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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/375f32ddf44d240223cf74da604de3e9.pdf
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When God Will Be Satisfied
From the series: The Fundamentals a Century Later
Text: Psalm 51; Luke 23:32-38
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
August 10, 2003
Transcription of the spoken sermon
We continue this morning to consider “The Fundamentals a Century Later.” It
was the years 1910 to 1915 when a group of conservative scholars wrote essays in
defense of the core doctrines of the Christian faith. They did this because there
was a rising tide of liberal theology which, in the first quarter of the century, was
spoken of as modernism, and that theological understanding was increasing its
influence as the years went by. The conservative dimension of the church felt
under siege and, therefore, in a careful and responsible way, conservative
scholars wrote essays which explained and defended what they felt was the core
of the Christian tradition.
The liberal theological movement was making great headway in those years
because it was able to accept the increasing knowledge of the world as it came to
expression through the natural sciences, and liberal theology had as its hallmark
its refusal of any external authority. The orthodox community had an external
authority; it had a book, in the case of the Protestant communion from which we
stem; it had the institution of the church in the case of the Roman Catholic
tradition, along with the scriptures; and in the Eastern Orthodox tradition there
was not only the scriptural witness but the grand tradition of the church in its
liturgical expression. But in whatever form or confessional family, there was an
external authority that created the parameters in which the Christian faith could
be understood.
Now the critical moment, and it wasn’t just a moment, but a movement over a
period of time, was the breaking down of those parameters. The determination of
the liberal theological movement was to accept the data from the sciences, just as
it had come to accept the world as it was, and to judge every truth claim,
theological or otherwise, on the basis of human reason and experience. If you
take away the external authority, then you are faced with making critical
judgments over against the data that is presented to you. The issue was a
question of authority. Does the authority lie in a book or an institution? Or is the
authority finally in the person who, through reason and experience, judges the
religious truth claims as he or she judges every other claim?
© 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University
�When God Will Be Satisfied
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
The issue of authority was absolutely fundamental and these conservative
scholars understood that, and therefore, their first cardinal point was the inerrant
and infallible word of God. It was an issue of authority, and if you have a
prescribed authority, then you are in trouble when the whole world-view begins
to change. That is what happened. That is why liberalism was gaining and why
the orthodox party felt on the defensive.
Unfortunately, in those essays called The Fundamentals, written between 1910
and 1915, what the orthodox party did was to affirm the faith once again, but in
terms of the old world-view that was passing away. Their essays flew in the face of
what the sciences were saying about the reality of which we are a part. And so, we
have that unfortunate history of the conflict between science and religion.
It was an issue of authority, and the orthodox party, being hemmed in by its
authority, expressed that faith over again in terms of an old world-view that was
falling apart. As we discussed last week, that view was a view of a supernatural
realm, the realm of God the Creator, and a natural realm, the creation.
Sometimes we speak colloquially of a three-decker universe: heaven above, hell
below, earth in the middle. And in that old world-view, the earth, the human
experience, was caught in a cosmic conflict between light and darkness, between
good and evil, between God and Satan. That cosmic conflict was the consequence
of human sin. Last week when we looked at the creation story and the
disobedience of Adam and Eve, what has come to be called the Fall, we saw that
whole natural realm was spoken of as fallen. There was disobedience and
therefore estrangement and alienation, and as a result God in the heavenly realm
had to decide what to do about the situation. Would God leave creation in that
state which it had earned through its disobedience, having fallen to a state of
judgment and condemnation? Or would God find some way, in spite of human
disobedience, to rescue, to redeem, to save humankind from its fall?
The solution to God’s dilemma was the virgin birth. Why a virgin birth? Well,
there was no hope from our side, for we had forfeited life. We had no life to offer
to God. So God would have to come and join us in our humanity. That’s the whole
Christmas story; that’s the incarnation. But if God was going to join us in our
humanity, how could God avoid being tainted by that original sin which went in
an unbroken chain down through the generations? Just a normal human birth
comes out wrong.
The solution? The virgin birth, which was the second of the five cardinal points of
The Fundamentals. Through the conception of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin
Mary, God the eternal son could join humanity untainted by human sin and
estrangement. He could be born without sin and he could live sinlessly. God the
Son in human nature could offer himself on behalf of the world.
That’s what you learned in Sunday School, isn’t it? That is the old story. In that
offering of himself, Jesus took upon himself our sin and guilt, removing it from
© 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University
�When God Will Be Satisfied
Richard A. Rhem
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us so that we could be forgiven by God. As one theologian stated it, “Jesus took
the rap for us.” Or, as the old communion liturgy of the Reformed Church has it,
“He was forsaken of God that we never need be forsaken.” That’s right at the
heart of the traditional Christian understanding of salvation.
What’s going on here? Well, the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, living without
sin, living righteously and faithfully, can offer up his life. As he takes on himself
the sin of the world, he dies, even though he did not deserve to die. His dying,
then, removes from us the sentence of death. He dies in our place; he substitutes
for us. As St. Paul expressed it, “God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
that we might be made in the righteousness of God in him.”
And so, we have come to speak about the substitutionary atonement. That’s the
third point of The Fundamentals, the substitutionary atonement. Christ is our
substitute. And when we speak of atonement, we think of the death of Christ;
Christ paying the price for our sin and guilt, and so forth. We don’t often stop to
look at the word itself, but if we would break it apart, atonement is at-one-ment.
That is literally how it is spelled, at-one-ment. And so it speaks about the
reconciliation of two alienated parties. It brings together those who were
separated through human sin and guilt. There is communion again between God
and the human family. That is the traditional understanding of the doctrine of
substitutionary atonement.
You can understand what was being addressed there, for the great concern was
the justice of God. How could God forgive freely and still remain just? That is a
philosophical problem. I can make it very simple if I say, for example, “John, you
owe me $100.” You acknowledge that you owe me $100. But you refuse to pay
me, and so we go before the judge. I make my claim, and you admit your debt.
The judge looks at us and says, “Well, Dick, you’re right, he owes you the money.
John, you are wrong in not repaying the debt, but, ah shucks, let’s forget it.” Well,
John would like that kind of a judge, wouldn’t he? But, I wouldn’t.
You see in that simple little story, this is the profound philosophical,
metaphysical problem that the substitutionary atonement is dealing with. The
great concern of that traditional Christian doctrinal system was preserving the
justice and honor of God. How could God be just, and yet justify the sinner? This
was right at the heart and core of Christian understanding. It was the traditional
understanding of the death of Christ, that he died on behalf of sinners, in the
sinner’s place, in order to open up the possibility of forgiveness by a God who
would remain just because he got, as it were, his pound of flesh from Jesus. That
is so deeply written into the fabric of our being that I hear it over and over and
over again from adults and from children: Jesus came to die for our sins. That is
really at the heart and core of the whole Christian revelation.
Interestingly, in the tenth century a great theologian of the church by the name of
Anselm felt that the whole cosmic struggle idea with spirits and angels and
© 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University
�When God Will Be Satisfied
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
demons and the conflict between God and Satan was quite unworthy of a tenthcentury “modern” understanding. Anselm was a part of a culture that we know of
as the Age of Feudalism when the castle was on the hill and the lord of the castle
had serfs. The serf served as a slave to the castle and the castle gave protection to
the serf.
Anselm said, let’s understand this whole drama this way: The lord of the castle is
God, who has infinite honor, and the lowly serf has offended that honor. The lord
of the manor, in all of his dignity, cannot allow that kind of affront, and so he
must punish the serf. In the same way, the Lord of the universe, the infinite God,
has been affronted by our human transgression and rebellion, and therefore, we
forfeit our life. But although we deserve it, God is not willing to damn us. An
infinite God can only be satisfied by an infinite sacrifice, and so only a God-Man
could make that infinite sacrifice that would get the record clear and enable God
to open God’s arms to us in at-one-ment, in reconciliation. It is in the New
Testament and in the tradition of the church, and it probably is the most
fundamental understanding of what we have just participated in here at the
Lord’s Supper.
How about looking at that a century later? Is that the way you understand it still?
Is that meaningful for you still? If it is, beautiful. I think all of us come to this
table bringing our own understanding, bringing our own experiences, bringing
our own personal needs. So, as we come to this table, we all, I am sure, are
receiving the blessing and the peace of God through means of our understanding
and our own personal experience in the present. Let me say, however, that the
difficulty with this traditional doctrine is that it can be a kind of objective
transaction out there beyond us which we tune into by our faith, but not always
the personal, transformative experience that one would hope for.
Anselm was concerned about the honor of God. How can the honor and the
justice of God be satisfied? I used this in the title of the sermon today, “When
God Will Be Satisfied.” The traditional answer is when the perfect offering of
Jesus is received on behalf of the penitent one. Then God forgives, but doesn’t
compromise his justice; then God is satisfied. The demands of justice are
satisfied. The demands of the honor and dignity of God are satisfied, fulfilled, as
it were.
But when is God satisfied? When do you come to an awareness that God is
satisfied?
Let me suggest there are other strains in the scripture. How about that beautiful
Psalm 51? I don’t know whether David wrote it or not, but it is purported to be a
psalm of David written as a great prayer of confession and plea for forgiveness
when he was confronted by the prophet in the face of his sins of murder and
adultery. David pleads for the mercy of God on the basis of God’s steadfast love.
And then he says, “Ah, you desire truth in the inward parts. Create in me a clean
© 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University
�When God Will Be Satisfied
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy
presence and take not thy holy spirit from me. O God, if it was a matter of
sacrifices, I can bring you all kinds of burnt offerings and sacrifices, but the
sacrifice that you desire, or the offering that satisfies you is the offering of a
broken and a contrite heart. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not
despise or turn away.”
There is no talk there about the problem God has. There is no talk there about
God’s justice being compromised. What satisfies God here is an open and honest
and authentic human spirit in full awareness before the presence of God, naked
in the presence of that Eternal One, honest in the presence of that which is holy
and sacred and good and true and beautiful, and the recognition of how far short
we fall in even our own noblest visions and values. And then I see Jesus portrayed
in the Gospel of Luke, on the cross, crucified because of the sin of the world,
saying, “Father, forgive them. Silly people, they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Not “Father, take my life in place of their lives.” Rather, “They are taking my life,
and in my last breath I say, ‘Forgive them,’” because their merciful and loving
God will never allow the alienation and the estrangement of his children to
prevail.
About a year ago, a few of us were in St. Petersburg, Russia, and went to the
Hermitage, perhaps one of the greatest art galleries of the world. I was eager to go
there because there is this huge canvas, Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal.
The Prodigal is kneeling. You see his back, but you see the father with his hands
at his back, the old gray-bearded man who has welcomed the Prodigal home. The
Prodigal had a well-rehearsed story. He had the words to bring to the father, and
the father wouldn’t hear of them, and weeping, embraced the son. That was a
story Jesus told and the story Jesus embodied. That Jesus who so lived breaks my
heart. The way he lived is emulated so little in my life and in the lives of us all.
What is the real problem in this cosmic journey of ours? Is it somehow or other a
God who is muscle-bound by some theory of justice? Or is it the need for a
transformed consciousness that is effected through a life that we believe was the
embodiment of God, a truly human existence? We have come to this table, and as
I have given you permission to come as you will and to experience that which you
are able to experience, I must say to you, I come and take bread and cup, not
because Jesus died for me, but because he lived for me. And if I could live as he
lived, then God would be satisfied.
References:
The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, eds. A.C. Dixon, R.A. Torrey, Vols.
1-12. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, 1910-1915.
© 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
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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
Rights
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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
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 IX
Series
The Fundamentals a Century Later
Scripture Text
Psalm 51: Luke 23:32-38
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
References
A. C. Dixon, R. Torrey, editors, The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth,Vols. 1-12. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles,1910-1915.
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-0-20030810
Date
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2003-08-10
Title
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When God Will Be Satisfied
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
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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 August 10, 2003 entitled "When God Will Be Satisfied", as part of the series "The Fundamentals a Century Later", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 51: Luke 23:32-38.
Religious Authority
Transformed Consciousness