with the fact that light still shines, that knowledge still breaks forth, that history is movement, that new times demand new answers and new understandings and broader perspectives as the horizon spreads out before us. Scary. Because we'd like to have it clear, simple, and over with, not having to think about it anymore. It is scary. But, it is also liberating. Now, if I can once get that monkey off my back of one final, absolute revelation in the past, then I can engage in my historical journey with confidence and with joy. I can lean into the future knowing that, still, the light shines, that new knowledge brings new information and new perspective, and that the manifestation of God in the midst of this marvelous, fascinating, © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 5 mysterious cosmic journey of which we're a part continues to dawn upon us, and that is really my Epiphany message today. Still, the light shines. That is wonderful, good news. We just went through a beautiful Christmas season here. We have the remnants of it, so to speak, and someone was here on the 24th at all three services, in the morning that marvelous cantata and pageant, the thrilling music and the Christmas story, the quieter candlelight Eucharist service at 9:00 in the evening, and then the traditional Lessons and Carols, the late service. This person, one of the core volunteers of this place then came here on Wednesday (the church had been closed on Monday, Christmas Day and the day following), and this place which had been so regal in its splendor and had reverberated with marvelous music and the mystery of the celebration, now lay in shambles, candlewax all over the pews and the carpets, poinsettia leaves scattered throughout, shepherds’ costumes draped here and there, used candles lying every place, and she came into the office to say, "You know, I was at all three services on Sunday. What a place this is! Each one of the services so different; each one of them so moving, so beautifully executed, seemingly without effort and without a hitch. Then I come in and I see the shambles afterwards and I realize what it takes to do that. Nobody knows how many people put forth how much effort to make that possible," and I said, "Well, that's true. There are a few people that know, however." A few people also said to me, "What are you going to do next year," realizing that this is the last Christmas of John Gregory Bryson, who is so integral to all of that, and with stiff upper lip, I said, "Well, we're going to retire his number and then we're going to do just fine." We're going to do just fine, just as we are after I preach my last Epiphany service. This place is going to be just fine, because we live in the conviction that still the light shines and we don't come to an absolute place, a final word, a resting place that is frozen forever, but we are a people in movement and the thing about this place is that we have learned that, and we are free, and we believe that the best is yet to be, because still the light shines, giving new vision. I ran into my old compatriot, Gord VanHoeven, in Bill's Barber Shop this week, and the two of us got to reminiscing a bit. It's a sign of our age, I think, two old men talking about the past, getting almost sentimental if not senile, and we talked about Gord's 18 years here that he shared with me. We spoke about what a good place this is and has been. A year ago this month the Team gathered with a counselor to think about the transitions that are underway here. This congregation is in transition and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. One look at the hoary head and visage of your preacher is enough to indicate that there is going to be a change one of these days. As we gathered with the Team a year ago, we started to look at the whole pattern, and within the next three or four months everything unraveled © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 6 and changed. Ron Zoet couldn't get blood out of a turnip, so he thought he'd go after living blood with the American Red Cross. We all began to be pressed about what our timeline was. Peter discovered he was a year younger than he thought he was, found out the year he was really born. Colette decided it was better for her to concentrate on Worship Center and preaching and teaching, and Bob is, of course, in the midst of his internship for a Master's of Social Work, and how will that all work out? And Mr. Bryson, recognizing the many years of service, wanting to have a little more freedom, tells of his imminent departure. Well, in the midst of it all this summer, realizing how much continuity we had, what gifted and dedicated and loyal people we've had, recognizing that we are in this period of transition, one day I looked at Peter and Cynthia Moll with whom I have been working for The Center of Religion and Life, and I said, "Why don't you two come and run the church?" And in September they began and I realize in retrospect that was really the first step of transition, and the governance boards have stepped forward and have owned that process. On Friday of this week the Board of Trustees will go to the Center for Innovation. Don't you love that name? The Center for Innovation where there is a consultant for business and corporations who is going to sit with them and who has agreed as a gift to us to lead us through a discussion of the future. On the 10th of February, all the governance groups will meet with him in an all-day retreat as we look at the whole pattern and the whole picture. I tell you this because you ought to know what's going on in this congregation, the fact that we are in a period of transition. You want to ask me for a date, I'll say two years, five years, seven years, ten years. I don't know. I have no date set. I am determined I am going to make this bear dance one more time, whatever it takes. But, I share this with you because I can do it in an Epiphany celebration in the realization that, still, the light shines and that the future of this place is better than anything we have ever dreamed of, and it is because we have paid a price and struggled and wrestled and have emerged with a kind of freedom and joy that enables us, having faced up to so much that ties traditional Christianity in knots, freeing us to move into the future in creative ways of which we have not even conceived. You see, still the light shines, and we will shape the future rather than just lollygagging along, being shaped by what comes our way. Montgomery Wards is out of business. They tried to reorganize over the last couple of years, the CEO came on the television to say the soft retail market made it impossible. They have to close. I say, "Soft retail market! What you're telling me, sir, is that you were unable to negotiate a world of Wal-Marts and Lowe's and all the rest." The Church is no different. If we're all tied up with some absolute word that happened in the past, nailing us to the mores, insights, sensitivities and knowledge of an ancient culture, we are in trouble, indeed. But, if we have learned that still the light shines, giving vision, then we can believe that the future holds for us wonders, mysteries, and celebrations that we've not yet dreamed of. © Grand Valley State University �Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision Richard A. Rhem Page 7 This is no ordinary place. There are ordinary congregations all over the country. This is no ordinary place. You are here because you choose to be here. You are here because of what this place stands for, requires and affirms, and this remnant people, liberated and set free, has the conviction that the future is unfolding in marvelous ways. I can say with Paul, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. In his defense before a Roman governor and a Jewish king, he gave the account of his own story. Don't you realize that Paul saw a light that knocked him off his horse and turned him around 180 degrees? Don't you realize that Paul had to look at everything for which his life's passion was beating and say, "My God! I was wrong!" Don't you see that the quest of the Magi is the symbolic story of that yearning of the human heart for God, that yearning of the human heart for light and for truth, and in that beautiful Christmas story of those wise ones we have the symbol of that which lies deep within us, but we have come to realize that it is not a matter of getting some absolute word or light that dawned in the past, but it is the coming to ourselves of an inward conviction, a deep, deep human intuition so that I can say, "I believe!" That is what is different about this place, and that is why the future is good. Ah! What a place! What a future! What a possibility! God's final word has yet to be spoken. Still, the light shines. Plaster it on your refrigerator. Write it on your cupboards. Sing your children to sleep with it nights. Still, the light shines giving new vision! That's Epiphany and you can say, "Ah, I see! I See!” © 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 Epiphany I Scripture Text Acts 26:19, Matthew 2:9 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-0-20010107 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-01-07 Title A name given to the resource Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision 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 January 7, 2001 entitled "Still the Light Shines Giving New Vision", on the occasion of Epiphany I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 26:19, Matthew 2:9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Epiphany Immanence Revelation of the Divine https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b7be61b1d531e27356aa3566d19f3f01.mp3 694f590459d6f60d2cbec393f470ce50 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fc9a1931c55f7ba5134056d3428ef95.pdf 3a6b67ccb6e39ca5ff2b463abb1870f1 PDF Text Text I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or, Did They? Baccalaureate Sunday Text: Romans 8:31,39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Eastertide, June 4, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon This morning I want to speak to you graduates. These remarks are for you, but the congregation is invited to listen in because there may be a thing or two for them, as well. In this year 2000, when you get a diploma, I received a Medicare card, and that may qualify me as a sage. Having lived this long, I have acquired some wisdom, and I thought there were some things I would like to share with you. In fact, they are the things that I wish someone had told me - or, did they? There are some things that I wish that someone had told me as I was growing up, some things that could have saved me some anxiety and some mistakes, some things I wish I had known. I wish someone had told me that - or, did they? Maybe they did, because you don't always listen, nor did I, and sometimes the wisdom that flows just rolls off your back, and later on, maybe, this conversation will come into focus. I have no illusion that just another sermon is going to change your life, but I didn't really think you wanted another sermon, either, so I thought I'd just tell you some things that I wish somebody had told me, or if they did, I wish I had caught on to. At this commencement season, I am aware of the fact that these young people and countless others across the country receive all kinds of encouragement and challenge, in motivational speeches we'll hear from Presidents and Generals and significant people who will address all kinds of graduating classes and all phases of education in these days. We'll get little snippets on the television news and, by and large, they will be words of encouragement; they will be words of motivation to achieve, to pursue your goals, to pursue your dreams and to work hard and to accept the challenge of life, and that's good, because it is true that you will kind of slide through if you can, but you also do respond to challenge when it is significant and meaningful. So, I think all of that is good, but I also had the strong feeling as I contemplated Baccalaureate Sunday that we do put a lot of pressure on our graduates. As parents and as pastors and as teachers, we create a lot of pressure for them and we are not always totally honest with the way life really is. There are some things we don't tell you, and I thought that this morning I would © Grand Valley State University   �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   like to tell you some things that I wish that I had understood. It's a little different from the voices you're going to hear at this time of graduation. I hope you get a lot of challenge, a lot of encouragement. I hope you are stirred and motivated, but this is going to be an alternative voice. First of all, what I wish someone had said to me is: Relax a little bit and take time to live, and don't let the pressure squeeze you into a mold, meeting everybody else's expectations, the expectations of all the people in your life who are important and society in general. Take some time to live. Have a bit of humor about your life. Relax a little bit; let up a little bit. I suppose there's not another church in the country that would ever print that poem on the front of its liturgy by Jenny Joseph about wearing purple, but the poet suggests that when she gets old, she's going to wear purple, she's going to do all kinds of outrageous things, all kinds of silly things, all kinds of foolish things. And the only reason that poem sells, the only reason we read it and we smile at it is because in all of us we spend an awful lot of time toeing the mark, living up to expectations, doing the thing that is wise and respectable and responsible and in all of us there's a little something that needs to break out of that once in a while. If the poet is going to wear purple and be outrageous when she's old, she does suggest that maybe she ought to start practicing so it wouldn't be such a shock when she got old, and it occurred to me that we're not always honest with our children and our youth. We push pretty hard and our society creates a lot of pressure on young people. I think they're working very hard. I'm very impressed with what our young people are doing these days and I think it even goes farther than that. There are probably a few Baby Boomer parents that need to hear what I'm going to say this morning, also, and that is that we can get into a mode of drivenness about achieving and succeeding. We are bombarded by the media with the fact that we ought to be consumers, we ought to purchase and possess and acquire, and there is a groundswell in our society, I sense, that it's not easy to live up to, not easy to meet the expectations, and we start with young people like this and we simply try to push them and not say to them, "Once in a while it's okay to wear purple and to dance in the rain and to do something foolish, just for the sake of it, because it's a part of living and, God knows, it's not easy and you're going to have to be responsible and work hard and do all of that which you have been encouraged to do by the many voices that you have heard." That is all good, but hear me this morning: Don't be driven. Learn to relax. Learn to live fully and let that whole beautiful person you are come to blossom. There is another thing I want to say I wish someone had told me: Don't expect that you are going to acquire Truth with a capital T. Don't ever expect that, in whatever field you enter or whatever kind of life you lead, you are going to have Truth, absolute Truth in your possession, because, being human, that is impossible, and I wish someone had told me that because I was trying to nail it down, to get it right, to have all the ducks in line. I thought that I could come to a possession of the Truth and stand in the Truth. I wish somebody had told me that © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   is not possible. It is not possible because of the nature of our human experience. We are people in process. We are a part of a cosmic process. We are a part of an evolving process with a new emerging reality all of the time and, for God's sake, it is 15 billion years already and who knows where it's going, and if we are creatures in process, if we are people on the way, as we certainly are, then we do not possess absolute Truth. That means that we ought to live with an open mind for expanding knowledge and humility before the things we don't know. Let me give you an example. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was invited to be a part of the Diversity Day at Grand Haven High School, and it was a stellar event in which some of you were exposed to the diversity of race, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion. It was exactly the kind of thing that you should be exposed to because you are entering a world that is full of diversity and diversity comes closer to home all the time. I mention this as an illustration because in the local newspaper we're carrying on a battle of words about the fact that that should not have been done and, of course, the sticking point is the question of sexual orientation. Some are saying these young people should not be exposed to the fact that sexual orientation is a given of our human nature. The scientists are studying it and all the information is not in. It's certainly obvious to anybody who has an open mind at all that sexual orientation is a part of the constitution of the human being and it is as diverse as are people, and yet you would think by reading the newspaper that you could quote a Bible verse that seems to condemn a same-sex union and that God has spoken and that's all there is to it! That really is not the case at all. The problem, you see, is that this Bible is used for some kind of absolute rulebook that has information in it rather than recognizing that this book is an ancient book, a marvelous book of the story of the spiritual experience of people, the people of Israel and the people who followed Jesus as a record of their experience, their encounter with God, their devotion to God. Instead of recognizing that, it becomes a kind of moral guidance book with rules in it. Now, the Bible says a lot about your sexuality. It says it to all of us, no matter what our orientation may be. It says be faithful and responsible in the exercise of this wonderful gift. But, the questions that we are aware of in our day about sexual orientation weren't even in the purview of this book. It doesn't address it at all! Of course, there were abusive sexual practices then and they were condemned and there is abuse of sexuality today and it should be condemned. That has nothing to do with whether a person is homosexual or heterosexual or somewhere inbetween, and to refuse to know that, to admit that, is simply to close your mind to what is obvious to all of us. So, one would live in ignorance, and one living in ignorance could become arrogant, and when ignorance and arrogance combine, the potential for violence is there. This is not a sermon about sexual orientation. Don't forget my point: You are never going to have absolute Truth with a capital T. I use the other only as an illustration of the disruption and the disharmony and the alienation and the violence that can occur when people think they have the absolute Truth spoken by God rather than recognizing that we are people on the © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   way, but that knowledge is expanding and we must be open to new knowledge, and then change our mind where necessary, but always be humble because the capital T Truth is God's, never the possession of the human. Dear God, I wish someone had told me that. There is another thing somewhat related and that is that life isn't neat. It is complex and full of ambiguity. It is not simple to find your way. It is not easy to be human. It is full of questions and if we're honest it is full of struggle and wrestling within, and I use as an example of this my hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 just before the camp where he was incarcerated was liberated. Bonhoeffer was a pastor and a theologian and he was really in his heart a pacifist. He really believed that to follow Jesus was to be nonviolent. But, he was in that situation of the rise of Hitler and Nazism, and he recognized that if Nazism were to prevail, Western civilization would be lost, and so Bonhoeffer as a pacifist made a decision to join a conspiracy to kill Hitler. Now, do you see the conflict? I'm a pacifist; I don't believe in violence and now I join a conspiracy to kill the head of state, which is treason as well as murder. Can't you see the conflict? Can you not see that this man wrestled within himself and he has this strong conviction about being non-violent and yet he sees what he has to do. He has to act. In the human arena, you are going to have to act and you are not always going to know that it is exactly this or that; you are going to have to act with limited knowledge and limited insight and sometimes you are going to make a mistake and you are going to do something wrong, because life is difficult and life is complex and life is full of ambiguity, and you have to act without knowing everything, and you cannot know everything, but you have to follow your conscience and follow your heart and do what you think you have to do, knowing that it is a judgment call. Read Bonhoeffer's poem in the back of the liturgy, "Who Am I?" This brilliant, deeply spiritual person -was he cock-sure, self-righteous? Not at all. He said, "Who am I?" Those in the prison whose life he lighted up because he led them in prayers and worship, they admired him and respected him. He was a fragrant presence there, but he said, "They think of me that way, but who am I? Am I that, or am I what I feel inside me, with all the struggle and all the distress and all the turmoil in my soul. Am I a hypocrite? Am I one thing one day, one thing another day?" And finally, "Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!" That statement came out of the cauldron, that came out of struggle, because life is not easy. The corners are not neat; loose ends are not all tied up and you are going to have to live with that. That brings me to a final word about God. I put some things in the liturgy, in the insert by St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I wish somebody had told me that God was in everything and present to me in every moment, in every experience. Don't get me wrong - I had a deeply sensitive and devoted home and church and I am grateful for that, but what I am saying is the impression of God I had was like a super-policeman up there keeping records. © Grand Valley State University �I Wish Someone Had Told Me That – Or Did They? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Even St. Paul said that we come into this world at enmity with God. I felt there was an adversarial relationship with God and that if I didn't keep in the tracks pretty well I would incur guilt and then I'd be alienated from God and it seemed to me that there was an awful lot of that in my nurture, my growing up. I don't know how to tell you something different, except that I don't know how important God is to you right now, but God will become important to you and when that moment comes, I want you to know that it's the God of Hosea, the Hebrew prophet who spoke about Israel and Israel's rebellion and disobedience and all of that, even though God had tenderly nurtured them and cared for them, and in this very human presentation of God, the prophet speaks of God as being angry with them. Then, however, the prophet has this deep, deep insight, for he puts these words in God's mouth: How can I give you up, 0 Israel? How can I give you up? I should give you up, but how should I give you up? I can't give you up because I love you. The cosmic lover. I'll never give you up. I can't give you up. I'll never abandon you. I don't care where your road takes you, what experiences you have, remember Hosea's God, because Hosea got it right in the midst of a lot of other stuff where he spoke of the God who is a lover who will never let you go and is as present to you as your breath is, in some burning bush or flaming sunset or in some human relationship in which you find yourself made whole. In all of that, God is. God is the God that Paul pictures in the 8th chapter of Romans who is for you. If God is for us, who can be against us? And then he gives us that picture which you hadn't ought to literalize, but the picture of Jesus who dies crucified, risen, ascended, and sitting at the throne of God and making intercession for us. In other words, you have an advocate at the throne of power of the universe. That's the picture; that's the image. But the idea of it is that there is something in the heart of things that is for you, for you, on your side, that will never let you go. Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I don't care how ambiguous your situation, how poor your judgment, what wrong path you may take, how much you stand in confusion before all of the options that hit you in your life, God is with you, win be with you, will never let you go. I sort of knew that, but God wasn't so user-friendly for me, and I want you to know there is no adversarial relationship between you and the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and so relax a bit, open your mind to truth wherever you find it, act in your life according to your vision and your values, in the midst of the ambiguity in which you don't always know the answers, and love God, love God, because you are loved of God, and that will never change and that's the greatest thing in the world. God bless you. © 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 Baccalaureate Sunday, Eastertide VII Scripture Text Romans 8:31, 39 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000604 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-06-04 Title A name given to the resource I Wish Someone Had Told Me That - Or, Did They? 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 June 4, 2000 entitled "I Wish Someone Had Told Me That - Or, Did They?", on the occasion of Baccalaureate Sunday, Eastertide VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Romans 8:31, 39. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Diversity Immanence Inclusive Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dbe36d1c42c3340e1b4fdb0bcc32a5ac.mp3 0de8f44af70f1f599749585a5301089e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/993a0284743ca0a1602d753c2b69aca6.pdf 0740458f6bebd4bafcc47a5dc71499e2 PDF Text Text Observing Sabbath: Celebrating Grace and Freedom From the series: The Sacramental Character of the Church Text: Deuteronomy 5:15; Colossians 2:20 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost VI, July 19, 1992 Transcription of the spoken sermon Remember that you were a slave ... and the Lord your God brought you out ... Deuteronomy 5:15 If with Christ you died ... why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Colossians 2:20 The call to Israel to observe the Sabbath is contained within what we call the Ten Commandments: the Law. Sometimes the first five books of the Old Testament are called the Law. But that translation, “Law,” is really inaccurate in terms of conveying how Israel received that teaching. Torah was the word. The first five books were the Torah. Torah means “a way of life,” and Israel received that word as a gracious gift of God, an invitation to fullness of life, a way in which life could be lived most richly, and human potential realized most fully. But because the call to observe Sabbath is in what we call the Ten Commandments, the Law, there has always been that tendency among us to legalize that command as though it had a kind of compelling compulsion about it that forced us into a ritual of servants and we often failed, I think, to sense the gracious gift that was the Sabbath. The original Ten Commandments, is in the book of Exodus, the 20th chapter. There, as we noted last week, Israel was called to observe Sabbath in order to recall week by week the creative act of God, in order to be reminded one day in seven, in order to have their being permeated with the realization that the whole world was alive with the life of God, to understand that the whole reality was to be viewed as a sacrament, as a source of knowledge and a cause for worship, that the world, what we call nature, the cosmic expanse, was to be received as a means of grace. It is only in the last couple of hundred years, in the wake of the Enlightenment, that we have spoken about nature as something over against us and as a kind of self-contained reality that could exist on its own. The breakthroughs in scientific understanding and technological advance have tended to reduce nature to a realm out there, as though it had independent status and was a self-contained © Grand Valley State University   �Observing Sabbath; Celebrating Grace Richard A. Rhem Page 2   existence. How many hours haven’t we argued fruitlessly about whether or not there is such a thing as a miracle? Have you ever been in a heated discussion about whether or not “prayer changes things?” I think that those very questions are the wrong questions. They propose a model in which there is the whole realm of nature, with God out there somewhere, having to break in. We speak of intervention, breaking in, as though all of this kind of exists on its own and now and then, on occasion, here and there, God drops in but, if God would be involved, would impact, would influence, God must come as permeating, as breathing in, as the life of the cosmos being the consequence of the breath of God. “You breathe and give them life,” said the psalmist. The last couple of hundred years in modern culture we have lost that sense of the world as Sacramental. Israel was called to pause at the end of every week, to stop, to look, to listen and to delight in creation as the gracious work of the good and gracious God; to rest, to let go, to cease their ceaseless striving and struggle, their desire to control and to manipulate; to give them a sense that they were not after all indispensable for the sustaining of all things. God is quite able to keep the planet in motion and the stars in the sky. God is beyond us; God is in us, with us and in all things so that all things must become a Sacrament that points us to God. To stop on Sabbath and smell the roses and luxuriate in the prodigal goodness of God who made the world, whose intention is for us to live in the world as if it were a Garden of Eden, a place of delight - that is the call of Sabbath. In a wonderful essay entitled “On Common Prayer,” Catherine Madsen makes the point that there is a holiness there - there! It is a given. She makes the point that holiness, that otherness, is in us intimately, permeating every atom of our body. God can’t abandon us. God is with us, in us, permeating the whole of reality, holding all things together. And then she goes on to make this wonderful connection to that sense of God that haunts us whether we name God or not. That presence of God that permeates us whether we are conscious or not is that which gives rise to unrest and the dream of redemption. She writes that “there is something that loves you in the world. ...there is something that loves you in the world.” A voice that speaks to you within, in the worst despair, is not different than the voice that called the world into being. What makes your body give off heat? It is the same fire that sleeps in the rocks and is changed from light into matter by the plants. The fire that lights the sun and the other stars. Holiness is there and there is “something out there in the world that loves you,” and the world is a means of grace if we would pause to take it in, to give heed, to pay attention with a kind of regular, rhythmic discipline. Observance of the Sabbath – resting, pausing long enough to dream another dream, and to allow our imagination to connect us with that which is not simply beyond us but is woven into the very fabric of our being. But that raises a question for us. There is something that loves you out there in the world - how would one name that love? God created the heavens and the © Grand Valley State University �Observing Sabbath; Celebrating Grace Richard A. Rhem Page 3   earth, and so nature is not some independent existence but is in-breathed by the breath of God. But God is not only the God of our space, but the God of our time. Israel was called to observe Sabbath in Exodus 20 to be reminded of the spatial dimension of its home in God. But in the second giving of the Law, in the book of Deuteronomy in the 5th chapter, the verses we read a moment ago, Israel is called to observe Sabbath - not to remember creation, but to remember its liberation from Egyptian slavery. There God calls Israel to remember the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath in order to be reminded one day in seven that they were slaves one time and God set them free. The God of creation is the God of covenant faithfulness. The God of creation is the God of redemption. The something that loves you out there in the world – that which is intrinsic in the very fabric of reality – has a name and a face. It is a God who is for us, who would always liberate and set us free, the God who is gracious and who is on the side of God’s people. And so Israel was called every seventh day to stop, to rest and to worship. And in that pause, in that oasis at the end of the week, to have its perspective shaped once again. To know that it lives in the environment, the spatial expanse brought forth by the Word of God, and that it lived as a people graced by the God that would set all humankind free. The God of Creation. The God of Redemption. And we can see how Israel annually in its Passover Feast celebrated that release from bondage, from the slavery in Egypt – but not only annually in the Passover Feast, but every Sabbath. Every week in the rhythm of labor and liturgy, in the rhythm of work and worship it was called to remember and to hope. God is not only the God of creation, but the God of history, the God of our time. So Israel was called always to remember that the God of its past would be the God of its future, and Israel was the one who gave to the world a whole sense of history - of movement. The ancient Eastern cultures lived in the eternal cycle of the coming and return. Israel gave to the world the idea of a beginning, and an end, and a meantime, and in its festival celebrations, it remembered and it hoped. It had already received and it had a promise of more to come, and it lived always in that remembering and hoping. Christian worship is patterned obviously on that as well, for we are a people who come together weekly. We celebrate one great central event, when God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We celebrate on the first day of the week because on the first day of the week God raised Jesus from the dead. We call the first day of the week the Lord’s Day. And we come together, not only on Easter Sunday to celebrate the Resurrection, but we come together Sunday by Sunday by Sunday, because every Sunday is a little Easter. Even the Sundays in the season of Lent are not Lenten days, they are Sundays in Lent, because in the inside of the church it was recognized that, after Easter, you cannot keep Lent on Sunday. You know I see how difficult it is for churches to make changes, but twenty years ago we changed our name to Christ Community Church. For twenty years pastors © Grand Valley State University �Observing Sabbath; Celebrating Grace Richard A. Rhem Page 4   have contacted me to ask, “How in the world did you do that? We had a “Name the Church contest and everybody got offended and we lost the whole thing.” I don’t know how we did it, but we did. But most of the time churches can’t do anything. Most of the time you can’t change anything in the church because it is all absolutized and made sacred as though it is God’s way once it’s done. And it seems the greatest blasphemy to violate the principle “we have always done it that way.” I would have liked to have been there in the early church when they moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Can you imagine the discussions around the table as they were breaking bread and pouring the cup? For centuries, for generations, it’s in the Bible, the seventh day. When I was a kid there was an old man in the north end of Kalamazoo who had a stake truck with big sides. It looked like that house over on Jackson in Grand Haven, where it’s written all over you know - verses, and you can read the news by going by the house. (Laughter) This truck was plastered with writing. I remember as a little kid that he offered so much money to the person that could prove that the church should move from the seventh day to the first day of worship. I always wanted to take up that challenge, but the prize wasn’t enough to validate the work. But I will never forget that, and I wondered about that as a kid. But now I wonder about how they were ever able to do it. Can you imagine? Moving from Saturday to Sunday? And, obviously in doing that, they were moving to the first day of the week as the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead because they knew now that the center of their life was in Christ. “Your life is hid with Christ in God, if then you will be raised with Christ.” Their whole life was in Christ. The whole ball game was the new life, the new creation in Jesus Christ. And so they moved from that Sabbath observance to the observance of Sabbath on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, Little Easter, in order, week by week, by week, to remember. It wasn’t enough once in the springtime to come together in a great press of people in the resurrection. Once every week, the first day of the week. Every time we gather here it is because God raised Christ from the dead. And because he lives, you too live! Every week we come here in order to have confirmed again in the depths of our being “that there is someone out there that loves us,” that the God that we serve is the God of grace and liberation and freedom, who would break the shackles of every form of human bondage and servitude. The God whom we worship is a God for us, the God who brings us joy and springs forth from us - doxology and praise and hallelujah. The whole worship of the Church is celebration of Easter, and that was so overwhelming that they were able to break with that deeply imbedded tradition. Something written in the Word of God to observe the seventh day - moved to the first day, which shows that they were liberated. They were freed from religion. © Grand Valley State University �Observing Sabbath; Celebrating Grace Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Oh, to be free from religion. Religion binds and cripples. Jesus was so angry at the religious leaders who piled legalism upon legalism, regulation upon regulation. He said, “You make these people seven times more the children of hell than when you began with them.” Paul writes after the resurrection and after Easter to those who were disturbing the Easter at Colossi. And he said to the believers, “Don’t let anybody upset you and deceive you with philosophies about don’t handle and don’t touch, and don’t taste. Don’t let anybody lay on you some kind of ironclad rule that says you’ve got to do this on Sunday or Saturday or on Monday or Tuesday. Are you not free? Have you not died with Christ and been raised again? If then you be with Christ, set your mind on the things that are above, while your life is hid in Christ with God. You are free by God’s grace, and don’t forget it.” The only way not to forget it is to observe Sabbath, to pause in the regular rhythm of one’s life. Instead of six and one it becomes one and six. And it is the same principle. It is that we might never doubt that there is a great, gracious life force permeating into the whole of reality and every molecule and atom of our body that could never abandon us. “Something out there loves you in the world,” and that love has a name and a face, and it has appeared in our midst as Jesus Christ our Lord, who was raised from the dead. As I was thinking about this I realized how important it is. I confessed to you last week and said that being raised as a kid amid the heavy legalism of Sabbath observance, I was tempted to kick the habit. Going into this profession that was difficult, but I did everything possible to convince myself that I wasn’t really still bound in that kind of legalism. Then I began to see that the observance of Sabbath was such a great gift and grace, and that the only way that the people of God have continued through the generations is that they have been a people who have never forgotten because they have always been called to remember. And unless there is a discipline and a routine and a rhythm in our lives, we will soon forget. It is easy to forget. God will not cease loving you, but you will cease being conscious of it. And what is it to be loved and not be conscious of it. And so we are called to take heed, to pay attention. So I grumble a bit about ugly Sundays, but as a kid I did know that there was a special day, and as a kid I did know who I was and to whom I belonged. The only problem is, I think in the western tradition of the Christian church, we somehow or other got our focus off Resurrection and Easter, and moved it to the cross and Good Friday and our sin and our guilt. You say, “Well isn’t that what the Bible says?” No. Not the only thing the Bible says. You say, “Well isn’t that Christian?” No. It’s western, medieval, Catholic Christianity that permeates our Reformed Protestantism as well. The focus of the Western Church – Roman, medieval, filtering into Reformation, Protestant – has its center in the cross. Its fascination is with sin and guilt as the major problem, and the atonement. © Grand Valley State University �Observing Sabbath; Celebrating Grace Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Now if you were raised in the Eastern Orthodox Church in Istanbul, if you were a child of the Eastern Rite, you wouldn’t know all about that cross and heavy sin and guilt, and strong emphasis on atonement. You would come into this church and it would be foggy. You could hardly see me - and that might be a means of grace. (Laughter) But the reason that you wouldn’t be able to see me clearly is because there would be these clouds of incense. If you went to San Sofia in Istanbul in this marvelous, marvelous place you would see an old mosaic of the victorious Pentocrater, the triumphant Christ. And from the altar there would be billows of smoke going heavenward and there would be priests everywhere in all kinds of flowing garb. There would be all of the warmth and sensuousness of that which is human, poised and praising in Doxology the Creator who had raised Jesus from the dead. A totally different feel. A different focus. A different center. Which is right? Well, you need a little of both. But I would have to vote with the Eastern Rite because and this is my basis for saying that – in the Eastern Orthodox Church, with its focus on Easter, on Resurrection, on a risen Christ and Doxology as worship and praise, you still experience the original intention of moving off Saturday to Sunday, rather than moving off Saturday to Good Friday. Now I have never read that anywhere and I can’t swear it is true, but I wonder. Isn’t that interesting? In the instance of the infant Christian community, they did not make their sacred day Friday, they made it Sunday because the central thing is not sin and our guilt and the cross, it is the life-giving gracious God who raises Jesus from the dead and permeates us with life, who promised “because I live, you too shall live.” So Sunday is a celebration. It is a day for Doxology. It is a day for incense. It is a day for pulling out all the stops. For dancing and singing. (From the congregation “Amen.”) All right - I have been waiting twenty-five years for that. (Laughter and applause.) I’ll bet you I am right. I bet I’m right. And I’ll bet you church going wouldn’t be just a heavy obligation, a legalistic demand, if it were such that one came just one day in seven into this place and was lost in wonder, love and grace and praise, knowing that the whole world is resplendent and shot through with God’s life, that the something out there that loves one is the Creator and the Liberator, the God revealed in the face of Jesus. Then Sabbath observance would become the gift and the joy that I suspect that God always intended it to be. Paul said, “Don’t let anybody lay a lot of legalistic clap-trap on you, but don’t forget to remember.” As I said, I grumble a bit about all those ugly Sundays. They nearly killed me as a kid. But I’ll tell you what, parents and grandparents. You bring your kids here regularly Sunday after Sunday, bring them to the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday, kneel with them. Let them hear you sing and watch you pray, and they’ll be as hopelessly addicted as I am. The center of Christian worship is Doxology, and the central act is Eucharist, which is a Greek word for thanksgiving. And on Easter this past year I celebrated the bread and the wine as Eucharist for the first time in my life - I took Holy Communion on Easter and suddenly understood its true heart: the presence of the risen, living Lord. That that’s worship. That’s good, huh? I like it. © 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 VI Series The Sacramental Character of the Church Scripture Text Deuteronomy 5:15, Colossians 2:20 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-0-19920719 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992-07-19 Title A name given to the resource Observing Sabbath, Celebrating Grace and Freedom 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 July 19, 1992 entitled "Observing Sabbath, Celebrating Grace and Freedom", as part of the series "The Sacramental Character of the Church", on the occasion of Pentecost VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Deuteronomy 5:15, Colossians 2:20. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Creation Easter Immanence Love Sabbath Sacrament Worship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eaffc0ebda3e36798ccf63eb121224ea.mp3 cfafb7a9ff11dc0c63fe34be26ef2ae8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/71e0200e982e076d0c2c422109477cc6.pdf a1256cc3cd868296042b959a9ac521a8 PDF Text Text The God Who Is There For Us From the sermon series: God, Our Ally Text: Isaiah 57: 15; Hebrews 4: 13, 16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 14, 1985 Transcription of the spoken sermon God, Our Ally. That is an affirmation of faith. It is certainly one of the most significant and meaningful statements one could make and to live with such a conviction is to be in possession of one of the most necessary truths for human happiness and wellbeing. God is for us. Human existence is embraced by grace. So to live is to have a foundation for the present and hope for the future. Who is this God? How do we know Him? These are deep questions whose answers are shrouded in mystery. God is not "at hand." He is not simply available. To know Him is beyond human capacity; yet He has made Himself known. This series of messages is an attempt from a variety of biblical texts and a variety of angles to say "God is our ally; He is for us." But to speak of God, let alone to speak of Him in a whole series of messages seems almost presumptuous. How dare one presume to speak of this One Who is hidden in mystery? Would one not do well simply to be silent? Yet that cannot be the answer, for God has revealed Himself; He has made Himself known. Thus He wills to be known and He wills that we have knowledge of Him. On the other hand, as I reflect on this task, I am quite certain most sermons purport to know too much. I am certain as well that there is often a craving in the human mind and heart to know more than can be known of God and, rather than acknowledging the limits of our thinking in proper humility, we tend to cut God down to a size in which we can handle Him. © Grand Valley State University   �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 2   I make this confession early on in this series because I want to admit to the impossibility of speaking about God even as I attempt to do so, simply to make you aware that I am aware of how inadequate are these stammering attempts to speak of Him. Thus we look to the Spirit to reveal to us truth too deep for us to grasp through our own power of reason and intuition. "The God Who Is There For Us." That is the focus. "There for us" in the sense of being the solid foundation of life, the sustainer of our life, the strong support and source of comfort for the human pilgrimage which is our life. I. Let me begin with the simple assertion that we need God. The consciousness of that fact must be why we are here. Of course, for some of us this appointment is not a matter of decision. We have made that decision long since - this is the Lord's Day and it is a day first of all for worship. And so it is not as though we awoke with a conscious longing for that encounter and communion that happens in this setting and therefore we have come. Yet, however we happen to be here, it is reflective of some deep-seated sense that we need God, that we long for His presence, that we find a fulfillment of life not within ourselves but only in relationship to One Who is beyond the limits of our time and space and human rationality. Were I to make a list of the dozen most influential books that have shaped my thinking, one would surely be Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. It won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 1974 and it is one of those works that gives an overview and summary in lucid fashion of a vast area of human thought and endeavor. In this case the book focuses on the insights gained from the movement of psychoanalysis from its beginnings in the work of Sigmund Freud through the modification of those insights in the work of Otto Rank. What gripped me in this summarization of the best insight of psychoanalysis into the nature of the human being was the acknowledgment that what a human being most desperately needs to be fully human is precisely what the Christian Gospel offers. Through the work of Freud, the work of an earlier philosopher and Christian came to be appreciated for the depth of truth it contained. That thinker was Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard summarized the human situation profoundly and found the answer to the human dilemma in the leap of faith, casting oneself into the arms of God. Kierkegaard held that Once a person begins to look to his relationship to the Ultimate Power, to infinitude, and to refashion his links from those around him to that Ultimate Power, he opens up to himself the horizon of unlimited possibility, of real freedom. This is Kierkegaard's message, the culmination of his whole argument about the dead-ends of character ... One goes through it all to arrive at faith, the faith that one's very creatureliness has © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 3   some meaning to a Creator; that despite one's true insignificance, weakness, death, one's existence has meaning in some ultimate sense because it exists within an eternal and infinite scheme of things brought about and maintained to some kind of design by some creative force. Again and again throughout his writings Kierkegaard repeats the basic formula of faith: one is a creature who can do nothing, but one exists over against a living God for whom "everything is possible." (Becker, The Denial of Death, p. 90) From a life-long study of the human psyche in the discipline of psychoanalysis, Otto Rank concluded Kierkegaard was right. ... Rank joins Kierkegaard in the belief that one should not stop and circumscribe his life with beyonds that are near at hand, or a bit further out, or created by oneself. One should reach for the "highest beyond of religion. ... (p. 174) Rank recognized that the scientific study of the human being could strip him bare, expose his delusion and defense mechanism, but could not allow the person to find out who he is and why he is here on earth, why he has to die, and how he can make his life a triumph. (p. 193) He declares, Modern man needs a "Thou" to whom to turn for spiritual and moral dependence, and as God was in eclipse, the therapist has had to replace Him. ... Becker indicates that these two disparate thinkers, one a Christian of the 19th Century and one a psychoanalyst of the 20th, ... reached the same conclusion after the most exhaustive psychological quest: that at the very furtherest reaches of scientific description, psychology has to give way to "theology" - that is, to a world-view that absorbs the individual's conflicts and guilt and offers him the possibility for some kind of heroic apotheosis. Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level, (p. 196) Rank was not a Christian believer nor is Becker. Neither of them espoused the answer of the Christian faith. Yet they saw that the lostness of the modern person is precisely that she has been robbed of faith in transcendence. The one thing modern man cannot do is what Kierkegaard prescribed: The lonely leap into faith, the naive personal trust in some kind of transcendental support for one's life. (p. 200) © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 4   The characteristic of the modern mind is the banishment of mystery, of naive belief, of simple-minded hope. (p. 200) Perhaps I could summarize Becker's view and Rank's by saying that they believe that the Judeo-Christian faith provides precisely the view of Reality which a human being needs to be happy but they also believe it is an illusion. What they call illusion we hold to be the truth. God is and God is Who we need. The analysis of human nature and the scientific study of the human psyche confirm that to be human is to be frustrated and restless as long as one is turned in upon oneself or imprisoned within the structures and meanings of this world. There is something intrinsic in the human spirit that longs to leap beyond itself, to commit itself to a transcendent Reality - in a word - to God. Israel's God provided a resting place for the soul. In Isaiah 57 God speaks of His coming in judgment on His people but that judgment here, as is always true, was in order to turn his people back to Him. The prophet knew there was no peace except in Him. God expresses His gracious way thus: I cured him and gave him relief, and I brought him comfort in full measure, brought peace to those who mourned for him, ... peace for all men. ... But the wicked are like the troubled sea, a sea that cannot rest, whose troubled waters cast up mud and filth. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. (Isaiah 57:19-21, NEB) Wickedness in the Old Testament is unbelief. It is life lived on a purely human, secular plane. It is life without trust in God. Such a life says the Lord knows no peace. We do need God - to be fully human, to know peace. II. The Good News is that the God we need is the God Who is there for us. We have in the text from Isaiah a marvelous capsule summary of the biblical God. God speaks. He tells Who He is. For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. There is a portrait of the God we need. We see in this statement both the otherness of God and His nearness. God is the Wholly-Other. That is a designation made popular by Karl Barth. He had been schooled in the classic Liberalism of the 19th Century. Christian faith had become pretty much a © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 5   man-centered affair. The Gospel was reduced to the limits of human reason. It was Barth who sounded the alarm and called the whole European continent back to the Otherness of God - the Godness of God; the One Who contradicts us. He is a God beyond us. He is not like us only a little more so. He is other than we are. He is the Creator, we the creature. He is not of one being with us but the source and ground of our being. God is the exalted One - high and lofty. God is the Infinite One, the Absolute, the Ultimate Power. God is the Eternal One - beyond the limits of our time and space. It would be difficult to find a more exalted conception of God. Yet in the same breath we are told that He dwells with him who is of humble and contrite spirit. He dwells with the one who is crushed. And he draws near to revive. He is thus not only the Wholly-Other, but He is the God Who is near. He is the God Who in gracious condescension has come near to us to revive and redeem. In the classic doctrine of God the theologians have spoken of God's transcendence and God's immanence. In so speaking they have sought to let God be God - to honor His Otherness, to recognize that He is beyond us. Yet, in faithfulness to Scripture, they have spoken of His drawing near, of His being with His people. We must never lose that tension. God is God and, as we have already seen from the analysis of the human psyche, nothing less can satisfy the human heart or provide a resting place for the human spirit. God is a mystery. He is not at our disposal. Could we fathom his depths He would not be God and we would be restless still, striving on to find that Ultimate One Who limits our existence and grounds our being. Barth called the world back to the Otherness of God. The 19th Century had domesticated God and formed Him in the human image. About the same time another theologian, Rudolf Otto, wrote a book entitled The Idea of the Holy. In a forward to the English translation, Otto wrote, This book ... makes a serious attempt to analyze all the more exactly the feeling which remains where the concept fails. ... The English translator, John W. Harvey, in his Preface raised the question addressed in the work. © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Is religious experience essentially just a state of mind, a feeling, whether of oppression or of exaltation, a sense of 'sin' or an assurance of 'salvation;' or is it not rather our apprehension of 'the divine,' meaning by that term at least something independent of the mental and emotional state of the moment of experience? (p. XIII) Obviously Otto believed that in religious experience we apprehend the divine or God. But he recognized that God is not at our disposal. That a God within the limits of human reason is not God at all. Otto studied the history of religions and found a common thread. There was an apprehension of the divine which could only be described as a knowing beyond knowing. ... a unique kind of apprehension ... not to be reduced to ordinary intellectual or rational "knowing" with its terminology of notions and concepts, and yet - and this is the paradox of the matter - itself a genuine "knowing," the growing awareness of an object, deity. ... The primary fact is the confrontation of the human mind with a Something, whose character is only gradually learned, but which is from the first felt as a transcendent presence, ‘the beyond,’ even where it is also felt as ‘the within’ man. There you have the text from Isaiah. Otto's classic study names that transcendent presence the Holy, but the word Holy carries with it such a strong, ethereal connotation that he needed another word to describe that residue of experience. He chose the word "numinous" from the Latin numen, the most general Latin word for supernatural divine power. 'Numinous' feeling is, then, just this unique apprehension of a Something, whose character may at first seem to have little connection with our ordinary moral terms, but which later 'becomes charged' with the highest and deepest moral significance. (p. XVI) 'Numinous' and 'Numen' will, then, be words which bear no moral impact, but which stand for the specific non-rational religious apprehension and its objects, at all levels, from the first dim stirrings where religion can hardly yet be said to exist to the most exalted forms of spiritual experience, (p. XVII) It was Otto's contention that in Christianity The numinous elements, such as the sense of awe and reverence before infinite mystery and infinite majesty are yet combined and made one with the rational elements, assuring us that God is an all-righteous, allprovident, and all-loving Person, with Whom a man may enter into the most intimate relationship. The paradox of Isaiah's text is maintained. © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 7   It is a real knowledge of, and real personal communion with, a Being whose nature is yet above knowledge, and transcends personality. (p. XVII) One could not hope for a better commentary on the text than the explanation of the thesis of Rudolf Otto and his book did greatly impact theological development. The text itself is simply a condensation of the experience of Isaiah recorded in the sixth chapter of his prophecy where he entered the temple and saw the Lord "high and lifted up." He heard the angels sing the Sanctus, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts." The vision left him awestruck, smitten with his own unworthiness. But through the ministry of the angel he was cleansed and through the voice of God called and commissioned to service. In the midst of awe and wonder he was addressed, cleansed and given a task. The high and lofty One stooped to grace His servant. III. The God Who is there for us is the God with a human face. If we leave Isaiah we find in the New Testament the same gracious God Whose glory is now revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews was concerned for Jewish Christians who had responded to Jesus, received him as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope. They left the Temple and recognized the provisionalness of the Law and ceremony of the Old Covenant and embraced the Gospel. But now they were experiencing persecution and they were living under pressure. How normal for them to wonder if they had made a mistake, if perhaps this was a judgment on their offering of allegiance to Jesus. This letter addresses that question showing that Jesus is indeed the fulfillment and the culmination of the whole Old Covenant system. He warns them against drifting away or falling off in slackness and disobedience, as had that generation that was delivered from Egypt's bondage only to lose faith in the wilderness. He points them to the word of God that is, in this case, the message of God by which they have been addressed. It is, he claims, ... alive and active. It cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the place where life and spirit, joints and marrow divide. It sifts the purposes and thoughts of the heart. There is nothing in creation that can hide from him; everything lies naked and exposed to the eyes of the One with whom we have to reckon. (Hebrews 4:12-13) That is a call to faithfulness couched in a word of warning. The One with Whom we have to do is no marshmallow God, no passive deity or dumb idol. The words resonate with a seriousness that the thought of God calls forth. In a word, the writer is saying that one's whole life and existence is an open secret before the eyes of the living God Who judges according to absolutes of truth, righteousness and justice. There is no game of charades with Him. In the © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 8   presence of one another we mask the deep intent and purposes of our hearts and even before our own minds we hardly dare face the truth of our personal ambiguity, faithlessness and meanness. But He knows us - better than we know ourselves. What a frightening thought! But no; it is not so. In the very next paragraph the God Who searches the heart is described in magnificent fashion as the gracious God Who has drawn near to us in Jesus and Who bids us come to Him through Jesus to find in his grace timely help. Once again as in Isaiah 57:15, we have a marvelous juxtaposition -the Judge Who might be thought to instill fear and trembling is the God Whose seat is a throne of grace. To be sure, He is God; to be sure, He is pure light; to be sure, to be in His presence must inspire awe and wonder and certainly there is a proper reverence described in Scripture as the fear of God which must be part of any experience of His presence. But "fear and trembling" are not the last word; the last word is grace. For the God with Whom we have to do is the God with a human face. Did not Jesus say, If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. (John 14:9) Did not Paul write, For the same God who said, "Out of darkness let light shine," has caused his light to shine within us, to give the light of revelation - the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Corinthians 4:6) Quite consistent with the whole witness of the New Testament our writer points us to Jesus who brings us to God. Since therefore we have a great high priest ... Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the religion we profess. For ours is not a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who because of his likeness to us, has been tested every way, only without sin. Let us therefore boldly approach the throne of our gracious God where we may receive mercy and in his grace find timely help. (Hebrews 4:14-16) One could meditate on that gracious invitation for a long time and never fathom the mystery of love and depth of mercy there set forth. The Eternal God, the Infinite One, the Ultimate Power, the King of the Universe is full of mercy, ready to give grace in every time of need. The way is open; access is available at any moment. The invitation is come. © Grand Valley State University �The God Who Is There For Us Richard A. Rhem Page 9   The God we need is the God Who is there for us - the God with a human face - the God we see in the face of Jesus - the God of grace without limit and mercy without measure. That is the message - God, our ally is full of Grace. His anger is for a moment, the other side of His love in order to turn us and return us to Himself. His love is everlasting and His Grace will finally conquer us with gentle wooing and steady faithfulness. But these are words, expressed in stammering fashion, attempting to express the inexpressible. When all this has been said, it must be said further that words cannot convict us. That is the Spirit's work. Yet we have this encouragement that, if with all our heart we truly seek him, we shall surely find him. The longing of our hearts is already the sign of His early work and those who thirst for God will be satisfied. God is our Ally. He is there for us. Come to Him through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. References: Ernest Becker. The Denial of Death. First published in 1973. Rudolf Otto. The Idea of the Holy. Translated by John W. Harvey. Oxford University Press, 1958. © 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 VII Series God Our Ally Scripture Text Isaiah 57:15, Hebrews 4: 13, 16 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death, 1973 Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, 1958 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-0-19850714 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-07-14 Title A name given to the resource The God Who is There for Us 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 July 14, 1985 entitled "The God Who is There for Us", as part of the series "God Our Ally", on the occasion of Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 57:15, Hebrews 4: 13, 16. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Awe God of Grace Immanence Meaning Mystery Nature of God Revelation Spiritual Quest Transcendence