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Leadership With a Difference
Text: Joel 2: 28; Mark 10:43-44
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
June 28, 1987
Transcription of the spoken sermon
…I will pour out my spirit on all humankind; your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men see
visions. Joel 2:28
…whoever wants to be great must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first must be the willing slave of all. Mark 10:43-44
I haven't had any of the Consistory newly organized last week come up to me and
ask to sit on my right hand or on my left. No, there's not too much problem in the
Church with people aspiring to leadership openly, and maybe the problem that
James and John had with which they confronted Jesus is a problem of a former
day. Yet, I hardly think so. Leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ is leadership
with a difference. It is leadership that is characterized by power to rather than
power over. It's just the difference in the preposition. In fact, it's the difference
between, but it's all the difference in the world, the world and the Kingdom of
God.
Leadership in the Kingdom of God is the power to enable others to find the
highest fulfillment in their human existence. It is the power to give one's life on
behalf of another; it is to give one's life and gifts and energies for that greater goal
for the Kingdom of God. It is the opposite of worldly power, which is power over,
the power by which one dominates another, the power by which one climbs the
ladder of success, the power often characterized by blind ambition.
Leadership in the Church is a tricky business, because it walks that tightrope
between the energy and the vision that is necessary in order that the Church may
move forward, and a dominating kind of authority and power that enforces will
on another or on an institution for personal ends and according to personal
prerogatives. Leadership in the Church is a tricky business, because it is always
steering its way between those two possibilities.
© Grand Valley State University
�Leadership With a Difference
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
What is true for the leaders of the Church is really true for all of us in the posture
of our Christian lives, for we are really all called to leadership in the world to the
extent that we are all called to be the servants of Jesus Christ in the world, and
therefore we are all called to exercise the power to rather than the power over.
James and John came to Jesus and asked for the positions of privilege in the
coming Kingdom of glory. They said, in effect, "Jesus, when you become number
one, we would like to be numbers two and three." If you look at this little incident
and trace it in the other Gospels, you will find that in Luke's Gospel it is set at the
Last Supper. Even in Mark's Gospel there is the announcement of the
forthcoming passion. One can see that the Gospel writers had a literary sense by
which to enforce their point; here you have Jesus beginning to feel the weight of
the Cross, which was the consequence of the way of his life, that inevitable end
because of the manner of his living, reaching out to them, beginning to share that
burden with them, breaking bread with them. In that context, James and John
ask, "Could we have the places of privilege in your forthcoming Kingdom?" Talk
about a lack of sensitivity. Talk about inappropriateness. They didn't even hear
Jesus. They had no sense for what he was beginning to undergo. They had no
understanding whatsoever about the news that he was breaking to them. In the
context in which he announces his own passion and his forthcoming death, they
want to sit on his right hand and on his left!
And boy, were the rest of the Consistory members ticked with that! Of course, the
reason they were ticked was that James and John got in line first. If you read the
ninth chapter of Mark's Gospel, you will find that as "they were going along the
way, they were all talking about who would be greatest among them.” Mark
shows us the dullness, the misunderstanding, the ignorance of the disciples
throughout his Gospel, and there is probably no place at which they appeared
more insensitive, or their response was more inappropriate than at this moment.
Jesus just said to them, "Look, what I am about is not what you are about in every
other relationship, every other connection, every other involvement in an
institution in your life. What I am about is service." The model he set forth was
his own life. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give
his life a ransom for many.
Leadership in the Kingdom is leadership with a difference. It is the power to give
one's life away; it is the opportunity to lay down one's life in the service of the
Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ on behalf of one's brothers and
sisters. It's no wonder we're confused in the Church because, especially we, who
have imbibed into the pores of our being the American way, we who respond so
strongly to the call to self-realization and who treasure the freedom to become
whatever may enter our minds to become, find it so jolting to run up against the
characterization of leadership in the Kingdom of God.
© Grand Valley State University
�Leadership With a Difference
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
Of course, one can be just as bad on the other side. One can be a martyr, an
insipid, passive nobody who doesn't assert his will or her desire or her gifts at all,
and then the Church is also at a dead standstill.
There was a day in the Church in which people were brought into office on the
basis of their piety, and I would submit to you that piety is one good
consideration, but it's not everything. There was a time in this congregation many
years ago, a hundred or so, when I was first here, when you could predict who
would be elected to the office of Deacon, which was that lowly office by which you
moved up to the office of Elder. The way you did it was to move out of teaching
Sunday School to becoming the Superintendent of the Sunday School, and then
you had also to start coming to the evening worship and if you wanted to be a
shoo-in, you came to midweek prayer meeting, and if you wanted to make it this
Fall, you even prayed out loud! Now, I submit to you that those are all fine
qualities, and piety is important. Christian life and faith are critical. But the
Church for too long was long on piety and short on leadership with energy, with
vitality, with vision.
There is nothing wrong in the Church with those who have a vision. The men of
Issachar, one of the Northern tribes of Israel, feeling that union with David over
all of Israel was the direction Israel must go, are characterized in the Book of
Chronicles as people who had an understanding of their times and knew what
Israel had to do. The Church is still too much characterized by leadership without
vision, without a knowledge of the world and therefore without a knowledge of
what the Church ought to be doing. I said to one of the most visionary young men
of this community yesterday, "I'd like to sit down with you and ask you what we
ought to be doing in terms of what this community is becoming." He looked at me
like, "What do you mean? The Church never gets in where the action is." He's
right! We've always come kicking and screaming into the Kingdom, always the
guardians of the rear action, the conservative bastion of everything that is
obsolete. There's nothing wrong with vision, energy, vitality, and a passion for the
Kingdom of God. But, it needs always to be a passion for the Kingdom of God.
Joel, the Old Testament prophet, said there's going to come a day when the Spirit
will be poured out on your sons and your daughters, and your old men will see
visions and your young men will dream dreams. It's not incidental that visions
and dreams are lifted up as that which is to characterize the leadership of the
people of God in the world, for what we are about, people, is not something that
can be shaped up in worldly-wise terms, according to some rational formula of
success.
What we are, as the people of God, is a people that must be open to the Spirit of
God so that, somehow or other, in a dream or in a vision, the truth may grip us
and we may be thereby energized to realize that dream and to become the
concretization of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the world - a world that is
characterized by blind ambition and ruthless rise to power. There we must be as
© Grand Valley State University
�Leadership With a Difference
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
passionate, as urgent, as farseeing, as devoted and as committed leadership,
always before the face of God, always in the service of Jesus, always knowing that
there is involved in leadership a cross, a dying, a suffering, but always knowing,
also, that beyond the cross there is the glory of that Kingdom that shall not fail.
We are involved as a people of God in the most exciting, absolutely the most
important, the most remarkable movement on the face of the earth. So, my dear
friends, Elders and Deacons, pastors and all God's people - let us lead with
energy, with a vision borne of the Spirit, with total commitment, not to
overpower, not to impose our fancy on another, but with a power to give our lives
away to the glory of Jesus. Amen.
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
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Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
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Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
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Rhem, Richard A.
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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English
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Sound
Text
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KII-01
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1981-2014
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audio/mp3
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Event
Pentecost III
Scripture Text
Joel 2:28, Mark 10:43-44
Location
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Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
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KII-01_RA-0-19870628
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1987-06-28
Title
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Leadership With a Difference - An Installation
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
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Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
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Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
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eng
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Sound
Text
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audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on June 28, 1987 entitled "Leadership With a Difference - An Installation", on the occasion of Pentecost III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Joel 2:28, Mark 10:43-44.
Church
Community of Faith
Servanthood
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PDF Text
Text
Living With Care
From the sermon series: Lifelines
Text: Isaiah 42: 3, 6; Matthew 9: 36
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
February 17, 1985
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Having entered the circle of those whose life span has reached the half century
mark, I have been thinking about life and decided that it would be a good time to
have a thorough checkup, to get a reading on the present condition of this
"house" I live in. A stress test was suggested, but I responded that I have one of
those every day. Having been blessed with good health, I am not one that gives
much thought to my physical body and I am quite sure I do not take care of it as I
should.
That is a confession.
I certainly affirm the attention given to physical health in our day. Wellness is in
and that is good; that is biblical, for our Judeo-Christian faith affirms the body
and Paul speaks of proper regard for the body since it is the Temple of the Spirit.
Proper eating, rest, exercise - all of that is important, and we could no doubt
develop a series of lectures entitled "Lifelines" which would deal with the various
disciplines by which good physical health is maintained.
There is a high level of consciousness about health matters. In Times Square last
week I saw the brilliant neon signs for Sony, Minolta and Tobishi, and
sandwiched in there somewhere was a new weight control diet plan advertised in
glittering colors. I noticed it on my way to Mama Leone's, where I had a sevencourse dinner.
I have been setting before us in this series of messages another set of lifelines spiritual disciplines by which to enhance the spiritual dimension of our human
existence.
Do not misunderstand me, please! I would not want to set physical and spiritual
over against each other. We are not "souls" and "bodies," compartmentalized so
that we can deal with the one in isolation from the other. Neither should we
choose to cultivate the spiritual and deprecate the physical, or vice versa.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
However, the lifelines I have been speaking about are spiritual disciplines
through the exercise of which we deepen the spiritual life and cultivate the
presence of God in our lives, thereby enticing the fullest, richest of human
experience.
Physical wellness has caught on; it has become with some even an obsession.
Spiritual wellness (or fullness) is more difficult to "sell"; there is a great lack of
spiritual discipline among us in the Church, let alone the population in general.
This morning in Louisville, at the Human Heart Institute, the third person will
undergo surgery to receive an artificial heart. Such medical experimentation is
inevitable; we will continue to push back the horizons and establish new frontiers
in medical science. I do not speak against that or call it into question. However,
when we remember Barney Clark and when we see what William Schroeder has
gone through, it must be abundantly clear that there is a sharp distinction
between extension of physical existence, and quality of life.
The stages we are going through are the only way to progress in our capacity to
extend and enhance life, but it is obvious that extension is not synonymous with
enhancement. One thing is certain: we will never beat out the Grim Reaper; we
may stave off death, but it is only a matter of time.
How important it then is that we get things in proper prospective. Might we not
be giving our attention, time, energy and resources to the preservation of what we
can never finally keep while failing to develop that which we will never lose? Life
in the biblical sense, in the ultimate sense, is more than a beating heart.
Jesus said,
I have come, that they may have Life, and have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
Again he said,
This is eternal life; to know Thee Who alone art truly God, and Jesus
Christ whom Thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
The life Jesus spoke of is eternal life and that is not some esoteric existence after
death, but a present possibility, a present reality. Eternal life is here and now,
living in communion with God through Jesus Christ.
The spiritual disciplines I have been setting before you in this series are not ends
in themselves; they are means to the end of life in relationship with God. They are
forms and structures by which we may practice the presence of God. Spiritual
disciplines give us access to abundant life: life which is full, deep, rich; life which
is truly human, fully alive.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
Spiritual disciplines practiced in the course of our present existence develop
communion with God that robs death of its sting and makes it but a point of
transition to a form of existence in the presence of God of which present
experience is but a foretaste and foregleam.
As I have indicated before, Jesus is our model. Paul prayed for the Galatian
Christians
"until you take the shape of Christ."
In Jesus, God revealed Himself - we see who God is. In Jesus, God revealed His
intention for human existence.
To this point in this Lifelines series, we have suggested:
1. We must intentionally begin - commitment.
2. We must yield to God's grace, which transforms us from people of the
clenched fist to people of the open hand.
3. We must present ourselves in regular appointment in the corporate
worship of God with His people - living with wonder.
4. We must daily open our lives to Him and cultivate His presence -living
in dialogue.
Finally, let me suggest that we must become involved with God's mission in the
world:
5. We must live with care.
Care is an interesting word. It has taken on various meanings. To be full of care
may mean to be burdened with worry and anxiety. Such care Jesus said is lack of
trust. He would have us care-free, not care-full.
We also use it in the sense of "Do you care if ..." Does it matter to you, in other
words, and we may respond, "No, I don't care ..." Sometimes in that sense we
communicate indifference.
I am using care in another sense. I use it here to convey just the opposite of
indifference. I am suggesting that God calls us to live with passionate concern
and sensitivity to our neighbor and with a sense of responsibility for our world.
Just as I began this series with a theme – Commitment, which was not itself a
discipline but the prior decision to cultivate a disciplined life, so I end not with a
specific discipline but rather with the fruit of such discipline - a life engaged in
mission, a life of care. This is extremely important.
We do not cultivate the spiritual life simply to turn in on ourselves; we are not
content simply to develop our own soul as though we lived an isolated human
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
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existence. That, in fact, is a contradiction: if we are isolated, we are not fully
human.
God created us for Himself and each other. We are created for community - a
fully human existence is a life in relationship with God, and with neighbor. The
highest, richest, fullest human existence is a life drawn out of itself, lived with
care for the world and all God's children.
The best of spiritual directors have seen this clearly. There is an inward journey the cultivation of a personal spiritual life. There must be an outward journey, the
moving out in compassion to the world.
The two journeys must be engaged in simultaneously. It is not the case that we
can become spiritual masters and then begin to serve in the Kingdom. Training
for Kingdom service is "hands on" training. It is as we engage in the mission of
Christ in the world that we are driven deeper into the spiritual life and as we
deepen the spiritual springs of the soul we will be driven out into the world in the
cause of Christ.
Inward journey. Outward journey.
In worship and personal devotion we find our lives transformed into the posture
of the open hand and we enter the arena of service. Such service requires regular
maintenance of our spiritual life and thus we seek grace and power in worship
and devotion.
In Israel there is a classic example of what I am addressing in this message. From
the heights of Mount Herman and surrounding mountain ranges fresh water
flows into the Jordan River. When in the Holy Land, we came down from the
Golan Heights and stopped at a small bridge over the sparkling, fresh, flowing
water of the Jordan. We also took a boat trip on the lovely Sea of Galilee. The
Jordan flows out of Galilee at its south end. The sea is still fished as it was in
Jesus' day. The water is sweet. The Jordan flows south and empties into the Dead
Sea. It is called the Dead Sea because of its heavy saline content. It is also called
the Salt Sea. It is heavy with mineral content. I swam in the Dead Sea and could
not submerge myself. One bobs on the surface like a cork. Surrounding the Dead
Sea it is wilderness, a desert, stark and barren. The water is useless for irrigation;
it cannot make the desert bloom.
What is the difference? It is the same water.
The difference is that the Dead Sea has no outlet; there is nowhere for the water
to go and thus it becomes stagnant. It brings death rather than life. The Sea of
Galilee is fresh, supporting life, watering the countryside and making it fruitful.
The Dead Sea is stagnant, devoid of life, leaving the area a wilderness.
The Sea of Galilee both receives and gives.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
The Dead Sea takes in but has no outlet. And that is a parable of human
existence. Through the cultivation of spiritual discipline we receive spiritual grace
and power. Through caring ministry, grace and power flow through us to the
world and our lives are fresh, vital, fruitful. God calls us to be channels of grace,
conduits of love, instruments of peace, caregivers.
This is so central a biblical teaching that I need only point you to the lessons of
the day. The Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 42:1-7, is one of the so-called Servant
Songs and response. The Servant Songs of Isaiah portray the mission of one who
proclaims the Good News of God, suffers and finally gives his life in carrying out
his service for God. Biblical scholars have pointed out that sometimes the Servant
seems to be an individual, sometimes a corporate personality, thus representing
Israel in its calling to be God's special instrument of salvation to the world. One
commentary states it thus:
The servant is conceived as an individual figure, but he is the figure who
recapitulates in himself all the religious gifts and the religious mission of
Israel ... He is the fullness of Israel; in him the history of Israel reaches its
achievement. He incorporates the dominant features of Israel's past; he
has some of the traits of a new Moses: he is the spokesman of divine
revelation, he is the witness of the divinity of Yahweh to Israel and to the
nation; he is a prophet. (The Anchor Bible, Servant Israel, p. LIII)
Further, he writes,
The Servant poems are not "predictions" of the future in the simple sense.
They are rather insights into the future, into the ways of God with men, a
projection of how judgment and salvation must be realized if they are to be
realized at all. For the community to whom the Songs were addressed, they
are a challenge to a commitment, to a faith in a future, which is revealed in
the figure of the Servant. Unless Israel accepts the Servant as its
incorporation, it cannot keep faith with Yahweh. (Ibid., p. LV)
Chapter 42 presents the Servant. God's Spirit is on him and he "will make justice
shine on the nation." His manner will be one of tenderness and compassion.
He will not break a bruised reed, or snuff out a smoldering wick.
He will bring God's teachings to the world. The word in Hebrew is torah, which
we usually translate as law, but which does not mean law in the narrow sense of
legal code but "way of life." It really means here "revelation." The Servant brings
the revelation of the Truth of God to the Nations. He does so not in great public
display with noisy ostentation, but quietly with sensitivity, setting forth the light
of God's truth in the world's darkness.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 6
The response to the Song in verses 5-9 sets forth clearly that God, the Creator,
has called Israel to be His special agent to bring light and salvation to the world,
to establish justice and create order in creation. Listen to this clear call:
I, the Lord, have called you with righteous purpose and taken you by the
hand; I have formed you, and appointed you to be a light to all peoples, a
beacon for the nations, to open eyes that are blind, to bring captives out
of prison, out of the dungeons where they be in darkness.
Called. Formed. Appointed. Israel's mission is unmistakably clear. She is God's
elect people. God called one nation to bring light and salvation to all nations.
Election is to service. It is both privilege and responsibility. Israel was God's
special People; its mission was to be a beacon for the nations.
Israel failed in its mission. The whole of Old Testament history was reduced to a
righteous remnant, finally to Jesus.
Jesus found the model for his ministry in the Servant Songs. He adopted the
posture of the Servant of the Lord. He became the Suffering Servant. He finally
died vicariously for the sin of the world, bringing salvation to the world. Jesus
fulfilled the ideal of the Servant.
Matthew, in our New Testament lesson, pictures him in his healing ministry. In
9:21-22 the Greek word Sozein is used three times in regard to the woman who
touched his garment. She was healed. She was "saved." Jesus came to save, to
heal, to make whole. He came to restore order and unity to God's creation.
In this context he gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and life to the dead.
Jesus' miracles were not for the sake of sensationalism; rather they were signs of
the presence of the Kingdom, the rule of God. They were signs pointing to the
new order, the new Creation. God's presence and power were mediated through
the life and ministry of Jesus.
Our text paints a beautiful portrait of the Saviour. Matthew gives us a summary
statement after citing miracle after miracle. He writes:
So Jesus went round all the towns and villages teaching in their
synagogues, announcing the good news of the Kingdom, and curing
every king of ailment and disease. The sight of the people moved him to
pity: they were like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless…
The sight of the people moved Jesus to compassion. He saw the multitude and
sensed their confusion: sheep without a shepherd, harassed, helpless. His life was
a gift to people; He proclaimed the Truth.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 7
One translation reads instead of "announcing the good news of the Kingdom,"
"proclaiming the Freedom of the Kingdom." He brought the truth that set
persons free. He brought wholeness to persons: sight, hearing, health - life itself.
Thus the highest ideal of Old Testament insight - the calling to be the Servant of
the Lord - found its embodiment, its fulfillment in the life and ministry of Jesus.
If, then, Jesus is our model, if we are to take on the shape of Christ, we will not
only imitate him in his life of communion, but we will follow him in his life of
service. Like Jesus, we are called to live with care. The care with which we are
called to live is as broad as the world and as personal as our neighbor. Obviously I
am using care in the sense of concern and compassion that draws us out of
ourselves, our private lives and personal pursuits.
To live with care is to acknowledge that I am my brother's keeper; that the
experience of the grace of God makes me, with St. Paul, a debtor to all,
responsible to share the Gospel. To live with care means, again to cite St. Paul, "to
look to each other's interest and not merely to your own."
To live with care means to accept responsibility for the world, for the cause of
justice and the doing of righteousness; it means to be engaged in the great issues
that confront the world and society; to be informed and to exercise whatever
influence one has in the network of one's relationships to work for and speak for
truth and right and mercy.
Let me draw from today's Scripture two dimensions of caring which find
expression both in the Servant Song of Isaiah and the Gospel reading.
First, to care is to proclaim the truth, to witness to the revelation God has given,
to announce Good News, to share the message of freedom through the liberating
action of God.
This the Servant was called to do.
"... the islands wait for his teaching."
"To be a light to all peoples, a beacon for the nations.
This Jesus did; he taught.
"... teaching ... announcing the good news."
This we are called to do. We are the People of God, the new Israel, the Body of
Christ, the extension of the Incarnation. We have been given the knowledge of
God's revelation in the face of Jesus. We have learned of His redemptive acts and
we have experienced His grace. Therefore we are called to witness to the Truth.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 8
We must do this with proper humility and deep sensitivity. We must not do so
with arrogance in a proud spirit. Only out of gratitude and the awe that God
should have been merciful to us do we in turn witness to the truth we have found
in Christ Jesus.
It is our conviction that God has revealed Himself supremely in Jesus and that
His grace is extended to the world through Jesus. This does not deny that there is
truth, goodness and beauty beyond the Christian Church. There is no need to
deny that God's saving intention and action reaches beyond the bounds of the
Church as we know it. It is to say, however, that His last word is Jesus. Jesus is
the Truth that sets people free.
All religions are not alike. One is not as good as another. The Gospel is liberating.
That's why one can translate Matthew 9:35 announcing the Freedom of the
Kingdom.
The Servant's posture was one of humility. His approach filled with compassion,
he did not break the bruised reed. But he faithfully bore witness to the Truth.
My knowledge and understanding of world religions is limited and a religion can
be understood fully only from within. Yet I am convinced that the Christian
Gospel is the Truth that sets people free. The Gospel is a liberating Truth that
changes human life and society. Where the Gospel has made its impact felt, there
has resulted a humanization of society. It is still happening around the world and
there is still great need for the worldwide witness to Jesus Christ.
We call people not to religion; they have religion. We call them to the Way of Life.
In our world this calls for greater sensitivity than ever before and the difficulties
of bearing witness to God's grace are more complex than ever given the nature of
today's world scene with ideological conflict and revolutionary ferment, especially
since we are a world power seeking to maintain the status quo. Thus it is so very
critical that the Christian Church claim its own identity as the People of God who
are called to mission - a mission that will witness to God's truth both in our own
nation and beyond - to the whole world.
That's why the Catholic Bishops are doing what they are doing in publishing
pastoral letters on subjects like nuclear warfare and economics. Differ with their
conclusions, if you will, but recognize their responsibility to bear witness in that
arena, for God has called, formed and appointed His people to be light to the
people and a beacon to the Nations.
This is why Desmond Tutu, newly appointed bishop in South Africa, speaks
against the apartheid policy of that nation. It is the Church's calling to confront
injustice and oppression.
© Grand Valley State University
�Living With Care
Richard A. Rhem
Page 9
I could go on. The People of God are called to care and caring equals costly
engagement, concern for the Truth, for justice and righteousness and a
commitment to tell the story and announce the liberating Truth of the Gospel.
Secondly, to care is to touch and heal.
The ministry of Jesus bears eloquent testimony to the care that flowed from him:
Sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, the lame walked, the dead were raised.
Captives in all sorts of human bondage were set free.
It is not without good cause that Jesus has been called "The Man For Others."
Compassion flowed forth from him to all he met. He responded to the slightest
spark of faith and never turned away from human need. He was moved with
compassion as he looked on the multitude.
So often we are moved with anger; we look with disgust at the action of the
rebellious youth, the revolutionary, the poor and oppressed. Or, perhaps worse,
we are indifferent, apathetic. We are hardened to human suffering; we become
numb. We can wall ourselves off from the monstrous hurt of the masses and our
neighbor. Non-involvement is the easy way out.
Jesus cared. Jesus reached out and touched. Jesus brought healing and
wholeness to human lives burdened with despair and futility.
We stand on the threshold of Lent. We have a new opportunity to find the
fullness of life to which he calls us. It will take intentionality - commitment. It will
involve opening up and sharing, worshiping together, seeking God's presence in
solitude, and a movement out of ourselves - a determination to care through
costly involvement.
Living with care is living at its best. Nothing can bring greater joy, deeper
satisfaction.
To care is to be - fully human, fully alive!
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
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
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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English
Type
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Sound
Text
Identifier
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KII-01
Coverage
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1981-2014
Format
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audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Epiphany V
Series
LifeLines
Scripture Text
Isaiah 42:3, 6, Matthew 9:36
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19850217
Date
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1985-02-17
Title
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Living with Care
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
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Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
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eng
Type
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Sound
Text
Format
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audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on February 17, 1985 entitled "Living with Care", as part of the series "LifeLines", on the occasion of Epiphany V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 42:3, 6, Matthew 9:36.
Awareness
Empathy
Hebrew Scriptures
Meaning
Servant Songs
Servanthood
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd4ea468a3c982088b6737a8adc36965.mp3
74ea8539af528b0831507fe49a248058
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3284061f7b835bf50960a1aeb1abf3b1.pdf
2734ca89220379f74e4098385a713f22
PDF Text
Text
Marks of Leadership
From the series: On the Threshold of the Third Millennium
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Epiphany III, January 24, 1993
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Of Issachar, those who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel
ought to do” I Chronicles 12:32
The gifts we possess differ as they are allotted to us by God’s grace, and must be
exercised accordingly. Romans 12:6
...among you, whoever wants to be first must be your servant ... Mark 10:43
Well, it’s been quite a week hasn’t it? No matter what your political party, I think
you couldn’t help but get caught up in some of the excitement. After all, everyone
loves newness and as our new president said, “the mystery of renewal” is
something in which I think we all want to participate. The movement of change
was so obvious from one generation to another, detectible in the musical sounds.
Mr. Bryson, wanting to reflect that which happened in the nation’s capitol invited
the president to be with us this morning to play his saxophone. But the president
was busy, but we have Christopher! It’s been a fun week, a great week, and it is so
nice that it coincides with the newness in our lives at the top of the year and the
newness that is a part of our life together as Christ Community. I have been
looking forward to this time to celebrate it together with you and with these who
have now been commissioned to their respective ministries.
It is always wonderful to have a new beginning, and I believe that we are at an
important watershed in our life together. Coinciding as it does with the events of
this past week, we can say, “These are our times. Let us embrace them.” And we
can say with the poet, Maya Angelou on inauguration day, that this is a time to
sense the pulse of this new day, to look out into our sisters’ eyes and a brother’s
face and to the country and “to say, simply, very simply, with hope ‘Good
Morning.’” That’s where we are together. And as we implement our new
leadership arrangement in this congregation, I want to begin by thinking with
you and with those who have been commissioned to their respective ministries
about the marks of leadership.
© Grand Valley State University
�The Marks of Leadership
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
Those marks of leadership become clear, I think, in the three lessons that were
read this morning. In the Old Testament lesson the delegations came to David in
order to give their loyalty to him. Their request was that he be king over all of
Israel. You will remember from your Old Testament history that Israel’s first king
was Saul. Saul came to a tragic end but, as it was assumed, as it is always
assumed, the royal houses perpetuate themselves. And so there were those
leaders around King Saul who sought to establish his son as king. Yet, down
south, was the Robin Hood of Israel, young David, with a band of bandits around
him, who had such charisma and who had gained such fame in the land.
For seven years the two tribes of the south said to David, “You are our king.” But
the old monarchy was perpetuated in the north, and the nation was being torn
apart with civil strife and civil war. Finally, the leaders of the north could see that
the future lay with David and that obviously the blessing of God was not on the
House of Saul. If Israel was to find its place in the sun, then certainly it had to
make David king over all the tribes. And so the leaders came first, then
delegations from each of the tribes.
I singled out the delegation from the Tribe of Issachar because they are
characterized according to what I would like to suggest as the first mark of
leadership for the Church of Christ. They are characterized as those who had an
“understanding of the times” to know what Israel had to do. They were visionary.
They were far-sighted. They were practical. They were pragmatic. They were wise.
From this, I would like to suggest the first mark of leadership is a holy
worldliness.
When I was growing up, worldliness was a great thing to avoid. It was the great
sin. But I am using that word in the sense of the people from Issachar who had an
understanding of the time. The Church too often has been characterized by
people who have been devoted, dedicated, serious, sincere, but lacking sometimes
that sense of where the movement of history was going. Where was the cutting
edge? And what had to be done today in order to capture tomorrow? The men of
Issachar were the kind of leaders who were able to see the handwriting on the
wall. They were able to look into the horizon and see what was breaking, and they
were able to position Israel in order that it might, under David, realize its golden
age. It never had another age like the age of David. Their choice, their decision
was confirmed in the prosperity of the nation under this great king. We need in
the Church a kind of holy worldliness – that is, set apart for God, but worldly,
wise in the ways of the world. Far too often in the Church we have had sincerity
and piety, but not always visionary leadership and the strength and giftedness of
that leading.
When I think back, over thirty years now, to when I first came to this
congregation in 1960, I can tell you what at that time was a surefire formula for
being elected to congregational office. You had to be male, on the young side, and
promising. You had to come to church in the morning. You had to come to church
© Grand Valley State University
�The Marks of Leadership
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
in the evening. You had to teach a Sunday School class of irrepressible,
impossible young sixth graders. (Laughter) Maybe you’d have to take a stint at
being Sunday School superintendent. Then we always elected officers in
November and, along about September when family night began and midweek
prayer meeting began, if you would show up on Wednesday night, and if you
could catch your voice and croak out a prayer, I can assure you you would be
deacon the next election. (Laughter) Then, if you served a term or two or three as
deacon responsibly, if you grayed a bit or balded a bit, you could become an elder.
Understand, I salute all of those who have served 120 some years in this place
because it was always recognized that leadership was nothing if it was not rooted
in devotion to Christ and loyalty to the church, but in all honesty I want to say
that there was also, too often, a resistance to the strong leader who was making a
mark in business, industry, the professions. There was almost a resistance to
bringing such a person on board the governing body of the church. Rather, the
church became the place of authority for those of adequate piety. But, all over this
country still to this day, there are good and sincere people leading the church who
lack leadership quality, who lack a sense of where things are going and where the
church has to position itself if it would capture the future. Not so the men of
Issachar. They said, “This civil war is destroying the nation. The House of Saul
has got to go. David is our leader.” They had an understanding of the times, to
know what Israel had to do.
We need people who are visionary, creative, daring, able to negotiate the passages
of the structures of our society in order to make the Church of Jesus Christ a
viable institution that has power and thrust, that has integrity, spirituality, but a
kind of far seeing vision that will enable us to execute the mission of Jesus Christ
in a fast changing world, in an amazing world on the edge of the third
millennium. That giftedness is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I think that’s where there was a lack in the past. We identified the gifts of the
Holy Spirit with the “more spiritual aspects of ministry” - someone who could
lead in prayer, teach a class, make a pastoral call. These are important, necessary
spiritual gifts for the nurture of the body. Paul uses the image of the body of
Christ as an image for the Church, and in two or three or four different places in
his letters he lists various gifts of the spirit, always making the point however that
all gifts come from one spirit. They are not to be exercised for selfaggrandizement, but for the common good and that all of the gifts, no matter how
they manifest themselves, have not only a common origin in Spirit, but also a
common dignity in value. All of the lists are not the same.
I chose Romans 12 today because there is one important distinction in the list in
Romans 12. In the 7th verse it speaks about a gift of service. Maybe a more careful
translation would be practical service, or in the New English Bible you will find
that gift translated as the gift of administration. Now I take it for granted that the
leadership of the church will include people gifted in prayer and spiritual
© Grand Valley State University
�The Marks of Leadership
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
devotion, and loyalty and dedication, and Christian life, but what has not always
been understood is that the “worldly” gift of administration is also a gift of the
Holy Spirit.
So I want to say that the second mark of leadership is that it is in its diversity
gifted by the Spirit for the common good. That’s why this morning, in order to act
out what we believe regarding marks of leadership, we have had elders and
deacons, and boards of trustees and operations council all mixed up. They said to
me, “In what order should we march in?” I said, “It doesn’t matter, you’re all
mixed up.” They said, “You can say that again!” (Laughter) We used the same oil
and the same words, the same commissioning because, in the diversity of these
gifts and the diversity of these people, we have a common source of spiritual
power in the Spirit of God, and a common place in which to exercise the gift. In
all of its diversity it is still one ministry. It used to be that we ordained elders and
deacons and we constituted various committees to do stuff - no more! We are
seeking now people with specific gifts for specific ministries, recognizing that, in
all of that diversity, there is a commonality of spiritual empowerment for the
common good of this institution that needs to be prayed over, that needs to be
healed, that needs to have financial finessing, that needs to have visionary
strategic planning – all of this, the wholeness of the body, demanding a diversity
of gifted persons.
We are recognizing that baptism is our ordination, that ministry is shared, and
that what we need to do is appoint people whose gifts we recognize to execute
these ministries. The Church isn’t a democracy. The Church isn’t a republican
form of government. The Church has nothing to do with winners and losers.
Jesus, on the way to Jerusalem with the shadow of death looming over him,
shares with his disciples what is in store for him. And James and John come and
they say, “Jesus, when you come in your glory, could we sit on your right and left
hands?” Talk about insensitivity! Jesus knows the only glory he is going to get is
the glory of martyrdom. Talk about misunderstanding! The other disciples got
involved too; they were indignant with James and John, but what made them
angry was not that James and John wanted to be number one and number two,
but the fact that James and John thought of it first! And so you have the feuding
and dissension. You have the desire for power and position, for pomp and
circumstance, and Jesus had to gather them all and say, “Look, it’s not that way.
It is that way out in the world. It is that way in Washington. It is that way in
probably every other institution and organization of which you are a part, but it’s
not that way in the Church.”
He said, “The Gentiles have great men lording it over them, but it shall not be
thus with you. The one who would be great must be the servant of all.” And that, I
believe, brings us to the third mark of leadership: humble servanthood. Jesus is
our model. He says, “I have come not to be served, but to serve.” Dear friends,
what we have done in this congregation is a radical restructuring. I don’t even
dare tell the Reformed Church in America what we’ve done, because we’ve turned
© Grand Valley State University
�The Marks of Leadership
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
their constitution upside down. But then, that’s not the first time. Constitutions
of organizations are frantic attempts to get down on paper what has already
happened in the life of a living organization. I say that with some fear and
trembling in the presence of the Judge (Judge Post), but there is a real sense in
which our situation is like that of the nation.
As President Clinton said in his inaugural address, “Thomas Jefferson long since
recognized that, in order for America to meet its future, it would have to change
much,” and he said, “We change not for the sake of change, but in order to
preserve the ideals of the nation.” And so, while we must always be in dialogue
with the past, it’s like the Constitution of the United States. It stands so that we
must always come up against it, but we must also continue to interpret it in the
ongoing life of the nation. And so, here too, we saying what we are doing is more
biblical, more reflective of this institution which has a ministry function that is
classically thought of as spiritual, and a management function that needs to be
thought of as ministry.
In order that the institution may be well positioned, strong and vital, moving into
the future, able to execute the mission of Christ, we are so structured now that we
can move with facility and agility. We can look into the future on the edge of the
third millennium and say, “These are our times. Let us embrace them.” We are
able to look into the eyes of our sister and into the face of our brother, and to our
country, and our faith community, and simply, very simply with hope say, “Good
morning…Good morning.”
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
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
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Epiphany III
Series
On the Threshold of the Third Millennium
Scripture Text
I Chronicles 12:32, Romans 12:6, Mark 10:43
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19930124
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-01-24
Title
A name given to the resource
Marks of Leadership
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 24, 1993 entitled "Marks of Leadership", as part of the series "On the Threshold of the Third Millennium", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Chronicles 12:32, Romans 12:6, Mark 10:43.
Church
Community of Faith
Holy Spirit
Servanthood
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9bc8d24a71344fd5126b6f11128337ca.pdf
c2e24361d2adbdef80499caef9abd244
PDF Text
Text
The Church: Who Needs It?
From the series: Tough Questions; No Easy Answers
Text: Ephesians 4:15
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
August 24, 1997
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Our summer sermon series, Tough Questions; No Easy Answers, concludes
today with a focus on the church, the institutional form of the Christian religion:
"The Church: Who Needs It!"
Who needs it? That is a question.
However, you may have noticed in the printed liturgy that the question is
terminated with an exclamation point rather than a question mark. Who Needs
It! This reflects not so much a genuine inquiry into who really needs the church
as a statement reflecting a serious question about whether or not perhaps the
church in its present forms and structures has a future; even more, whether it
would be a serious loss if it continues in its present process of demise.
Let me acknowledge at the outset that I am not able to be completely objective in
the contemplation of the question. Who needs it! is probably the expression of my
own frustration with, and disappointment in, the institution in which I have been
nurtured and to which I have given my life. You will simply have to hear me
keeping my own bias before you.
Granting that, let me tie this sermon on the church in with that which I have been
stressing throughout this series, namely, that religion is a human construct, a
human creation, which in multiple religious forms and institutional structures is
a response to the experience of God, the sense of a Presence that fills all things, a
Mystery which is always hidden from us, yet so present in its absence that its
reality cannot be denied.
This is true of religion in the earliest forms discovered in the practice of ancient
and primitive peoples; it is true of the great world religions. Religion as a
phenomenon of humankind is a humanly shaped response to an encounter from
beyond or from the depths.
This is true of the Christian religion as it is institutionalized in the church in all
the manifold forms and structures that have emerged over 2000 years and in all
© Grand Valley State University
�The Church: Who Needs It?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
the wide variety of churches with us in our day. The Christian church is a human
creation, a human institution consisting of a belief system (doctrine), cultic forms
for worship and devotion (liturgy/ritual), and a moral code (ethics).
To claim this does not deny that the Christian religion is a genuine and authentic
response to God, that it is a mediator of truth, of revelation, that it is an agency of
God’s grace. It is simply to recognize that, in response to the revelation of the
Mystery that is God in Jesus Christ and the grace that he mediates by God’s
Spirit, those who have been encountered by revelation and embraced by grace
have created a religious institution we call the church in order to witness to their
experience and pass on their faith.
The religious faith and institutional structure which provided the womb for the
Christian faith was Judaism. One of the fruits of current study of the historical
Jesus is our recognition that Jesus was a Jew. Of course, the church has always
known this, but the fact is, the church has not recognized the Jewishness of Jesus
sufficiently, nor done justice to the rootedness of Jesus in his own religious
tradition.
He was born a Jew, lived as an observant Jew and died a Jew. It was Jewish
tradition he was seeking to renew. It was the Jewish institutional religion he was
seeking to dismantle in the fashion of Israel’s prophets. From our present
knowledge of Jesus’ time from cross-cultural studies, we get a sense of the
institutional forms and structures that he was up against.
We also recognize the Gospels as post-Easter documents that were based on oral
tradition that went back in part to Jesus himself but, at their writing, were
documents that reflected the situation of the Christian communities from which
they arose decades after Jesus’ life and ministry.
It seems apparent that Jesus never intended anything but the renewal of his own
Jewish faith. The early Jesus movement that developed in the wake of Easter was
a Jewish movement in its entirety. In the early years, the Jesus movement was a
movement within Judaism. But, this was a time of ferment and crisis for
Judaism. In a struggle with Rome who occupied her land, she saw her temple
razed and Jerusalem destroyed.
The question was what would emerge as the ongoing Jewish tradition. By the
time Matthew wrote his Gospel, from which we read this morning, two
generations separated his community from Jesus himself. It was clear by the time
Matthew wrote that the majority of Israel was not going to follow Jesus as God’s
Messiah. The Jesus Jewish movement had reached out to Gentiles. The
movement was constituted of Jews and Gentiles and was taking on an identity
over against Israel.
We see this in the passage read from Matthew 16. At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus
asks, "Who do people say that I am?" The disciples answered, Elijah or Jeremiah
© Grand Valley State University
�The Church: Who Needs It?
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
or John the Baptist - one of the prophets. And then Jesus asks, "Who do you say
that I am?" Peter answers for the group, "You are the Christ (or Messiah), the son
of the living God."
Jesus praises Peter for the answer - giving him the nickname Rock and declaring
that on the Rock he would build his church.
It is fascinating that Matthew used Mark as his basic source, but in this instance,
he goes beyond Mark. In Mark, Jesus does not give Peter his nickname, nor does
he praise him; rather, he sternly warns the disciple to say nothing of this
messianic identity.
But, even in Matthew’s account, Jesus continues after his high praise of Peter to
speak of his forthcoming suffering to which Peter objects, actually rebuking Jesus
for such talk. In response, Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on
human things."
Even though Matthew intends some six decades after Jesus to make Jesus the
establisher of the church, he lets show through the constant peril in which the
church will live - becoming human, all too human. The Protestant Church should
never have argued with the Roman Church that Peter was the first Pope because
if anyone puts the lie to papal infallibility, it is Peter. Calling Simon "Rock" may
well have been a bit of Jesus’ humor. Rock-like, he was not; human, he was.
Well, it seems we have a guest.
(At this point, "Peter" arrives, hurrying down the aisle, excited and emphatic.)
Peter: I’m Peter, and, "On this rock I’m gonna build my church." That’s what he
said. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up. Oh, you just did. I never
understood the rock thing. Who would call somebody a rock? Would you call
somebody a loaf of bread, a tree? "Hey, Shrub, come over here." How would you
like that? But, who could figure him? The way he talked sometimes? Very
mysterious.
So, this is church, eh? A little breezy. Reminds me of the old days, Sermon on the
Mount. No air-conditioning there. Whew! It was a scorcher. They don’t tell you
that, do they, in that book you got there? Ninety-eight degrees that day, and lots
of humidity. But, this is just for fun today, right? You got your buildings for
regular. I see you’ve gone to Sundays ... Saturday wasn’t good enough? Anyway,
I’m really pleased to see you’ve made it so big.
I kept telling Jesus, all we needed to do was get to the big boys, the movers and
shakers, the Big Kahunas, show them we could work with them. I said, "Jesus softer, softer. Ease up on the ‘Woe is you, Pharisees,’ stuff. And ‘Woe to the
lawyers.’" You just don’t say "Woe to the lawyers" and get ahead in this world.
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They got such a powerful lobby, you wouldn’t believe! And getting into real estate
... that’s smart. Oh, that’s smaaaart. I told him all along. When he had that
shmooze with Elijah and Moses, and he turned all sparkly, I told him then. Build
three tabernacles here ... Okay, just one. At least put up a plaque, "Jesus
transfigured here, June eleventh, 0-0-27." But, no. "Don’t tell anybody," he says.
So, what are you pulling down? 40-50 big ones? You know what I got? Lunch, I
got. On a good day, maybe breakfast. I’m not complaining. I was in on the ground
floor - that counts for something. I got statues all over the place. None of ‘em look
like but, but, hey, the headquarters in Rome? St. Peters! That still seems a little
weird to me. St. Rock. Who would do that to a friend? "Simon," I says, "what’s
wrong with Simon?"
"Give up your stuff and follow me," he says.
I brought this nice young kid in to see him once. Very well connected. Good
family; the Dad’s really big in olive oil. And the kid wants to join. I’m thinking,
this could be good. So, Jesus asks him the big one, you know, what’s the most
important commandment? And the kid spouts it right off, not a hitch. Okay, so I
prompted him a little going into the interview, but the kid’s sincere. And Jesus
loves him, you can tell. He’s a good looking kid, well behaved, nice clothes. But,
then Jesus says, "You want to go with me, you gotta get rid of all your stuff first.
Give it away to folks who don’t have any stuff, then come back and see me." I
couldn’t believe my ears. So we lost him.
I said, "Jesus, this kid was loaded. You just blew a potentially large investor." And
then he goes on at me about how tough it is to get to heaven if you’ve got a lot of
stuff, and something about camels going through needles, and I don’t know.
Anyway, I’m glad to see that’s changed. I mean, this looks like a pretty well heeled
bunch here. What’s the weekly take? Pretty good, I bet. Oh, you got a good thing
going here.
One night the boys and I, we’re sitting around a campfire with Jesus singing
"Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore," "We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder," some of
the oldies but goodies, and then Jesus starts talking about he has to go to
Jerusalem and the Son of Man is going to have all sorts of bad things happen to
him, and we’re not understanding what he’s saying, so a few of us start trying to
work out an organizational chart. You know, Jesus is the CEO, that’s a given. But,
who’s the V.P.s? I mean, you can’t have any kind of operation like that without
flow charts. You got to have your P.R. section. Quality Control, and so forth. Well,
Jesus just threw a fit and says, "You want to be Vice President, you’ve got to be
the custodian. You want to lead, you’ve got to serve!" He was always saying things
like that. "You gotta die to live. The first are last and the last first." I kept saying,
"Jesus, you’re going to drive ‘em away with that sort of stuff. You need upbeat,
upbeat! ‘It’s the real thing!’ - take a tip from the Coke folks, Nike, whoosh! The
Pillsbury Doughboy."
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Richard A. Rhem
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But, don’t let me interrupt. You guys are doing great, just great! It’s a real
pleasure. I’ll just sit down here, zip the lip. You were saying?
(Mr. Rhem)
I was saying, Peter, you never got the message. In the paragraph following our
reading, we have Jesus speaking to the disciples about denying themselves,
taking up the cross and following Jesus.
Those who want to save their life will lose it, Jesus warns. Those who lose their
life for Jesus’ sake - that is, for the sake of the way of Jesus will find life.
But, that word has too often been muffled in the history of the church.
It just may be that what appeared to be the triumph of the Christian religion and
its institutional form, the church, was its undoing. In the year 312 C.E., the
Roman Emperor Constantine was victorious in battle and he attributed his
victory to Jesus Christ. Constantine decreed that Christianity would be the
established religion of the Empire. Thus, the movement that sprang from Jesus,
beginning as a Jewish sect, becoming a persecuted minority evolved into the state
religion of the Roman Empire and Jesus, the destabilizer of the religious
institution of Judaism, was co-opted by the Roman Emperor to bring unity and
cohesion to the Empire.
It is no coincidence that the Constantinian decree of 313 was followed in 325 C.E.
by the Council of Nicaea, perhaps the most critical Council in terms of the
definition of the deity of Jesus and his relationship to God in the Trinitarian
formula. John Dominic Crossan, in his Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography,
writes,
... Constantine, wanting a unified Christianity as the empire’s new religion,
ordered the Christian bishops to meet, under imperial subsidy, in Nicaea,
southeast of Constantinople, and there erase any major theological
disagreements between them. Even if one is not already somewhat
disturbed at imperial convocations, presence, and participation, it is hard
not to become very nervous in reading this description of the imperial
banquet celebrating the Council of Nicaea’s conclusion, from Eusebius’
Life of Constantine, 3.15:
Detachments of the bodyguard and troops surrounded the entrance
of the palace with drawn swords, and through the midst of them the
men of God proceeded without fear into the innermost of the
Imperial apartments, in which some were the Emperor’s
companions at table, while others reclined on couches arranged on
either side. One might have thought that a picture of Christ’s
kingdom was thus shadowed forth, and a dream rather than reality.
(p. 201)
© Grand Valley State University
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Richard A. Rhem
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Crossan comments, "Dream or reality? Dream or nightmare?"
There are many serious students of the history of the church who see the
Constantinian establishment not as the church’s triumph, but rather, as the
critical moment it lost its soul. The collusion of throne and altar, the mating of
secular power and religion is always finally fatal to religion; it becomes a tool of
the state or, when in the ascendency, wields power as ruthlessly as any secular
government.
I am always struck by the passage in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus mentions his
forthcoming death, and James and John come to him to request positions of
power when he enters into his glory. Let us sit on your right and left hand, they
ask. It is in response to this that Jesus tells them that greatness lies in
servanthood.
Obviously, from the beginning the religion that evolved from Jesus - Christianity
- has lived with the temptation to save its life, preserve its life, enhance its life.
Surveying its history, one must recognize great fruits that have derived from
Christian faith, from the church. It has, indeed, shaped our Western civilization,
combining as it has the heritage of Athens and Jerusalem. But it has been, as
well, the enemy of the one whose name it claims. Were I to cite its greatest
failings, I would point to its triumphalism of attitude, coercion of method,
exclusiveness of spirit.
Triumphalism is arrogance. We are first. It is one thing when expressed by the
Marine Corps. It is unbecoming when expressed with nationalist zeal. But, it is
downright betrayal when manifested by a religious tradition, especially a
tradition that looks to Jesus, the crucified one, as its founder.
And triumphalism soon leads to tactics of coercion. No longer do we simply
witness to what we have experienced, but we use power to enforce our views and
policy. Throughout its history, when the church has been in a power position, it
has forced its way, leveling the opposition, the Inquisition of the 15th century only
the most glaring example.
And such coercion is justified by the claim of exclusiveness - the claim that truth
is finally captured in the church’s creeds and that there is truth and salvific grace
alone through the channel of the church.
But it is not working anymore; the church has lost its position of dominance in
the West. We speak of Europe as post-Christian and, appearance to the contrary,
the church as institution is not a vital, confident body going from strength to
strength. Multitudes are saying, "The Church: Who Needs It!"
But, there are astute observers who are deeply committed to the Christian faith
who see the dis-establishment of the church as a blessing. We are now, they say,
in the same situation as the Jewish folk following Jerusalem’s destruction. We are
© Grand Valley State University
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Richard A. Rhem
Page 7
in a diaspora situation. Douglas John Hall writes in Confessing the Faith, citing
the great Catholic thinker, Karl Rahner,
... we "must" accommodate ourselves to the diaspora situation, and this
"must" emanates not only from our actual, empirical condition, but from
the same gracious sovereignty that is contained in the journey of Jesus
toward the cross. But we must and may do this joyfully. (p. 221)
To do so, we must cease striving for "total victory." But, says Rahner, this is not
resignation and defeatism.
... If we once have the courage to give up our defense of the old facades
which have nothing or very little behind them; if we cease to maintain, in
public, the pretense of a universal Christendom; if we stop straining every
nerve to get everybody baptized, to get everybody married in church and
onto our registers ... if, by letting all of this go, we visibly relieve
Christianity of the burdensome impression that it accepts responsibility
for everything that goes on under this Christian top dressing, the
impression that Christianity is ... a sort of Everyman’s Religious Varnish, a
folk-religion ... then we can be free for real missionary adventure and
apostolic self-confidence. (p. 222)
Douglas Hall, Karl Rahner, Hans Küng - and many more of the most acute
thinkers in the church see our present situation as holding great promise. As a
minority without cultural assent or political power, we are free to get back to the
way of Jesus, the way of the cross, of loving service and gracious embrace.
In the word of the apostle, we may yet grow up into the likeness of Jesus and
speaking the truth in love become the true servant people as Jesus envisioned.
The Church: Who Needs It! as a coercive institution seeking power.
But, the church as community, a community of worship, of nurture, of gracious
servant serving the world in Jesus’ name - that is the church I need, for which I
will live and, if need be, die.
Reference:
Douglas John Hall. Confessing the Faith: Christian Theology in a North
American Context, Vol. 1. Fortress Press, 1991.
© Grand Valley State University
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f9819f95c4de7aba6e9587f5da0fe92.mp3
1edec60d2acdc59cccbdc62aa9a1b501
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
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
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English
Type
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Sound
Text
Identifier
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KII-01
Coverage
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1981-2014
Format
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audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
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Event
Pentecost XIV
Series
Tough Questions: No Easy Answers
Scripture Text
Matthew 15:13-23, Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
References
Douglas John Hall. Confessing The Faith: Christian Theology in a North American Context, 1991.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19970824
Date
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1997-08-24
Title
A name given to the resource
The Church: Who Needs It?
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
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Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
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Text
Sound
Format
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audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 24, 1997 entitled "The Church: Who Needs It?", as part of the series "Tough Questions: No Easy Answers", on the occasion of Pentecost XIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 15:13-23, Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16.
Myster
Religion as a Human Construct
Servanthood
Way of Jesus