1 24 6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e1887fa554e635abde12ff2660feb73f.mp3 15d16a2af39b6b378dd9ff8b5c1f8540 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1453055d9391ff7d074e4536883f6d82.pdf 15869a96b27bf43d1261e47ce571de5f PDF Text Text The “Now” of the End Text 7:1-7,11 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent II, December 11, 1988 Transcription of the spoken sermon The phrase, “The End of History,” in the English language, can be understood in two ways: You can understand the phrase, “The End of History,” as some future, distant point in time, the point in time furthest out into the future. The End of History can speak of the terminus of history, the last act, the last event. That can be understood as the end of history. But, you can also understand the phrase, “The End of History,” in terms of history's goal, its meaning, its purpose. In that sense, it has nothing to do with future, terminus, last event; it has to do only with the present moment: the meaning and the goal of history in the present moment. And to use “The End of History” in that sense, is to recognize that the end of history is present to every moment of history. The goal and the meaning of history is present to this moment; it is present to every moment. Eternity. God is immediately present to every moment on the timeline. And so, in that sense, the end of history doesn't talk about something that is way out there in the future; it talks about the present moment before the face of God, the inner secrets, the core of history, its meaning, its purpose, its goal. The end of history is always present to every moment of history, and every present moment is filled with all of the potentiality and all of the possibility of history's purpose and meaning and goal. This present moment is the moment in which God deals with us. Sometimes we wish we lived in some other period of time. There's a little chorus the children sing bout Jesus taking children on his knee and blessing them and saying, “Oh I wish that I had been there then.” Well, it's not really so. There were all kinds of people that were there then who didn't see Jesus, that didn't see in Jesus the revelation of God. You could be present to Jesus physically and be miles away. And maybe you think it would be neat to be at the end of history, to be there for the final curtain. Well, maybe or maybe not. We can contemplate the end of the historical process. Scientists tell us maybe the whole thing will burn up and become a cinder, or maybe it will just grow cold and become an ice cube. We don't know how; we don't know when. © Grand Valley State University   �The “Now” of the End Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Now, there are a lot of people who talk about that last, furthest-out moment of history as though it were really important and the Bible had something to say about it, but it doesn't. History will wind down somehow or other, but you and I don't care. The Bible doesn't really have much to say about it; it doesn't matter. Here we are in the midst of time and the thing that's important for us to say is that we came from somewhere and so we talk about God as Creator, and there was a beginning point. Nobody was there. Nobody had a camcorder to catch it all. What we see are symbols and images and stories; we simply were here and believe that it began and so we believe that all of it came from God and so we talk about The Beginning, and we're here and we're on the way and so we talk about The End, and we believe that God was in the beginning, God will be in the end. But, as far as the beginning and the end is concerned, that's really all we can say. God was there; God will be there: God in the Beginning, God in the End. That's enough! Now, that's not where the Church has stopped. The Church in much of its tradition has loved to speculate about the events of the end and all that kind of stuff – I think distorting what is in the scripture with the images of the parables that are there about the end. But God doesn't really want us to bother about that out there. God is always concerned about this present moment. The Now of the End; that is, the present moment in terms of the ultimate purpose of history. That's really the only thing we have to be concerned about. I was coming out of a funeral home a month or three ago and as I walked out the door, there was a pastor (I knew he was a pastor because he had a great big floppy Bible) and he was there fleecing his flock, a couple of people. And as I walked by, I heard him say, “And that's the reason why I believe the Lord's going to come very soon.” And I had to smile. I said to Nancy, you know, pastors have been fleecing their flock that way for 2,000 years. How can you hold your breath for 2,000 years? How can you look in the sky or look at the history and say, “Well, obviously these are the last times. Obviously you see the signs all about you. Obviously Jesus is coming very soon.”? Friends, if you turn on your radio today you will find that everywhere on the dial is going to be all shot to heaven, and you are going to find pastors who will be telling you, “Repent and send in your offering, because the Lord is coming soon.” Now, there's going to be one set of pastors who are really living on the end who are going to be right. But, it won't be their fault. That's an accident. Somebody's got to be there in the end. But, as far as the Bible is concerned, we don't know when the end is going to be, and the Bible doesn't even care about it. The only thing that the address of scripture to us is concerned about is now. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. We don't know, we say there will be an end because there was a beginning and there is a present, and so there will be an end, but if we want to get serious with God, then it is the now of the end that God is really concerned about. It is this present moment. This present moment, God is © Grand Valley State University �The “Now” of the End Richard A. Rhem Page 3   present to our history. This present moment, eternity impinges on our time. This moment is freighted with eternity and that's the only moment we ever have to worry about. And so Paul went about preaching the Gospel, saying to people, “Receive the grace of God. Be ye reconciled to God, for the end is come.” Now, Paul in this letter was dealing with his own ministry, which was under attack. He said, “You know I sort of sense this old body decaying and wasting away, but I am being renewed every day.” And then he goes on to say in that fifth chapter which we often read at funerals, “And we know that if this earthly tabernacle is destroyed, we have a building with God not made with hands,” and oftentimes at funerals the application is that the physical body dies and that the spirit goes to be with Jesus. And then way out there somewhere there's supposed to be some kind of future resurrection. I really think we have to think that through. Paul is not talking about if this body dies, I have a building with God not made with hands. Paul is saying, “I don't want to die. This old body is decaying and getting crotchety. What I would really like is to have this old body clothed upon by my resurrected body, because I know that if this old body be destroyed, I've got a building.” We have a building, not we will have a building; we have a building now in heaven: the Body of Christ. Paul is so obsessed with his present, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ that he sees death as an incidental passage, simply a moment in time. We have this thing already and I can't wait until I come into the full experience of it, he says. Oh, right now I grunt and groan and I decay and I'm full of anguish and pain, but he says the thing that God has made me for is that other thing. In fact, he says, I would rather leave this present burden, this ambiguous existence and come fully into the experience of my God. Now, Paul kind of thought the end of history and the end of history were the same. He sort of thought that history at its terminus and history in its purpose were almost happening synonymously. Paul expected to wake up one morning and to have a rift in the sky and to see Jesus coming. Paul was praying for it. Paul was wrong. I mean, he was at least 2,000 years off. But he thought so. That didn't really matter. We can see in his writings in the New Testament he begins to make adjustment, because, well, even Paul couldn't hold his breath, you know, for even a dozen years. And so he began to see that maybe he was going to die. He didn't really want to die. He wanted to go zippo, but maybe he was going to die. That would be all right, too. It was kind of incidental because those who die fall asleep in Jesus and he will bring them with him and so forth. He had that all worked out. He didn't know when the terminus point was, but what he did understand was what the purpose of it all was. And the reason he was so turned on was the fact that, as far as he was concerned, it was over, there wasn't anything more to do. Do you ever wonder why the New Testament keeps talking about the last days, these last days? Well, in terms of the terminus, it was wrong. But, in terms of whatever had to happen in order for history to realize its purpose, it was © Grand Valley State University �The “Now” of the End Richard A. Rhem Page 4   absolutely right. There wasn't anything more to do. What did he understand had been done? Well, he says we understand that if one died for all, then all are dead. And he died for all, he says. Jesus died for all. And so he says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; all things have become new. “It's a whole new world, folks. It's now. It's present. I am living in a whole new world, a whole new creation. Death? Well, death, if death need be. But, death can't even touch me. If anyone is in Christ, it's a new creation. Old things have passed away, all things have become new because God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, but not imputing their trespasses to them. God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It's all over. It's done. Salvation is accomplished. Salvation is finished. Salvation is complete. There's nothing more to do. And so, come Lord Jesus!” So Paul thought. He was so convinced of the completion, the finished work of Jesus Christ for our salvation, of the issuing in of a whole new world, of the beginning of a whole new age, of the presence of the New Kingdom, that he was just marking time. Come, Lord Jesus. Any old day, now. Any old day, now. Where in the world are you? Well, maybe I've got to adjust my sights, but there's nothing more to do, it's all over. So, he says, who am I (in terms of his ministry now)? Why, he says, I'm just an ambassador for Christ, God working through me, pleading with you. I plead with you on God's behalf. Be reconciled to God. Why shouldn't you be reconciled to God? You should be reconciled to God. You should be friends with God. You should be friendly with God because God has become friendly with you in Jesus Christ. It's all over; it's all done. You want to carry your little knapsack of guilt around? What do you do that for? It's over. You want to carry a few sins around on your back? What do you do that for? It's over! Not imputing their sins to them. God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be the righteousness of God in him. Be ye reconciled, for it's all over. It's all ready. It's all finished. So, as an ambassador of Christ, God beseeches you through me, turn to God Who has turned to you. Say Yes to God, Who has said Yes to you. Why? Why would you receive the grace of God in vain? Why would you frustrate the grace of God? Don't you see what has happened? Don't you see what God did when the word became flesh and dwelt among us? Don't you see how Jesus walked our way, bore our sins, buried it in the depths of the sea so it's remembered no more and opened up heaven? Be ye reconciled to God. Come, come! What are you waiting for? Why do you hesitate? Aren't you good enough? Can't you make it? Won't you be able to hold on? It's not up to you anyway. It's all of grace. It's all of God. Come, come. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. That's all the Bible knows. Wonderful, good news. Paul does two things because of the finished nature of our redemption. He says, for one thing, I try to live in a pleasing way to God. He says, for one thing, I try whether in this present existence or when I come fully into God's presence, to be acceptable to Him. Paul is serious about the life he leads. There's a kind of moral earnestness about the Apostle because he says we're all going to appear before the © Grand Valley State University �The “Now” of the End Richard A. Rhem Page 5   judgment seat of Christ. Now, you say, why'd you drag that in? You had all that good news going. Why'd you drag that in? Well, I'm sorry, but Paul did. He said we'll all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. You say, well, if he doesn't impute our trespasses to us, if he's removed our guilt, if he's forgiven us and graced us, what's this judgment seat business? Well, it's certainly not judgment in the sense of condemnation. We certainly don't have to wonder what the verdict is. The verdict has been given. You're not guilty. But, that doesn't mean that life isn't a serious affair. It doesn't mean we come to Jesus and cover up the past and get rid of it as though we can get away without becoming fully transparent in the presence of God. There will be a moment when I will own my story. Not the story I would tell you if I could tell you my story. The story as I've lived it. You'll all be there. Look him in the face. That's who you are, eh? That's who I am. No secrets hid. No dark corners unexposed. That's who I am. We'll appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And that's really a kind of liberating thought, when you think about it. Because Christ is the judge. No new revelation for him. He's removed it. But we'll own it. And the very fact of that transparency before Jesus Christ says to us now, today maybe we need to clean up our act. It's serious business. Living a Christian life. The second thing Paul does is he goes everywhere trumpeting the good news. Be reconciled. Be reconciled. God has said Yes. And God can't say anymore. There's nothing more for God to do. All done. Over. Accomplished. Free. Come! Receive it. Embrace it. Now. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. It's the only moment you'll ever have, good friends, don't worry about the future. Don't ask me about the cartoons in the book of Revelation. Don't ask me about the thousand-year reign or the rupture or the rapture, however you call it. Don't ask me about any of that stuff. The only moment, the only concern, the only biblical imperative is now, now, now, now. Get ready to meet your Lord, Who is full of grace. Now is the day of salvation, and God is as close and immediate to this moment as at any moment you'll ever know. So, come. Be ye reconciled. Throw away your alienation and your estrangement and just let yourself be loved. Say Yes. Say Yes. Say Yes to God through Jesus Christ, through whom God said Yes to us. © 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 Advent III Scripture Text II Corinthians 6:2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19881211 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-12-11 Title A name given to the resource The "Now" of the End 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 December 11, 1988 entitled "The "Now" of the End", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 6:2. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Advent Apostle Paul Eschatology Forgiveness Salvation Unconditional Grace https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3dd9e643e68ea95d326ed36a65d0d723.mp3 3bc157e5a0f715ab4ceb77b218d90d86 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a52f42e8873b3d9af324a3df8f34f918.pdf e96d403f1c1efb63544a1b9f922b2546 PDF Text Text Authentication From the Lenten sermon series: The Servant of the Lord Text: Isaiah 53: 11; I Corinthians 15: 22-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Easter Sunday, April 3, 1988 Transcription of the spoken sermon After all his pains he shall be bathed in light, after his disgrace he shall be fully vindicated; so shall he my servant vindicate many, ... himself bearing the penalty of their guilt. Isaiah 53:11 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ... He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet...that God may be everything to everyone. I Corinthians 75:22-28 God raised Jesus from the dead. That is the great truth we celebrate on Easter. Jesus died. That is the somber reality marked in this sanctuary and around the world on Friday. As Jesus was hanging suspended between heaven and earth, they cruelly mocked him – the soldiers, the religious authorities, even those condemned with him. Did he trust in God? They taunted, let God rescue him… Matthew 27:43 How that must have wrenched him. His whole life, his whole message was posited on trust in God. Where was God, the God Whom he addressed intimately as “Abba, Father”? Is it any wonder that that terrible cry of dereliction found expression in his awful agony, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” He trusted in God; let God deliver him now... But there was no deliverance; Jesus breathed his last. Jesus died. Unless that black reality has seeped into the pores of our being, Easter will fail to appear in all its radical reality. Only the horrid darkness of Golgotha can adequately set the stage for the brightness, joy and wonder of Easter's dawn. The taunters at crucifixion were not without profound insight. They knew everything hinged on God’s intervention on behalf of His Servant. If heaven © Grand Valley State University   �Authentication Richard A. Rhem Page 2   remained relentless and Jesus really died, then put to death as well was all he claimed to be, all he claimed was true, the way he claimed to be God’s way. Those who conspired to put him to death knew instinctively that if there was no move from heaven, no action from God, they had won the day. “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now.” Quite right. That was the issue. If we are right - in agreement with the Gospel writers - that Jesus found his identity, the model of his ministry in the Servant Songs of Second Isaiah, then he must not have been surprised at the opposition he met in the days of his ministry. In the third of the songs, Isaiah 50:4-9, the Servant says, I offered my back to the lash and let my beard be plucked from my chin; I did not hide, my face from spitting and insult; Opposition and suffering must have come as no surprise. But the Servant was certain of the Lord's strong support. ... but the Lord God stands by to help me; therefore no insult can wound me. I have set my face like a flint... Beyond the suffering and persecution there was the promise of God's support and the clear call ... to be my salvation to earth’s fartherest bounds. Isaiah 49:6 And so, on the model of the servant, Jesus carried on a ministry of bringing Salvation, a ministry of healing executed with compassion in gentleness. ... not breaking a bruised reed, not snuffing out a smoldering wick. Isaiah 42:3 All of that must have passed before his mind's eye as he felt death closing in as the tormenters reminded him that the issue at stake was whether his trust in God would be vindicated; whether he, the Servant of the Lord, would be vindicated. O God, where are you now in my hour of desperate need? Yet, there was more that must have been going on in the mind and heart of Jesus, ravished with pain, alone in his anguish. If he found his identity and destiny in the Servant Songs, then he knew well the, to us, familiar 53rd chapter of Isaiah. We have referred to it in this series twice, noting the Lamb led to the slaughter, the innocent one bearing the transgression of his people. The Servant dies. ... he was cut off from the world of living men; stricken to death for my people’s transgression. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, a burial place, among the refuse of mankind. Isaiah 53:8-9 © Grand Valley State University �Authentication Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The Servant died. Jesus knew he was precipitating a crisis in Jerusalem. He must have sensed the inevitability of death. The institution of the Last Supper certainly indicates that. The Servant died. Jesus was dying, but the taunts must have been sharp spears thrusting into his heart. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him. But God made no move; heaven was silent. The evil designs of threatened religion and political leaders simply unfolded with no sign of intervention. But still there is more; the Servant of Isaiah 53 dies, but the Servant is also vindicated; the Servant's life and ministry is also authenticated. At the conclusion of the report of the Servant's vicarious suffering, bearing the transgressions of his people, we read: Yet the Lord took thought for his tortured Servant and healed him … so shall he enjoy long life and see his children’s children, and in his hand the Lord’s cause shall prosper. After all his pains he shall be bathed in light, after his disgrace he shall be fully vindicated. Isaiah 53:10-11 Jesus was dying. That could not have been a surprise to him. But, where was the vindication spoken of? This, of course, was Jesus’ supreme test; would he hold on trusting through his last breath? This claim of vindication and authentication in the fourth Servant Song is amazing. There was as yet in Israel no knowledge of resurrection, no understanding of a rising from the dead. Yet here we have an idea set forth of which there was no experience and no general expectation. The Servant dies on behalf of his people; God vindicates His Servant and the Servant is satisfied, content, that his mission is accomplished and his triumph is secured. This message is entitled “Authentication.” I contemplated using the term “vindication,” which appears in the text (Isaiah 53:11 NEB). However, that term has taken on a nuance with which I would not like God's raising of Jesus to be associated. It carries the meaning “to clear from censure, criticism, suspicion, or doubt, by means of demonstration; to justify or uphold by evidence or argument,” all of which properly applies to the significance of Jesus' resurrection. Yet it also conjures up images of vindication as avenging or revenge. © Grand Valley State University �Authentication Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Therefore, I have chosen the word “Authentication.” It is defined as “to invest with authority, to give legal validity to, to establish the title to credibility of a statement, or of a reputed fact.” It carries the idea of authorization, genuineness. It is this that God accomplished in raising Jesus from the dead. Easter is God's mighty “Yes” to Jesus, to the way of life he portrayed, the salvation he offered, the God to whom he pointed. Resurrection was for Jesus authentication. With real insight, the crucifiers taunted: He trusts in God; Let God rescue him now. God did; not before the mission was accomplished; but, miracle of miracles, when he had really died, God raised him from the dead. Resurrection is Jesus' authentication. So what? To answer that, we will move from the promise of vindication, life out of death, in Isaiah, beyond the narration of the event in the Gospel, to the consequence of resurrection in the Epistle. Paul's classic discussion of the reality of resurrection – Jesus’ and ours - in I Corinthians 15 makes the simple, straightforward claim: ... The truth is, Christ was raised to life. (vs. 20) He then draws the consequence: As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be brought to life. Paul envisions an unfolding drama - the story goes on from Easter. Christ, the first fruits, and afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Israel gathered the first-ripened grain and offered it to the Lord - a sign that the whole harvest was God's. Using that figure, Paul sees Jesus' resurrection as the first instance of a general resurrection to follow at his coming - an event Paul thought was near. At his coming, history would come to its End. Paul understood Jesus to be reigning even as he, Paul, was writing. Jesus was overcoming all opposition to God's rule. When completed, he would overcome the last enemy, death. Then he would yield up the Kingdom to God and God would become all in all, or, “everything to everyone.” Thus, in the resurrection, God authenticated His Servant Jesus and established a whole new order, an order Scripture speaks of as the new age, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom Jesus had claimed was arriving in his ministry. Jesus was authenticated: his claim authenticated. His resurrection was a sign that everything was new; a whole new world was born. © Grand Valley State University �Authentication Richard A. Rhem Page 5   We are already participating in that new order. We have passed from darkness to light, from death to life. Once, by nature, we were “in Adam,” subject to death. Now, by grace, we are “in Christ,” recipients of life. The old order did its best to defeat the gracious, saving purpose of God. Adam's race of which by nature we are all a part, crucified the Servant of the Lord. But God raised him up. In his death he bore the transgressions of his people, he justified the many whose sin he bore. In his resurrection he gives life to his people. Because Jesus lives, there is a whole new reality. The Kingdom of God, God's rule, acknowledged now by the Church, but one day every knee will bow, every tongue confess: Jesus is Lord. Because Jesus lives, we believe every obstacle and all opposition to God's desire and design to save will be overcome. Grace will triumph over all the forms and structures of evil, of darkness, of injustice, of sin and death. He trusted in God; let God deliver him - God did. And because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives! © 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 Easter Sunday Series The Servant of the Lord Scripture Text I Corinthians 15:22-28 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-0-19880403 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-04-03 Title A name given to the resource Authentication Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 3, 1988 entitled "Authentication", as part of the series "The Servant of the Lord", on the occasion of Easter Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Corinthians 15:22-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Easter Resurrection Salvation Servant of the Lord Suffering Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6f3ac4624ef7903bcf74df8cc7ebda25.mp3 383eccdaf8f29ca33da240fc9e946558 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/185ea116476724e6281225ad0b24f03f.pdf 9f7bebc6c38294ed1da1505c7bcc13b1 PDF Text Text Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God From the sermon series: The Mystery of God’s Sovereign Grace Text: Nehemiah 1:11; Nehemiah 2:5 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 6, 1987 Transcription of the spoken sermon History is the arena of human decision and action. We speak of some persons as history-makers; their leadership, decisions, actions have moved the course of history along and shaped the future. Who are the candidates for such designation? Each would have a different list. Every period of history would suggest different names. But, whoever is mentioned, we know intuitively that we are speaking of persons who grasped the situation, responded with a plan and acted decisively. The persons themselves were conscious of facing options, making decisions, and acting, sometimes with tremendous struggle – yet acting and thereby determining the course of human events. For example, early in the Second World War, the British secured a machine that gave them access to the German code machine called Heydrich-Enigma. British intelligence was thus able to gain access to Hitler's plans before they were executed. In November 1940, a message was decoded which indicated that the city of Coventry in England was to be bombed. Hitler was determined to devastate non-military targets in an attempt to crush civilian resistance. Within minutes of the order issued, Churchill had it in his hands. If he evacuated the city, he would reveal his knowledge of the German code; if he did not, thousands of civilians would be killed, or suffer. He kept the knowledge to himself. On November 14, the Germans struck. The raid was so devastating that Berlin boasted that every town in England would be "Coventryized." The sacrifice of Coventry guarded the secret of access to the German intelligence, which, it is claimed not without warrant, was what turned the tide of the war in Europe. Perhaps more than what happened on the battlefield, it was the secret war of intelligence that tipped the scale of victory for the Allies. But think of the terror of decision that rested on Churchill. He had to decide; he had to act; and he did - in great anguish. © Grand Valley State University   �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 2   But in this series of messages we have been pointing to another level of intention and action, a transcendent dimension - indeed, the involvement of the sovereign, gracious God. To speak of God in connection with history and human willing, deciding and acting is in no way to take away from the genuineness of the human agent. Queen Esther risked her life in pleading with the King on behalf of the Jewish people. Joseph utilized his every human gift and endowment in administering the Egyptian economy in preparation for the period of famine. Churchill's act was Churchill's act. But, human history is not one-dimensional. There is a sovereign and gracious God Who is working His purposes out in and through, in spite of us at times, and sometimes against the will and decision and action of the human agent. Esther's foster father, Mordecai, said, If you remain silent at such a time as this, relief and deliverance for the Jews will appear from another quarter. Esther 4:14 Joseph said to his fearful, pleading brothers: Do not be afraid… You planned to do me harm; but God planned to bring good out of it… Genesis 50:19-20 Such a conviction is at the heart of biblical faith. The events of history move along a dual track. The purpose of the eternal God is being effected and will finally be realized in and through the decisions and actions of human history. This series title begins with the word "Mystery." Again it must be emphasized: what we are attempting to point to is a mystery; it is not open to human observation, nor is it susceptible to human verification; it is an affirmation of faith; it reflects a fundamental trust in God, in God's sovereignty, in God's gracious purpose to redeem that will not fail. That purpose is revealed in God's election of Israel; it is revealed most fully in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; it is witnessed to in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; it has always been at the heart of the faith of the people of God. Theologians have argued and debated the question of the will and purpose of God and the relationship of God's will to human will and action. Abstractly one can only affirm the sovereignty of God's purpose at the expense of human freedom or, conversely, affirm the genuineness of human freedom at the expense of God's sovereignty. © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The Bible is not an abstract book of theology; it is the story of God's saving purposing intertwining with human willing and acting – human willing sometimes in revolt and rebellion, sometimes in obedience and commitment, but always genuinely human willing and acting. The Bible is a story - a narrative made up of many stories of happenings over wide centuries. The stories reveal what human reason and the canons of logic can never clarify - We purpose, plan and act; God purposes, plans and acts, and the latter is effected through the former. If there is this two-level development operative throughout history's course, where is the connection? Let me suggest that the connection lies in the prayer and commitment of the person who is available to God. It must be recognized that God's will and purpose meets resistance and opposition, sometimes outright rebellion. I must clarify further that everything that happens in history is not the will of God. There is so much so obviously contrary to that will. Therefore, I have said several times that God's purpose is effected through us, in spite of us, without us, against us. All that is true. Still, God's purpose marches on. He will create a new heaven and a new earth. He will redeem His people. He will save! But let us focus in this message on how God's purpose is effected through the human agent who is available to God to be the instrument of His purpose. And my contention in this message is that it is prayer that links heaven and earth; it is prayer that creates the opening for the thread of God's purpose to be woven into the tapestry of our lives. Perhaps you will respond that I have taken on a large enough task to relate the Divine and human will, the plan of God and human planning without now bringing in the mystery of prayer. One mystery is quite enough; why confuse matters further? I respond that it is not my purpose to dissolve the mystery - as if I could; rather, it is to point to the mystery. And further, to point to the mystery not by reasoned argument, but rather by using the biblical method - telling a story. The story today centers in Nehemiah. It is told in the Old Testament book that bears his name. Nehemiah was a layman. In the period after the Exile, he became the Governor of Jerusalem and with single-minded determination led the inhabitants of Jerusalem in a great effort that rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and restored good order and spiritual vitality to the people. In 587 the Babylonian Empire under the famous Nebuchadnezzar finally destroyed the city of Jerusalem, taking people into exile for a second time and this time burning the city, destroying the Temple and the walls, leaving the city in shambles. In the rise and fall of Empires, Babylon arose to dominance. The © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Persian King, Cyrus, overcame Babylon in 539. This was an important development because the Persians proved a benevolent power supportive of the religions of the empire. Cyrus promulgated an edict that the Jews in exile could return to Jerusalem. The prophet, Second Isaiah, saw Cyrus as an instrument in the hand of God - even called him a shepherd of Israel. He is my shepherd and shall fulfill my purposes. (Isaiah 44:28a) And again: Thus says the Lord to his anointed (messiah), to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped… (45:1) Some Jews, fired by the vision of the dawning Kingdom portrayed by Second Isaiah, returned to Jerusalem but not all, by far, for many of the exiles had prospered well in Babylon. Cyrus issued another decree that the house of God in Jerusalem should be rebuilt and the Temple vessels returned. Between 538 and 522 B.C., when Darius came to the Persian throne, a good number of Jews returned to Jerusalem. Fired by a vision for the restoration of the former glory of Jerusalem, the returned exiles found it was no easy matter to rehabilitate the city. The population was mixed, the Samaritans to the North having filtered down and intermarried. The returnees were a threat to what had become the new order, dismal though it was. There is always resistance to disturbing the status quo, even when it is nothing to speak of. But the work began. In the second year of their return, the foundation of the second Temple was laid. But soon opposition arose. The Samaritan governor refused permission for the work to continue. Friction developed between the people who had remained whom the exiles considered impure because of their mixed marriage and unauthorized worship practices, and the returned exiles who had a great zeal to set up a new community uncompromised by the lax practices of the past. The work of rebuilding remained in abeyance from the time of its cessation until the second year of Darius - the year 520 B.C. Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah carried on a crusade, which stirred the people to action anew. Opposition surfaced again, but a new decree from Darius set the work in motion again and he even gave royal support and financing. In 515 B.C., the second Temple was completed. But something must have happened to dampen the ardor of the returned community because not much further progress was made in rebuilding the city. The community was poor; leadership seemed to be lacking and there was not the will or vitality to move forward. Poverty of means and poverty of spirit seemed to characterize the Jerusalem community. © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 5   That brings the story up to the time of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had done well in exile. He had risen to prominence in the Persian court, being the cupbearer of the King, a position of great trust. He tasted the wine before the King to ensure that some palace plotter had not poisoned it. He was located in the empirical city of Susa and was visited by his brother, Hanani, who came from Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked his brother about the state of affairs in Jerusalem and was told about the sorry estate of the people and the city itself. He heard a report of the trouble and reproach that had fallen on the people of God, how the walls were still broken down and the gate yet in ruins. Hearing the report, Nehemiah says, I sat down and wept. Then he prayed, confessing the sin of the people, acknowledging their shortcomings and unfaithfulness and that their miserable condition was brought on by themselves. Yet he reminded God of His covenant faithfulness and then prayed, Grant me good success this day, and put it into this man’s heart (the King’s heart) to show me kindness. One day, appearing before the King, his unhappiness and distress must have been obvious and the King asked him what was wrong. He shared his grief at the terrible conditions in Jerusalem and the King responded, "What are you asking of me?" This was the moment, the opening Nehemiah had been looking for. Nehemiah says, I prayed to the God of heaven, and then I answered…send me to Judah, to the city…so that I may rebuild it. The King responds favorably. He sends not only Nehemiah, but also a royal escort and the authority to do what was on his heart. This was probably in the year 445 B.C. The story reads like a thriller. In spite of opposition, threat and peril, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls, installed gates and restored the security and dignity of the city, and in chapter 6:15 we read the task was accomplished in 52 days. That seems almost impossible. The historian Josephus says it took two years and four months. No matter. A monumental accomplishment was achieved. And he did more than build the walls. He became governor and brought renewal to the whole community life and worship. Nehemiah offered superb leadership. He had great strength of character and clarity of vision. His soul was fired by a religious passion for the wellbeing of the people of God and he threw himself into the task with vigor modeling out in his © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 6   own person, his attitude and action, his total commitment to the purpose of God, which fired his soul. Nehemiah was a person of deep religious commitment and faith. His first act upon hearing of the disgrace into which Jerusalem had fallen, was to pray. He prayed for success. He prayed before answering the King. He prayed when the opposition threatened to shut down the work (4:4-5), and in a beautiful balance of prayer and action, we read, So we prayed to our God, and posted a guard day and night against them. (4:9) Ejaculatory prayer punctuates the narrative (5:19, 6:9, 14, 13:14, 31). It is obvious that he was a truly devout person totally caught up in executing the mission he sensed was his and totally dependent for success on the power of God. One commentary summarizes this man thus: He combined in his person the qualities of firmness, love of and zeal for God, land, and people, and a fierce dedication to the proposition that his was the only way to achieve immediate ends to which he committed himself ... (Ezra-Nehemiah, Anchor Bible, p. LXXXIII) The story of Nehemiah is a thrilling tale of a person captivated by a vision, driven by a burning passion, totally committed to the purpose of God. Nehemiah was available to God to be an instrument of his purpose and totally dependent upon God to bring success to his careful planning and energetic action. Nehemiah is a model of how prayer links heaven and earth, Divine purpose and human agent in the carrying out of the sovereign, gracious purpose of God to establish His Kingdom. Reflecting on that story there are several important lessons to be learned about our theme: first, it must be obvious that the ministry of Nehemiah could only flow from a vision of the plan and purpose of God. Nehemiah was a Jew of the Exilic community long separated from Jerusalem if, in fact, he had ever been there, but he was not separated from the vision that has always characterized Israel at its best: its calling to be the concrete demonstration of God's Kingdom within history, its calling to be a light to the nations, a model of human society living under the gracious rule of its redeeming God. Nehemiah was a son of the covenant. He trusted the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He believed that God had a special destiny for this people and that in Abraham's seed all nations would be blessed. That's the reason for his deep anguish when he heard of the despair and disgrace in which Jerusalem was lying. It was that deep sense of calling to the redeeming purpose of God that created the grief of his soul at hearing that Jerusalem - City of God - was in such a state of destitution. © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 7   The point I want to stress is that it was precisely that vision of what God was about in the world that created in Nehemiah first the anguish, but then the burning desire to do something about the tragedy of this people chosen to be the instrument of God's saving purpose. Rather than sitting on his hands, shrugging his shoulders, letting things go on from bad to worse, the vision of the Kingdom drove him to respond, to make himself available to God as an instrument for the effecting of His purpose. Nothing of significance happens apart from a vision, a dream. There are many dreams; there are many good and worthy dreams - some are purely personal, some may be essentially selfish, some may embrace loved family, some may involve a community or larger segment of society, some the nation. But there is one dream that transcends them all, that takes us out of ourselves and saves us from boredom and meaninglessness - it is the dream of God's saving reign; it is to be caught up in that great purpose of the sovereign and gracious God to bring health, healing and salvation to the whole earth for all earth's children. From whence does it come? How is one captivated by such a vision? It cannot be self-generated; we cannot whip ourselves into a froth and manufacture passion out of our own soul. But we can open our minds, our inspirations to the vision of the Kingdom and just maybe God will put it in our hearts to yield ourselves to be the instrument of His purpose. That brings me to a second observation - such a vision lodged in our hearts will drive us to prayer. That seems as natural as breathing. Who has ever caught a glimpse of the cosmic sweep of God's purpose and then set out in his own strength to bring it about? Nehemiah did not rush headlong into frantic action. He heard the report and he wept. He was overcome with deep anguish. Before he made his report to the King for permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild it, there elapsed a period of four months. It was a time for prayer, meditation and waiting upon the Lord. If it was to be God's mission, it could only be nurtured in communion with God and God must take the initiative, create the opening. And God did! Prayer - communion with God must be the normal, intuitive response of one who senses the vision and begins to feel the calling. Only then will the situation ripen and clarity be achieved. It is God Who must open the doors for service for the one who would be available to Him. Nehemiah's deep concern was registered on his face. The King sensed something going on in the life of his servant. His question provided the opening and Nehemiah's preparation in prayer readied him to take the opportunity to make his request. That must always be the process by which we move from vision to © Grand Valley State University �Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God Richard A. Rhem Page 8   action. Prayer links heaven and earth and puts God's servant in the way of serving. But, thirdly, Nehemiah moved on then to exercise his best administrative gifts. He was accompanied by a royal escort, supplied with royal undergirding and he came to Jerusalem. But not with fanfare. He came and remained silent and hidden for three days while he took the situation in. He toured the ruins in the dark of night getting the feel of the situation. He planned his course wisely and carefully and only then called the citizenry together and unfolded his plan. In all of this, of course, he did not cease to pray; but he did not pray and then leave matters to happen as they might. He was praying as he planned and planning as he prayed. And finally he committed himself totally and without reservation to the effecting of the planning, poignantly aware that his was the decision to become involved, to make himself available, to be at God's disposal. He could have shrugged it off. What he was committing to was to be the instrument to effect God's plan, a plan that would finally prevail through him or without him. Did that recognition cut the nerve of his commitment? Did that knowledge sap his creative energy? No! On the contrary, God's plan became the foundation of his planning; God's sovereign purpose became the engine that drove his best efforts and galvanized his creative imagination. Finally, he could be totally committed and totally relaxed. His was the task; he chose it. But all is grace; all is of God. And if that collides in our rational faculties, it nonetheless rests easily in our depths because intuitively we know we are free and responsible – history-makers; but we "know" as well that all is of God, Whose sovereign, gracious purpose will prevail. Heaven and earth are wonderfully linked in prayer and commitment as one opens one's life to become the instrument of God's purpose. And one day the tapestry of history will include the tapestry of our personal histories, and woven through it all will be the thread of the purpose of God and that thread will spell "Grace." Amen. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIV Series The Mystery of God's Sovereign Grace Scripture Text Nehemiah 1:11, 2:5 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-0-19870906 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-09-06 Title A name given to the resource Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose 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 September 6, 1987 entitled "Commitment and Prayer in the Purpose of God", as part of the series "The Mystery of God's Sovereign Grace", on the occasion of Pentecost XIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Nehemiah 1:11, 2:5. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives God's Sovereign Grace Hebrew Scriptures Mystery Prayer Salvation Vision https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/da5fcc1cf7affa7689a8acc7c98ff66c.mp3 4508c2163ce6c177f52acbbf713803da https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7beb25a746e130ab88dc98445e3663d6.pdf 6d37b6b917f4beef3c452ea1035f784d PDF Text Text Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose From the sermon series: The Mystery of God’s Sovereign Grace Text: Esther 4:14 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 23, 1987 Transcription of the spoken sermon …if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise…from another quarter, but…who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 To have a sense that one's life is caught up in a larger purpose, a drama of cosmic proportion and eternal significance must be one of life's greatest gifts. To have a sense that one's life makes a difference, has a meaning and purpose, is to be energized, to be fulfilled, to find happiness. To have a sense that one's life plays a role in the gracious purpose of God must be the ultimate satisfaction. It is a source of peace and wellbeing; it conveys a sense of worth and value, enabling one to live with self-esteem and confidence. God's purpose is not accessible to human reason. It may even sound presumptuous to speak of finding our destiny in God's gracious purpose. Yet, the Scriptures are replete with stories of those who had a sense that God had a mission for them to execute through which He would effect His purposes. God does reveal Himself; He does move in and through the structures of history and the circumstances of our lives as He moves the created order toward the realization of His purposes. To believe that is an act of trust. It is trust in God, in God's sovereign, gracious purpose. It is trust in the midst of conflicting evidence and ambiguity. It is trust in the face of mystery. But it is trust which confirms itself in the assurance worked in the hearts of God's children by God's Spirit. Biblical faith affirms that God is active in history, that history will be brought finally to the goal God has established and that God will realize that goal through the free and responsible agency of those who make themselves available to be the instruments of His purpose. That is saying a great deal; it is a statement of faith trust in the providence of God. © Grand Valley State University   �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 2   That providence is not self-evident; it is not easy to trace; it can never be verified with anything like scientific proof. Providence operates in a provisional and guilty world, a world full of capricious events which we call chance and full of determinism, which we call fate. The purpose of God will be effected through the agency of free and responsible persons who can say "no" as well as "yes" to God's purpose; He will not crush nor coerce. Still, our faith affirms, He will accomplish His purpose -a purpose of salvation - working all things together for our good. That is our confidence. In all of life's circumstances, in light and shadow, in success and failure, in heights and depths, we are securely in the hand of God and, whether the way is plain or full of confusion, we trust God's sovereign grace to accomplish His goal; even more, as we open our lives to God we have a sense of destiny, of being a partner in the great drama of redemption. There has been so much argument and debate, so much confusion and conflict over the question of the will and purpose of God and finding God's will for one's life that it may seem futile to try once more to discern that purpose and discover one's destiny. Yet we do so not to engage in speculation, not to play theological games. Our purpose is rather to gain that sense of being in the will of God, of finding our destiny in His gracious purpose. A story is better than philosophical discourse and the Bible is full of narratives from which we gain insight into the trust that has characterized the People of God. Such a story is the Old Testament book of Esther. It was probably the most contested book to enter the Old Testament canon. It has always had its detractors, even among Jewish scholars. Martin Luther disliked it intensely. It has been much debated but finally it is part of the Jewish canon, part of our Old Testament and it witnesses to the theme of our present series, affirming in a powerful way faith in God's sovereign gracious purpose at work in the arena of human history. The story probably has an historical core, although it is probably also an adaptation of a Persian story about the origin of a festival – perhaps a Festival of the New Year. It tells of the origin of the Feast of Purim on the Jewish calendar. Just as the early Christians adapted pagan feasts, which lie behind our Christmas and Easter festivals, but filled them with Christian meaning, so the Jews in the story of Esther gave a "historical" setting for the origin of the Feast of Purim. The story itself is full of drama and intrigue. Carey A. Moore gives a concise resumé of the story in The Anchor Bible Commentary on Esther. He writes, Before going further, we should summarize the story which has raised so much controversy. One day, during one of his lavish drinking parties, King Xerxes was feeling high and ordered Queen Vashti to appear before his guests, so that he © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 3   might show off her much rumored beauty. When she refused, the king deposed her immediately (ch. i). Later he launched a large-scale search throughout the kingdom to find someone suitable to replace her. Among the many attractive candidates taken to his bed - but only after a year of extensive beauty preparations - was the Jewess Esther, the niece and adopted daughter of Mordecai the Jew. A beautiful and shapely girl, Esther was quite popular among all who knew her at the palace, and not surprisingly, the king chose her as his queen. Some time after this Mordecai learned about a court intrigue against the king; he told Esther, who in turn warned the king in Mordecai's name but without revealing that she herself was a Jewess. As it turned out, Moedecai's good deed was officially recorded although he was not rewarded at the time (ch. ii). Later on, Mordecai refused to bow down to the king's prime minister, Hainan, because he was an Amalekite and thus the mortal enemy of all Jews. In revenge for this disrespect, Haman persuaded the king to approve a pogrom against the people who were the principal obstacle to the.success of all his plans for the empire. These "enemies" were, of course, the Jews. Nevertheless, Haman succeeded in getting the pogrom accepted without identifying them by name. Thus an edict was sent throughout the empire, declaring that on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, all Jews, including women and children, were to be wiped out and their possessions plundered. Dictated by Haman but written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet, the edict was irrevocable (ch. iii). As soon as Mordecai heard about the edict, he ordered Esther to intercede for her people. Reluctant to approach the king unsummoned, for fear of being summarily executed, Esther was finally persuaded by Mordecai to take the risk. To improve her chances of success, she insisted that all the Jews in Susa, herself included, observe a strenuous three-day fast, after which she would appear, unsummoned, before the king in her most fetching attire (ch. iv). When Esther approached the throne three days later, the king received her most cordially, assuring her that her request would be granted no matter what it was. But instead of interceding for her people then and there, Esther invited the king and Haman, her greatest enemy, to dinner. At that time the king repeated his sweeping promise to grant her almost any request, but she asked only that the king and Haman come again for dinner the next day; then, she assured him, she would ask her favor. Haman, of course, went away jubilant, flattered that only he had been invited to the queen's dinner with the king. The taste of victory and joy turned to ashes in his mouth, however, when he noticed Mordecai sitting at the gate, acting as if nothing had happened to him or his people, and still refusing to bow down! Haman controlled himself until he got home, © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 4   where. after boasting to his wife Zeresh and friends of all his accomplishments and honors, he admitted to being robbed of any joy and self-respect by Mordecai's continuing contempt for him. When someone suggested he ask the king's permission to hang Mordecai, the idea struck him as perfect; and he ordered a seventy-five-foot gallows constructed outside his home (ch. v). That night, when the king could not sleep, he had his journal read aloud. In this way he was reminded of how Mordecai had saved his life by uncovering the assassination plot against him. Embarrassed to realize that Mordecai had never been rewarded, the king determined to remedy the matter right away and, on learning that his prime minister was waiting in the outer court, asked that he come in. Without indicating the particular person he had in mind, the king asked Haman what should be done for someone he especially wanted to honor. Unable to recognize anyone's merits but his own, Haman assumed that the king wanted to honor him; he therefore advised that a royal robe and horse be given to that man, and that a high-ranking official of the court go before him throughout the city, crying, "This is what is done for the man whom the king especially wants to honor!" One can imagine Haman's surprise and dismay on learning that Mordecai was the man to be so honored and that he, Haman, would be the high-ranking official to wait on Mordecai and walk before him. Returning to his home mortified and seeking solace, Haman was cautioned by his wife and friends that if Mordecai really was Jewish, then Haman would never get the better of him (ch. vi). If Haman left home for the queen's party hoping to forget his humiliating experience and have his ego bolstered, he was rudely disappointed. During the party the king reaffirmed, for the third time in two days, that he would grant Esther virtually any request. Realizing that it was now or never, Esther asked that she and her people be saved from destruction, arguing that she would not have bothered the king if they were only to be made slaves. When the king demanded that she identify her enemy, she pointed to Haman as the one who had abused his position of power and the king's friendship. So surprised and incensed was the king that he bolted from the room. Haman, left behind, begged Esther to intercede with the king on his behalf. As Haman begged Esther for his life, and possibly even touched her as she lay upon her dinner couch, the king returned. For this serious violation of decency and harem etiquette Haman was sentenced to death on the spot. When Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, informed him that Haman had constructed a gallows for Mordecai, the king ordered Haman to be hanged on it himself (ch. vii). As compensation for Esther's suffering, the king awarded her Haman's estate, which she, in turn, gave to Mordecai; the king also appointed Mordecai Haman's successor. Unable to revoke Haman's letter instituting © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 5   the pogrom against the Jews on the thirteenth of Adar, the king did the next best thing: he granted Mordecai full authority to compose a letter, in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet, granting Jews the right to defend themselves that day and, more importantly, encouraging all public officials to aid them. Mordecai hoped that this letter, copies of which were sent throughout the empire, might counteract the potential evil of Haman's letter; but although the letter may have had its intended effect on many, it did not deter all (ch. viii). When the thirteenth of Adar arrived, the enemies of the Jews were still so numerous that the Jews that day killed five hundred men in Susa and seventy-five thousand elsewhere. But although granted specific permission to plunder, the Jews did not do so. Throughout the empire they celebrated their victory on the fourteenth of Adar with feasting and the exchanging of gifts, but their enemies were still sufficiently strong in Susa for Esther to request permission to fight there the next day as well, and to expose the corpses of Haman's ten sons killed the day before. Permission was granted, and so the Jews in Susa fought also on the fourteenth, killing three hundred people but not taking any plunder. Thus they celebrated their victory on the fifteenth of Adar, instead of on the fourteenth with the rest of the Jews throughout the empire (ix 1-19). Mordecai kept a record of these things, and later wrote to all the Jews, commanding them to continue to observe Purim on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (the holiday being named after the pur, or "lots," which Haman had cast to determine the propitious day for the pogrom) as the days of salvation and deliverance, and to observe them with feasting and gladness. Later on, to re-enforce Mordecai’s command, Esther used her authority as queen and as the people's heroine to write a letter to the Jews throughout the empire, encouraging them to observe forever both days of Purim (ix, 20-32). With Mordecai as his prime minister, the king's fortunes and programs prospered; Mordecai himself grew in power and influence among the Persians and in the affections of the Jews (ch. x). Esther, like Ecclesiastes that provided our text for the first message in this series, is an Old Testament Wisdom book; it is probably neither pure fiction nor pure fact. It may be characterized as an historical novel. It has more in it of nationalistic passion than religious devotion; yet it witnesses to a profoundly held conviction which has always characterized the faith of Israel and thus of the Christian Church - namely - God is working His purpose out in the history of the world and He uses persons open to His call to be the instruments of His purposes. Esther found her destiny in the gracious purposes of God to rescue His people. This conviction is rooted in faith in God's sovereign gracious purpose to redeem the world. We can use the term predestination - God is a God of covenant. He © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 6   wills to be the God of us human persons and He created us to live in covenant community with Him. This is His predestinating will. That term scares us. It has been terribly abused, entangled with speculative philosophical notions that have made God too often a monster and the human person a puppet. Yet, rightly understood, predestination is the source of our confidence and our peace. God is for us - God will redeem the world, renew the whole cosmic order, gather His children, rebellious, guilty, anxious and untrusting though they be, to Himself and we shall dwell in the brightness of God's eternal kingdom. Predestination simply points to God's decision, God's intention that precedes everything. Predestination speaks of pre-decision, not pre-determination, as though everything is mapped out and set in ironclad mechanical fashion ahead of time. Everything that happens is not pre-determined. Everything that happens is not the will of God. God deals with us in a gracious personal relationship. God created us in His image endowing us with freedom and responsibility. He invites us to join in the movement of His Kingdom and the adventure of realizing the world's salvation, but God is not a divine bulldozer cutting a swath through all cosmic, historical and human obstacles; God is not a divine steamroller crushing and squashing all in His path. God invites cooperation, but tolerates opposition. And yet, and here is the mystery, His children who have come to trust Him live in the confidence that finally His purposes of love, of sovereign grace will be realized. All of this is evident in the words of Mordecai to Esther: …deliverance for the Jews will appear… The question in Mordecai's mind was not whether God would come to the aid of His people; it was only when and where and by whom. Mordecai confronted Esther in a calm and deliberate manner. He was confident under pressure. Disaster loomed in the near future; yet there is no panic; he is not biting his fingernails. He simply sets forth the situation inviting Esther to act, to put herself at God's disposal for the salvation of His people. Mordecai is not paralyzed by fear or overcome with anxiety. Nor is Mordecai a superficial optimist who simply whistles in the dark, hoping the evil will be denied by a cheery, if hollow exterior. The crisis is real; the situation is serious; tragedy may well be the outcome. His word to Esther is that if she keeps silence she need not think that her privileged position as Queen will secure her safety; she will be exposed to the same suffering and possible death as are all of her people. Faith in God's redemptive purpose, confidence in God's sovereign grace does not mean insulation from the suffering and tragedy of human existence. There is no safe island free from the ravages of human sin and the scourge of evil. Is it not paradoxical that precisely the Jewish people who have suffered so tragically throughout the centuries are the people who give to the world this faith in the God of history Whose sovereign grace will prevail? © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 7   In Fiddler On The Roof, the closing scene silhouettes the villagers of Anotevka and their wagons piled with their worldly possessions, leaving the village, on the road again seeking some safe oasis in a world that has visited pogroms and persecution on them, driving them from place to place but seldom giving them rest for long. Mordecai is no superficial observer of human existence. He knows he may die. He knows Esther may die. He knows his generation may be wiped out from the Persian empire. But he knows something more. God will not die, nor will His purposes finally be defeated - finally, "deliverance will appear." And then this, too, is so vividly illustrated in the story: God's sovereign grace operates, not apart from but precisely through the human agency of His people. This is the challenge Mordecai puts to Esther: Who knows whether it is not for such a time as this you have come to royal estate? Who knows, Esther, but that your rise to position in the Kingdom might not have been for just such a moment. In the Greek translation of the Esther story, the word for time is not chronos, ordinary time, the succession of moments and minutes and hours and days - the word from which we get chronology. Rather, the word is translated Kairos - the moment weighted with eternal significance, the opportune time. The critical moment, the moment which will shape and determine all succeeding moments of chronological time. The Kairos moment is the moment in history in which is unleashed the sovereign, gracious power of God which moves history along toward the goal of God's determining. It is a "hinge time" on which swings the future. It is the moment of great opportunity for those who would put themselves at God's disposal to be the instruments of His purpose. It may be missed. Jerusalem missed it and Jesus wept over the city, crying, If only you had known, on this great day, the way that leads to peace! But no; it is hidden from your sight…because you did not recognize God’s moment when it came. But it may be captured and one may sense that one's life, one's destiny is caught up in the gracious purpose of God to bring salvation to the world. Such a view of human existence, historical reality and the sovereign purpose of God is far removed from a pagan fatalistic view of things. God is not playing chess with us, moving us about on the board of history. There is genuine human involvement, sometimes yielding to His gracious will, sometimes resisting His © Grand Valley State University �Finding Our Destiny in God’s Gracious Purpose Richard A. Rhem Page 8   sovereign purpose. But through it all – and again – this is the mystery – God is working His purposes out. He has contingency plans. Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, “Say not we are the children of Abraham” as though only through them could God's purpose come about, for, Jesus said, “God can raise up of these stones children to Abraham.” God will not coerce us. But our stubborn rebellion will never paint God into a corner. All does not depend on us; that would be too heavy. But God will use us if we are willing, and to be caught up in God's great movement to bring about His kingdom is to find life's highest and best; it is to be finally satisfied, fulfilled, happy with a joy that will never fade but only grow through the eons of eternity as we live in the brightness of His eternal presence. Esther made her choice; she captured the moment; she was used of God as an instrument of salvation for God's people. She took the risk, saying, "If I perish, I perish." In total commitment to the purpose of God, she found her destiny. There is no higher privilege or richer gift. Reference: Carey A. Moore, Esther (The Anchor Bible Commentaries). Doubleday, 1971. © 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 XII Series The Mystery of God's Sovereign Grace Scripture Text Esther 4:14 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Carey A. Moore, Esther (Anchor Bible Commentaries), 1971. 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-0-19870823 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-08-23 Title A name given to the resource Finding Our Destiny in God's Gracious Purpose 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 23, 1987 entitled "Finding Our Destiny in God's Gracious Purpose", as part of the series "The Mystery of God's Sovereign Grace", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Esther 4:14. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Intention Hebrew Scriptures Nature of God Providence of God Salvation Sovereign Grace Wisdom Literature https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e622183f1e0cd091317afc0bbf39bdf2.mp3 abb62bb54b8c5ad6015d8b2001d3fcdb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/144bbe34a716e35d9da20af0d9dd2d6f.pdf 7ca02a1137396715bda1969816873676 PDF Text Text The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Text: II Corinthians 5: 17; 6: 2 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Eastertide II, April 6, 1986 Transcription of the spoken sermon When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun. II Corinthians 5: 17 …The day of Salvation has dawned. II Corinthians 6: 2 May I teach you a rather difficult word, which for most of you would not be part of your ordinary conversation? It is ontology. It is the science of Being. It is a branch of Philosophy, which studies the essence of being or the structure of Reality. It derives from the Greek word for “being,” ousia. Ontology refers to what is: the structure of Reality, the way things are. Now, what has Ontology to do with the Gospel of Eastertide? Very much, indeed. Easter changed the Ontological structure of the Cosmos. With the Resurrection of Jesus, God created a whole new world, a new reality. The Gospel is the announcement of that new world. To "hear" the Gospel is to be introduced into a whole new Ontology. To realize this and to grasp it by faith is to experience The First Day of the Rest of Your Life. Paul had experienced it. Jesus revealed it to him as the Risen Lord in a vision. The whole structure of Reality was changed for Paul. In one of his letters he expressed it this way: When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun. For Paul, in Jesus' death and resurrection, the day of salvation has dawned. © Grand Valley State University   �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Let us begin by listening to what the text is teaching us about the way things really are - the reality of our world and thus the reality of our situation. …there is a new world, the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun. As we have moved together through Lent, Holy Week and celebrated Easter Sunday, we have been aware of two worlds, two kingdoms. We heard Paul's story: A man of impeccable credentials, according to human standards of judgment, who says, But all such assets I have written off because of Christ…. I count everything sheer loss, because all is far outweighed by the gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. …all I care for is to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection… Paul ranked ahead of his fellows when judged by the performance principle. But that driven, compulsive need to establish and secure himself yielded no peace. Then he met Jesus. He learned life was not an achievement to be gained, but a gift to be received. He began to live by grace. It was the first day of the rest of his life. We have learned that grace does not free us from responsible commitment, but frees us to love as we have been loved. That is, to love unconditionally. That is the way God loves us. He demonstrated His love to us in that while we were yet enemies Christ died for us. Thus we saw that it is out of the abyss of love that grace flows, embracing us, melting our defenses, overcoming our weakness and our fear, our hostility. But on Palm Sunday we became very much aware that while the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of love and grace, has taken root in our old world in Jesus, yet the old world rages on refusing to let go. Jesus enters the City defenseless and vulnerable. He is totally free of worldly entanglement because he is wholly God's man. Because he is wholly God's man, he moves into the hostile environment where death awaits him with calm assurance. Unconditional love clashes with the established powers of this world. The High Priest announces the death sentence. Jesus is crucified. On Good Friday it would appear that the way of love is doomed to be crushed out by the way of expediency. And then dawned the Third Day. © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Easter was the first day of the rest of the world. There was an Ontological Shift on Easter. The Creator raised Jesus and created a new world. He re-created the world as far as His relationship with the human family is concerned. The point is, something happened. On Monday morning it was not business as usual. It was an Easter world - a whole new Reality. That is why I bother you with that strange word "Ontology." I want to stress that the world is changed; Reality is changed. The old world continues. We continue to be part of the old scene. But the old world is gone, in reality! This is an Ontological Shift, a shift of cosmic proportions. I have become more aware of this recently. I am aware I have not proclaimed it strongly enough, confidently enough. That is why the Easter message pointed to the God Whose power effects that which is beyond all human potential. Too much of my ministry and my preaching has been within the narrowly prescribed limits of human possibility. Sometimes I think I am only beginning to glimpse the gracious power of the God of unconditional love. We have been too much focused on the human response, not enough on the objective reality of the new creation. Listen again to the text: There is a new world, the old has gone, and a new order has already begun. Do we believe it? Do we live accordingly? Whether we do or not, the Truth remains. Whether we believe it and appropriate it is not the measure of its truth. Our response does not create the new reality and our lack of response does not detract from the reality. So will you hear the word of proclamation? The day of salvation has dawned. I was reading an Easter sermon preached by the great Karl Barth. He went regularly to the Basle prison to preach to the prisoners. He who could command any pulpit in the world chose to preach at the local jail because he said if I preach in the Cathedral, people will come to hear Karl Barth. If I preach at the jail, the prisoners will come to hear the Gospel. He preached on Jesus' words, "Because I live you, too, shall live." To these prisoners he spoke of Jesus who lived for them. In great simplicity he pointed to Jesus living for us and dying for us. And he spoke of the promise: You will live also. And he explained: Yet the significant fact to remember is precisely not an obligation we are invited or urged to fulfill, so that we may, or may not, live. We are not © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 4   merely given a chance; nor is an offer made to us. "You will live also" is a promise. It is an announcement referring to the future, to our future. "You will live also" succeeds the present of, and our presence in, the "I live" like two succeeds one, B succeeds A, the thunder succeeds the lightning ... You are a people whose future issues from my life and hence does not lie in your sin and guilt, but in true righteousness and holiness. Not in sadness, but in joy, not in captivity, but in freedom, not in death, but in life. From your present participation in my life, you may anticipate this and no other future. (Deliverance to the Captives, p. 31F) He goes on to stress that Jesus is not only our future, but also our present. Not the world with its accusations and we with our counter accusations. Not even the well deserved divine wrath against us, let alone our grumbling against God, or our secret thought that there might be no God after all. Therefore, not we ourselves, as we are today or think we are, make up our present. He, Jesus Christ, his life is our present: his Divine life poured out for us, and his human life, our life, lifted up in him. This is what counts. This is what is true and valid. (p. 32) He then stresses that no one must think himself excluded, too insignificant, too sinful, too godless. And then he invites each one there present to join him at the Lord's Table. There in the Bread and Wine is the sign of what he had been saying in the message. Jesus Christ is in our midst, he, the man in whom God himself has poured out his life for our sake and in whom our life is lifted up to God. Holy Communion is the sign that Jesus Christ is our beginning and we may rise up and walk into the future where we shall live. ... My brothers and sisters, I do not want to oppress or compel any one among you when I add: Shall we not all here present go to the Lord's Table together? Holy Communion is offered to all, as surely as the living Jesus Christ himself is for all, as surely as all of us are not divided in him, but belong together as brothers and sisters, all of us poor sinners, all of us rich through his mercy. (p. 33F) There I see a preacher acting on the Reality of the new world which was born on Easter. We get so bogged down in checking out the human response that we lose sight of the Reality. We forget the Ontology of the New Creation. We wonder if someone has true faith – whether his life is morally pure, whether one understands the contents of the faith. All the things that come subsequently we worry about first and instead of a grand invitation to a new Reality to which we welcome people, we erect all kinds of barriers that discourage and turn away. © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Perhaps rather than keeping this Table of our Lord's here in the antiseptic atmosphere of the sanctuary, we should move it out on the highway and pass out bread and wine to those traveling past. What would happen if, with authentic excitement in the face of the Reality Shift of Easter, we went out and shared the wonderful news of what is really true! Something has happened. The day of Salvation has dawned. Of course, we cannot be unconcerned with the response. The new world has dawned but it is possible to live in the death grip of the old. It is for those who are in Christ that the new world becomes reality in their experience. Therefore in our announcement of the new Reality we point to him. We must tell the story of Jesus, of his life, his death and resurrection. We must invite our neighbors to receive what has been provided and is fully offered. And we must ask ourselves if we who believe in him have really entered into the newness that he has created. Again I must confess that too much of my own concentration and too much of the traditional message of the Church deals with the death and resurrection of Jesus in terms of forgiveness, dealing with the past and too little emphasis is placed on the power of God to change our lives – really change our lives. Too much of my concentration and the concentration of the Church has been on getting the lost snatched from Hell fire and into the safety net of the Church. We want to get people saved!! But what does that mean? For too many of us that has meant out of Hell and into Heaven - no matter in what state and once we get people in, we can relax a bit. Whether we consciously operate this way or not, underneath this has been a powerful motive in the Church's outreach. But it misses the whole point of what we claim to be trying to do – get people "saved." Salvation's root is the same as the root of salve. Salvation is healing. It is to bring the person toward wholeness. God is not interested in making us pious or religious; He would make us human. That is what He created. That is the intention of recreation. The Church Father Ireneaus understood that long ago when he wrote, The Glory of God is a human being fully alive. What is it, then, to be "in Christ?" - Literally it is to be lifted up to God in the Anointed One - the one anointed with Spirit, one full of God. The context of this great text is illuminating. Paul's apostleship was under attack. He is a man sold out to Jesus Christ – making him known, announcing good news, calling all people to the new world now open to them. © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 6   We will all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ. Our lives will be laid open an awesome thought. He senses a divine imperative to carry out his apostleship, his own life an open book. He is simply responding to what has been revealed to him. In verse 14 Paul writes: For the love of Christ leaves us no choice, when once we have reached the conclusion that one man died for all and therefore all mankind has died. His purpose in dying for all was that men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life. The purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection is to incorporate us in him in the death to the old world and the rising to a whole new order of things. He goes on: With us therefore worldly standards have ceased to count in our estimate of any man; even if once they counted in our understanding of Christ, they do so no longer. Why? The one in Christ is a new creation! The old is gone. The new has come. Well, how does that fall out? What does that mean in the everyday affairs of an ordinary human existence? It means a new understanding - a change of mind. This is the meaning of repentance “Metanoia,” the Greek word, points to a change of mind. Our thinking needs to be straightened out – about God: That we no more resist Him in our weakness and hostility, fearing He will rob us of life, but rather see Him as He is - the loving One Who comes to us in our weakness and hostility with total vulnerability in order simply to embrace us with a mercy that knows no limit, setting us free for the first time to be fully human. about what it means to be fully human: We see it in Jesus, totally open to the Father, totally open to the neighbor, living out the unconditional love of God in covenant human relationship. Is not to be "in Christ" to be filled with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God? Is it not to live in the conscious flow of God's life, His energy, His grace, seeing ourselves not as buckets to get filled but as channels to let flow through us the Divine life? To be "in Christ" is to live consciously in the Kingdom of God, knowing one is no longer bound to live according to the Kingdom of this world. It is to be done with © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Page 7   the old way of doing things - the tit for tat world of vengeance, retaliation and vindictiveness. It is to be done with the world of selfish indulgence, of selfasserting, of defensiveness and the strenuous compulsion to justify oneself. It was reported on national news last evening that a millionaire died and left her two million to a few friends and casual acquaintances. She left this word with her will. "To my children I leave nothing. I want them to receive in my death what they gave me in my life." Think of it! Think of dying with that kind of bitterness. You say maybe the kids deserved it. Maybe they did. That that is the old world. According to the canons of the old world, God should leave us in our self-constructed hells. He could write a similar note: "I leave you in your death what you created in your life - Hell." But He showed His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. I feel sorry for the poor woman. I'm sorry her children neglected her. Perhaps she could not change them, but she could have changed her mind, her attitude. She could have let love fill her, driving out the anger and vindication. How? By looking to Jesus. By understanding God's love, by receiving it and then letting it fill her heart. Think of standing before Jesus when one's last act was an act of retaliation and bitter resentment. Will Jesus' eyes flash with fire? No, they will be wet with tears. Will he say, "Go to Hell"? No, he will say, "My child, my child!" And what will the dear woman respond? "They got theirs! I’m finally happy!"? No, but rather, "O my God, what have I done?" Think of it, friend. The day of healing has dawned. This is not just Pollyanna talk. Christ is risen! There has been an ontological shift in Reality. A new world is here, the old is done away with. You don't have to live according to the canons of the old world, filled with brokenness, pain, hate, resentment. Look to Jesus. Know that God raised him from the dead, thereby creating a whole new possibility. He died - one for all, once for all. He arose - one for all, once for all. God's Spirit filled him, the Anointed One, the Christ. Now the Risen Jesus pours out that same Spirit on all flesh - so we shall celebrate on Pentecost. Let go. Open up; entrust your life to the Risen Lord who brings you into the presence of the Father and gives you the Spirit by which you can be freed from the old, brought into the new. Be healed by the love and grace and power of God Who needs from you simply the word "Come into my heart, Come into my heart, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus." He will! And it will be the First Day of the Rest of Your Life! Amen. © Grand Valley State University �The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Richard A. Rhem Reference: Karl Barth. Deliverance to the Captives. First published 1961. © Grand Valley State University Page 8   � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Eastertide II Scripture Text II Corinthians 5:17, 6:2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Karl Barth. Deliverance to the Captives, 1961. 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-0-19860406 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-04-06 Title A name given to the resource The First Day of the Rest of Your Life Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 6, 1986 entitled "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life", on the occasion of Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 5:17, 6:2. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Eastertide Grace Inclusive Resurrection Salvation Transformation Unconditional Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/264d5834425cc69103038c7a2e5d1e16.mp3 bad34bd955aceaba073d8e7b27b782fc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ae91d9c2f20a64a447bc4cd0b6195a3a.pdf 79f5f7b94edba797fa64a6e412e07d31 PDF Text Text Why I Believe in Purgatory Text: I Corinthians 3: 14-15; Luke 12: 47-48 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent, December 15, 1985 Transcription of the spoken sermon Purgatory is a foreign word in a Protestant pulpit. It is even a greater surprise to find it in a title such as I have given to this message: "Why I Believe In Purgatory." Perhaps it is just a teaser: baiting you a bit to get you to return - an attention catcher. You will have to judge that for yourself when we are finished. In the meantime, I must declare the seriousness with which I am treating the subject. Purgatory conjures up all sorts of ghosts in our minds and certainly there is much in the history of the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church with which I cannot agree. Yet there is a reality, a truth to which that teaching pointed, and we may well have missed that truth because our forefathers in the Reformation threw out the idea of Purgatory with all of the many abuses that went along with it. Before we get into the idea itself, let me remind you of our deliberations this Advent Season. We are considering the great questions of the End. The drama of history will have its End. That is Advent's theme: the King is coming. God will bring Creation to its consummation. We personally will have our End; we will die. And then what? We have affirmed that there is life after life. Death remains the last enemy but its sting has been removed; it is a conquered foe. The grave has been robbed of its fearsome power. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again; even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (I Thessalonians 4:14) Therefore we do not grieve as those who have no hope; we have a basis for comforting one another. We have seen, too, that the New Testament sets forth a double image of the End: Heaven and Hell, Glorification and Condemnation, Union with God and © Grand Valley State University   �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Separation from God. We quoted the pithy statement of C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce: There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." (p. 66F) The traditional teaching of the Church and the conventional understanding of most of the Church is simply that those who receive Christ will be saved and those who reject him will be damned. But a little sober reflection - and reflection on this subject ought to be sober shows us that the matter is not quite that simple. Even if those who are exposed to the Gospel are judged on their acceptance or rejection of Christ - what about those who never heard? What about those who die in infancy? What about the mentally impaired? A further serious question: What about those who have been terribly wounded by the Church itself? What about those who have been abused as children and are never able to trust? What about those who have received only a perversion and distortion of the Gospel? It would seem that we must begin to make some exception, some qualification. Then, too, we have noted that the witness of the New Testament is not consistent. Several texts in Matthew and Revelation especially speak of eternal torment but several statements in Paul's letters seem to point in the direction of universal salvation. Therefore I raised the question whether or not it might be possible that God's grace might finally triumph in the case of all persons; whether God would finally be "all in all" with every remnant of opposition to His Rule of Grace wiped out. I suggested that perhaps God's "Yes" to us in Jesus might be stronger than our "No." God respects our response. He will never coerce. His is always a gracious invitation. Therefore, just as our "no" turned to "yes" by His grace must be authentically our own, just so our "no" maintained is always a possibility. It remains a possibility and witnesses to the seriousness of our decision. But what if in His infinite patience He never gives up? (I asked you whether you hoped Hell might be finally empty.) I suspect you have thought about that. I suspect, too, I would receive a variety of responses. Let us admit at the outset we cannot know the answer to the question as to whether Hell will finally consume some eternally or whether Grace will finally triumph completely. In either case, the reality of judgment is a reality through which we all must pass. There is a double judgment for each of us. First, the judgment regarding eternal © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 3   salvation. Second, the judgment regarding the character of our lives - the story we write with our lives. The first is determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the Saviour of the world. God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17 And Paul declared, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 In John's Gospel we read: Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24 Thus judgment is passed. The verdict is not still out. The acquittal has been granted. We possess new eternal life. But there is a second aspect to judgment that remains to be experienced by every person, that is the judgment of our work or our lives. This judgment has nothing to do with whether a person is saved or lost. This judgment has to do with seeing our lives in God's light, seeing our lives played out before us in His presence. The main contention of this message is that God is not done with us at the moment of our death. I can base that contention on Scripture in regard to those who die trusting in God through Jesus Christ. I will suggest that the possibility of an "empty hell" can be based only on the possibility of a continuing process of encounter between God and the person who dies without an experience of His grace. Let us first look at the Scripture. To begin with, we must recognize that there is not much to go on because the whole thrust of Scripture is the imperative to repentance and faith and the whole stress is on the urgency of decision. Yet there are indications that there is something more. Our first Scripture investigation is Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 3. Let me acknowledge immediately that this passage can be used only indirectly for the purposes of establishing the main contention of this message - namely that God is not done with us at the moment of our death. Paul is talking to a particular © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 4   congregation about a specific problem - divisions in the Church. Dealing with that issue he decries the choosing up of sides, identifying with one leader rather than another and thus forming factions in the Church. He points to the one foundation of the Church, Jesus Christ, and says all who build on that foundation, which he had himself laid in Corinth, must take care how they build. But all are co-laborers. Whether they plant or water, they work as a team. I Corinthians 3:8 That refers to the image of the garden. One plants, one waters, but God makes it grow. The image of the building picks up the idea of foundation and superstructures. Christ is the foundation. He, Paul, Apollos and the other apostles build the superstructure. If they build well the building will stand; if they build of faulty materials the building will not meet the test. This is where we touch our interest - the idea of judgment: This is not a judgment regarding one's eternal salvation; this is a judgment of one's works or a judgment of one's life. This is a judgment through which all God's children will pass. The question is not whether one will be finally redeemed and enter the presence of God - enter "heaven." The question is how will one fare as one's life comes under the scrutiny of the Eternal God. The text speaks specifically about ministers of the Gospel and the building of the Church. I do not think we err, however, in seeing what here has a specific focus as being generally true of all persons regarding their life's issue whether that be in building churches or building houses or laboring in business or industry or living in community, nation, family. Will the things to which we devote our lives, our time, our energy stand God's refining process or will they go up in smoke? Notice: The one who builds with precious stones, gold and silver, will see his creation stand the test. He enters life beyond life with something good and positive going with him. The one who builds with wood, hay, straw - one who cuts corners and just gets by will see his life's devotion consumed before his eyes. But now note carefully: He will bear the loss but he himself will escape with his life, as one might from a fire. Such a person will enter life beyond life having lost everything, secure in God's eternal presence, yet with nothing to show for his life. © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 5   From this text I conclude that there is beyond death or through death an encounter with God in which one's life will be tested. The issue will not be salvation or condemnation. The issue is whether we bring into God's presence something, or nothing. Now I am going beyond the text's specific teaching but drawing, I believe, a legitimate inference from the text: Through death, beyond death, at death, there is something more. Does this text not indicate that Paul thought in terms of encounter with God and perhaps continuing the process beyond death? If it is a matter simply of being saved or lost as we enter the moment of death - if there is a status called "Salvation" and a status called "Condemnation," and that is all there is, then why be concerned about what one brings to death's moment: a fruitful life, or a barren life? I see in our text Paul's conviction that there is not only the discontinuity between our time and God's eternity, death being the break, but also continuity between this life and the life beyond death's passage. We bring something (or nothing) with us and whatever lies beyond is influenced and determined by what we bring (or fail to bring.) Let us look at one more text: Luke 12:47-48. These verses are in a context of the teachings of Jesus. The immediate context is a call to be watchful and ready for the End - the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus is encouraging loyal, faithful stewardship of life. Happy that servant who is found at his task when his master comes! (Verse 43) But then Jesus speaks of two kinds of servants. One knew the master's instructions and failed to comply with them. The other did not comply either, but he was unaware of the demands. The first was flogged severely; the second was flogged less severely. This vivid, picturesque language of Jesus must not be pushed too far. We certainly could not build a whole system of judgment on the basis of these words. Yet, perhaps it is legitimate to draw at least this teaching: the sentence will vary in light of individual circumstances. Again, we have here not a judgment to eternal salvation or eternal condemnation; we have here a gradation of judgment on the basis of the individual life being examined. The moment of death, the moment of encounter with God will be very personal, individual and discriminating. The sentences will vary. Does this point to a process beyond death's moment? If this were the only text it would be risky to claim so. But again, this seems to point in the direction of Paul's teaching explained above. To be sure, the Luke passage speaks of a gradation of severity of judgment depending on knowledge or opportunity while the Pauline passage © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 6   speaks of entering God's presence beyond the testing of judgment – with positive fruit of one's life, or denuded of whatever constituted one's life. Yet in both cases there is judgment in terms of one's life being put to the test and then the entering into the consequences of what that judgment revealed. The traditional understanding of our texts is that, in the case of the Luke passage, there are gradations of punishment - yet to be lost, eternally condemned is to remain in a state spoken of as hell - separation from God. In the case of the passage from Paul, the understanding has been that the "saved" enter into heaven, or union with God, but some with greater, some with less capacity to experience the joy of salvation. But let us push those conventional interpretations. Let me repeat what I said earlier: we cannot finally know answers which remain for us veiled in mystery. Yet it is important to come to some place where we can live with faith, conviction and peace. Think with me then; let your imagination loose. Think about the God of grace, His creation purpose, His covenant faithfulness, His final triumph over all. Think about the whole impact of the Scriptural revelation beyond individual texts. I entitled this message, "Why I Believe in Purgatory," because I did want to grasp your attention. Surely you know that in a day when Catholic theology itself is very self-critical and is engaged in serious encounter with Scripture, I am not about to suggest we reinstitute a teaching that has been a means of distortion of the Gospel and open to great abuse. We cannot forget that it was precisely at the point of the teaching of indulgences, the exploitation of the faithful for purposes of raising money and manipulating people, holding them in spiritual bondage, that the Reformers rose up in protest. But my title is more than a ploy. It expresses a conviction to which I have come through study and reflection, which is as much a surprise to me as it may be to you. I am convinced that, behind all indefensible practice and abuse of the Church, there is yet a true intuition. There has been over the centuries a sense that God was not through with us at the moment of our last breath. Now the traditional Reformed faith never said He was through with us; there remains the judgment with its double issue - to salvation or condemnation. But the traditional teaching has been that with the last breath the issue is irreversible. It is this claim that I am calling in question. I do recognize that the strong call to decision, the seriousness of choices in this life is stressed. I would not deny that or even downplay the urgency of that call. However, is it not possible that in the experience of death itself, understood as an encounter with God, there is the possibility of something of eternal significance occurring? I raise the question for reflection. Let me share with you some of the best thinking available on the subject. My first serious consideration of the idea of purgatory or the reality toward which that © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 7   teaching points was in Berkhof’s Christian Faith. Because of my high regard for the thoroughness of his scholarship, depth of biblical and theological understanding, and deep personal faith in Christ, I had to take seriously his suggestion that there was really something here to be taken seriously. In his discussion of the judgment of the works done by believers, which we discussed above, Berkhof writes: In protestant theology, this viewpoint is almost completely pushed aside by the accent on grace. In Roman Catholic piety it is (or used to be) very prominent in connection with the veneration of saints and purgatory. The Roman Catholic Church assumes correctly that believers differ greatly in regard to their progress and fruitfulness... So the idea of a judgment according to one's deeds leads of itself to the consideration of a process of purification, called purgatory in Roman Catholic tradition. ... The Reformation broke with that doctrine because of its moralistic conception of salvation and its detrimental effect on the practice of piety (indulgences; intercessory prayers and masses for the dead.) It imagined a sudden, radical transformation after the judgment, usually without giving it further theological reflection and without connecting it with the struggle for sanctification on earth. Meanwhile Roman Catholic thinking, too, has become much more reserved. Typical of the modern R.C. conceptions is the idea of "ripening" ... which K. Rahner develops in "The Life of the Dead." Referring to our text, I Corinthians 3:15, Berkhof asserts, ... that statement does suggest that Paul thought of more than an abrupt re-creation of man; salvation is accompanied by a painful becoming aware of one's own failures on earth. The difficulties here are more an open question for theological reflection than a subject for back and forth theological denouncement. (p. 489) In the previous message I cited Berkhof s statement about the question of whether "Hell" was forever. He writes: God is serious about the responsibility of our decision, but he is even more serious about the responsibility of his love. The darkness of rejection and God's forsakenness cannot and may not be argued away, but no more can and may it be eternalized. For God's sake we hope that hell will be a form of purification. (p. 532) That word "purification" is one used by the Catholic theologian Hans Küng. It was Küng who stimulated me to pursue these matters. His forthright handling of them at the University of Michigan convinced me that these questions do not go away; they are deeply written on the human heart. In the published lectures © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 8   Eternal Life? Küng treats the idea of purgatory in his discussion of the question whether hell is eternal. Some theologians argue that it is not God who damns man by a verdict imposed from outside. They are human beings themselves, by sins committed with inward freedom, who damn themselves. The responsibility lies not with God but with man, and by death this selfdamnation and distance from God (not a place, but a human condition) becomes definitive. Definitive? Do not the psalms say that God rules over the realm of the dead? What is supposed to become definitive here, contrary to the will of an all-merciful and almighty God? Why should God, who is infinitely good, want to perpetuate enmity instead of removing it and in practice to share his rule forever with some kind of anti-God? Why should he have nothing more to say at this point and consequently render forever impossible a purification, cleansing, liberation, enlightenment, of guilt-laden man? (p. 137) Then he refers specifically to purgatory. Purification, cleansing, liberation, enlightenment: Here perhaps may be I want merely to prompt a few reflections - the particle of truth, the real care, of the problematic idea of purgatory, which has been translated in German from the Middle Ages onward with the unfortunate designation of Fegefeuer ("winnowing fire") -This may be the true core, but it remains only if the idea is not reified. ... as no human being is entirely bad, neither is anyone entirely good. Any human being, even the best, falls short of what he might be, fails to meet his own demands and norms and thus never wholly realizes himself. For if he is to be fully himself, even the "saint" needs completion, not after death, but in death itself. And, in view of so much unpunished guilt in the world, a number of people wonder not entirely wrongly - if dying unto God, the absolutely final reality, can be one and the same for us: The same for criminals and their victims, for mass murderers and the mass of the murdered; for those who have struggled a whole life long to fulfill God's will, true helpers of their fellow human beings, and for those who for a whole life long have only carried out their own will and at the same time shut out others? ...how this ... purification, cleansing, follows is not left to the speculation or calculation of human curiosity but remains a matter for God as merciful judge, in God's all-embracing final act of grace. The key idea Küng would stress is the shattering effect of the encounter with God. We die not into nothingness; we die into God. Küng cites Karl Barth: Man as such therefore has no beyond. Nor does he need one, for God is his beyond. Man's beyond is that God is his Creator, Covenant-partner, Judge and Saviour, was and is and will be his true Counterpart in life, and finally © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page 9   and exclusively and totally in death. (Church Dogmatics Vol. Ill, 2, pp. 632-33) Küng also cites a Catholic theologian, Greshake: From this standpoint we can understand what was pointed out earlier, that God himself, the encounter with him, is purgatory. But this means that we need not fall back on a special place or still less on a special time or special event to grasp the meaning of purgatory. Still less do we need to work out crude ideas about the 'poor' souls. Instead we can understand what the Church teaches and has taught from the earliest times as an element in the encounter with God in death. ... we should avoid any talk of fire and speak instead of purifying and cleansing as an element of the encounter with God. At the same time what should be particularly clear is that purgatory is not - as it often seems to be in popular piety - a "demihell" which God has erected in order to punish the person who is not entirely bad, but also not entirely good. Purgatory is not a demihell but an element of the encounter with God: that is, the encounter of the unfinished person, still immature in his love, with the holy, infinite, loving God; an encounter which is profoundly humiliating, painful and therefore purifying. (Cited on p. 139) Küng concludes, That is to say that, since it is a question of dying into the dimensions of God, where space and time are dissolved into eternity, nothing can be discovered, either about place and time or about the character of this purifying, sanctifying consummation. (p.139) A Lutheran theologian, Hans Schwarz, discusses the views of Tadislaus Boros who suggests something similar, the significance of the final decision at the moment of death. ... decisively modifies the traditional concepts of purgatory and death. Boros agrees that the Church has only gradually developed the doctrine of purgatory. Though the Scriptural basis of purgatory may be obscure, the fact and the essential nature of purgatory are of such quality that it must be called a "truth of revelation." However, through his hypothesis of a final decision, Boros seems to view purgatory as the "point" of intersection between life and death. Purgatory is no longer conceived of as a process of purification which can be measured similar to the days and years we live here on earth. According to Boros, "purgatory would be the passage, which we effect in our final decision through the purifying fire of divine love. The encounter with Christ would be our purgatory. ... Boros replaces an untenable concept of purgatory with the idea of a confrontation with Christ in death. ... he calls death "man's first completely personal act;" and, "therefore, by reason of its very being, the place above all others for © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page10   the awakening of consciousness, for freedom, for the encounter with God, for the final decision about eternal destiny." (On The Way To The Future, pp. 142F) It has been obvious to me as I have pursued this subject that those who have reflected on the biblical material, the whole context of Scripture, the revelation of God as He has shown Himself in Jesus Christ and the human person are very restrained in their conclusions and very cautious in their statement. There is in all serious inquirers into this question a recognition of the serious nature of human decisions, an acknowledgement of the urgent need for repentance and faith, the reality of evil and human wickedness that demands response if there is any justice, the judgment as the exposure of our lives to the scrutiny of the God of truth. All serious biblical thinkers recognize that God takes us seriously and that our wrong and guilt are not simply soft-pedaled and our exposure to God's light and truth will be painful even while we are conscious of being embraced within a larger grace. Judgment will be experienced: No one will "get away" with anything. If an eternal hell is questioned, it is not because passing through God's final examination is not a serious matter and neither is it because there is no sense of the need for change and renewal of the person who through the earthly pilgrimage has become scarred and tainted and twisted. Recognizing that we cannot simply move from the ambiguity, partial insight, fickleness and unfaithfulness of one's human experience into the presence of the God of light and truth, there is the belief on the part of some that a purifying process will be necessary. What have we believed traditionally? Simply that God sees us in Jesus; his righteousness is our righteousness now and when we pass through death to life we will be made like him - instant perfection. What I am questioning in this message is the instant perfection. Certainly the question is not whether God is able in a moment to totally transform us. But does He ever work as far as we can trace His work in Creation apart from process? How often we wish He would work by a "snap of the finger;" but God takes time and allows the process to work. Further, we must recognize that we can only think in terms of time but when we speak of moving through "the moment of death," what do we mean? At that "moment" we move beyond "moments in succession" - we move into the dimension of Eternity. It is far beyond our purpose or capacity to enter into the discussion of time relative to eternity here, but we must not naively project our time-conditioned thinking beyond death. © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page11   C. S. Lewis has dealt as creatively and profoundly as anyone of whom I am aware with the question of heaven, hell and purgatory. He points to the relation of time and eternity in a fascinating imaginary discussion with the Christian writer, George MacDonald: 'In your own books, Sir,' said I, 'you were a Universalist. You talked as if all men would be saved. And St. Paul too.' 'Ye can know nothing of the end of all things, or nothing expressible in those terras. It may be, as the Lord said to the Lady Julian, that all will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of thing will be well. But it's ill talking of such questions.' ‘Because they are too terrible, Sir?’ 'No. Because all answers deceive. If ye put the question from within Time and are asking about possibilities, the answer is certain. The choice of ways is before you. Neither is closed. Any man may choose eternal death. Those who choose it will have it. But if ye are trying to leap on into eternity, if ye are trying to see the final state of all things as it will be (for so ye must speak) when there are no more possibilities left but only the Real, then ye ask what cannot be answered to mortal ears. Time is the very lens through which ye see - small and clear, as men see through the wrong end of a telescope - something that would otherwise be too big for ye to see at all. That thing is Freedom: the gift whereby ye most resemble your Maker and are yourselves parts of eternal reality. But ye can see it only through the lens of Time, in a little clear picture, through the inverted telescope. It is a picture of moments following one another and yourself in each moment making some choice that might have been otherwise. Neither the temporal succession nor the phantom of what ye might have chosen and didn't is itself Freedom. They are a lens. The picture is a symbol: but it's truer than any philosophical theorem (or, perhaps, than any mystic's vision) that claims to go behind it. For every attempt to see the shape of eternity except through the lens of Time destroys your knowledge of Freedom. Witness the doctrine of Predestination which shows (truly enough) that eternal reality is not waiting for a future in which to be real, but at the price of removing Freedom which is the deeper truth of the two. And wouldn't Universalism do the same? Ye cannot know eternal reality by a definition. Time itself, and all acts and events that fill Time, are the definition, and it must be lived. The Lord said we were gods. How long could ye bear to look (without Time's lens) on the greatness of your own soul and the eternal reality of her choice?' (The Great Divorce, p. 114 F.) In his imaginary conversation with MacDonald, Lewis is told that it is possible for people in hell to take holiday excursions to the boundaries of the heavenly country, Lewis exclaims, © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page12   'But I don't understand. Is" judgement not final? Is there really a way out of Hell into Heaven?' 'It depends on the way ye're using the words. If they leave that grey town behind it will not have been Hell. To any that leaves it, it is Purgatory. And perhaps ye had better not call this country Heaven. Not Deep Heaven, ye understand.' (Here he smiled at me). Ye can call it the Valley of the Shadow of Life. And yet to those who stay here it will have been Heaven from the first. And ye can call those sad streets in the town yonder the Valley of the Shadow of Death: but to those who remain there they will have been Hell even from the beginning.' I suppose he saw that I looked puzzled, for presently he spoke again. 'Son,' he said, 'ye cannot in your present state understand eternity: when Anodos looked through the door of the Timeless he brought no message back. But ye can get some likeness of it if ye say that both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective. Not only this valley but all their earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only the twilight in that town, but all their life on earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell. That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me but have this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven; the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say "We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven", and the Lost, "we were always in Hell." And both will speak truly.' 'Is not that very hard, Sir?' 'I mean, that is the real sense of what they will say. In the actual language of the Lost, the words will be different, no doubt. One will say he has always served his country right or wrong; and another that he has sacrificed everything to his Art; and some that they've never been taken in, and some that, thank God, they've always looked after Number One, and nearly all, that, at least they've been true to themselves.' 'And the Saved?' © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page13   'Ah, the Saved ... what happens to them is best described as the opposite of a mirage. What seemed, when they entered it, to be the vale of misery turns out, when they look back, to have been a well; and where present experience saw only salt deserts, memory truthfully records that the pools were full of water.' 'Then those people are right who say that Heaven and Hell are only states of mind?' 'Hush,' said he sternly. 'Do not blaspheme. Hell is a state of mind - ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind - is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakable remains.' 'But there is a real choice after death? My Roman Catholic friends would be surprised, for to them souls in Purgatory are already saved. And my Protestant friends would like it no better, for they'd say that the tree lies as it falls.' "They're both right, maybe. Do not fash yourself with such questions. Ye cannot fully understand the relations of choice and Time till you are beyond both. And ye were not brought here to study such curiosities. What concerns you is the nature of the choice itself: and that ye can watch them making.' (The Great Divorce, pp. 61F.) Lewis' fertile imagination is thought provoking. Great caution is there; our curiosity will not be satisfied this side of death's portal. Yet it is clear that Hell, he seems to be saying, is porous. If one spends Eternity there or, conversely, if one never comes to the light, it will not be so much God's verdict as one's own fatal choice. Much lies veiled in mystery. Yet all that is needful is clear and how can it be more clearly set forth than simply, Now is the day of salvation; Now is the day to choose the things that matter, things of ultimate concern; now is the day to live faithfully - covenant with the Good and Gracious God. Then already we possess Eternal life and death will move us "from splendour to splendour 'til we see Him face to face." Amen. © Grand Valley State University �Why I Believe in Purgatory Richard A. Rhem Page14   References: Hendrikus Berkhof. Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Study of the Faith. Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979. Hans Küng. Eternal Life? Life After Death as a Medical, Philosophical and Theological Problem. Doubleday, 1984. C. S. Lewis. The Great Divorce. First published by HarperCollins, 1946. © 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 Advent III Scripture Text I Corinthians 3:14-15, Luke 12:47-48 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Hendrikus Berkhof, Christian Faith, 1979 Hans K C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, 1946 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-0-19851215 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-12-15 Title A name given to the resource Why I Believe in Purgatory 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 December 15, 1985 entitled "Why I Believe in Purgatory", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Corinthians 3:14-15, Luke 12:47-48. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Advent Death Eternity Forgiveness God of Grace Judgment Nature of God Purgatory Salvation