Sermons of Pastor Rob Myallis

We cannot grieve alone! In the gospel of John (chapter 11), we hear of Jesus meeting Mary and Martha, two sisters who are grieving. Turns out they are not grieving alone, but they are part of a community that is supporting them.  Likewise in our grief, Jesus blesses us with community, giving us people who console us.However, as we reflect more deeply on the interactions of Jesus with the two sisters, we realize that at some level we do grieve apart from others.  As we grieve and pray in our grief, we discover that we are not alone, and that the company of saints and ultimately Jesus meets us in our grief.The painting "Jesus Wept" is from a program called "Horton Live" in which an artist paints live during a church event.

Once again (John 9), the pharisees are the "bad guys", the people who cannot see the goodness of God because they are fixated on the sinfulness in the world.Before we look down on them though, Pastor Rob explores how easy it is for all of us to succumb to the same type of spiritual blindness, where we cannot see God's goodness because we are focused on human sin and the problems of the world.Just as Jesus healed the blind man though, Jesus too will heal our spiritual blindness, opening our eyes to God's glory and grace.

 What well is Jesus calling you to visit?Jesus lived in a world that was filled with division, including division that was often violent. His response to this is very curious; he meets a woman at a well.  Here he begins to build a bridge with somebody who is totally other than himself (John 4). Jesus is content to play the long, slow game of stitching back the frame fabric of humanity, one person, one family, one village at a time. We learn from the interaction of Jesus and the woman how we too can be bridge builders.  The start of this process is meeting someone at the well and finding a common ground with them.The artwork comes from a Via Latina Catacomb Fresco, 340 – 350 AD (Italy)

 Who has been a great teacher in your life?On this Sunday when we’re celebrating the ministry of St Paul's Christian Early Learning Center (CELC), Jesus shows us what a great teacher looks like.  As he interacts with Nicodemus, Jesus reveals himself as the one who- Knows us better than we know ourselves- Tells us what we need to hear and not what we want to hear - Has patience with us as we work through it.  What this means is that when we pray, we pray to the one who knows us better than we know ourselves.  He also knows that figuring it out takes time, especially to process what we didn't want to hear.  This plays itself out powerfully in Nicodemus' life, just as in our own.The art work is by painter Lester Yocum.  A quite rare painting showing the lesser known but just as important interaction of Nicodemus later in the Gospel of John, when he helps bury Jesus.

After fasting for 40 days and nights in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil.  (Matthew 4:1-11)Is this time in the wilderness a test or a trial?  (... and what might the difference be?)A test is something that assesses what we've learned and whether we are ready to advanced to the next stage.A trial is something that is designed to teach us what is necessary for the next stage.Pastor Rob reflects on how understanding this wilderness temptation as a trial can help us do two things:First, it can deepen our appreciation of fasting as preparation for the trials of life.Second, it can deepen our connection to Jesus as one who prays with us during the trials of life.The artwork is Christ in the Desert by Vasily Polenov, 1909

You are the salt of the earth (Jesus, Gospel of Matthew, Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:13)This winter has been all about snow, cold and SALT!When Jesus declares that we are the salt of the earth, this is a word of Gospel:  We are valued.  It is also a word of challenge:  we are called to work hard for others.So far, so good. But wait, Jesus also says salt might lose its flavor.  What might that mean?  Hint:  It has to do with foolishness.  

 "Blessed are the Peacemakers."  Jesus Christ, Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew (5:1-12)"Blessed are the Peacemakers" is a word of great challenge to us -- peace is not the norm.  What it mean for us to be peacemakers in our lives, in our communities and even in our world?"Blessed are the Peacemakers" is a word of great promise for us -- peace will be the norm in Kingdom come.  Jesus promise of peace invites us to see the world, not as our eyes see it, as it is, but how it can and one day will be -- reconciled through and to him.The image is from a basketball game that tells the story of what it might look like when we begin to see what the eyes cannot!

 Jesus hears terrible news:  John the Baptist has been arrested (Matthew 4:12-23).   He is sad for his friend, the world and himself.Soon afterwards, he is proclaiming good news and healing everyone.  How does Jesus do this, that is, metabolize the hearing of tragedy into the sharing of love?And, what, if anything, can we do, to metabolize the hard and even hateful news that we hear into love and compassion?The artworks is a relief "The Arrest of John the Baptist" by Lorenzo Ghiberti

1000 Days -- that is all Jesus gets from the time of his baptism until his ascension.  One might expect and urgency that would mean Jesus is counting and optimizing how he spends each and every moment.Yet on day 1, Jesus chooses to hang out with a person he hadn't yet met, Andrew, and another future disciple.  He doesn't teach, exhort, impress or anything -- he just spends time with them.What gives here?  Why is Jesus just spending time with Andrew?  And why might Jesus want to spend time with us?The image is from "What the Saints did Next" Photography blog.

As we turn the calendar, many of us make lists of goals or even resolutions for the next year.  Often times, we skip the necessary step of asking ourselves:  Is this goal something that God intends for me? Working with the story of the magi visiting Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12), Pastor Rob reflects on how we can discern God's purposes and will in our lives.  It turns out that it isn't about a formula, but more like a recipe for a slow cook sauce, one that has a number of ingredients and takes some time. 

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas continues to capture the imagination years after its debut.  Might it be that the problem for the grinch -- that is heart is too sizes too small -- is something we fear might happen to us?  Not only might our hearts be smaller, but as humans it is quite hard (impossible?!) to grow our own heart.  We need a love outside of ourselves.Fear not though, for love has come!  As the Gospel writer Luke tells of the story 1)  The love our hearts need has come into the world in Jesus Christ.2)  This love is for the world and also for you!

Joseph is, Pastor Rob offers, the Patron Saint of the Unappreciated.Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25; parts of Matthew 2) is called to play a vital role in the Christmas story.  Pastor Rob offers that each of us has a role to play - a holy calling - in the Christmas story in our lives this year.Unfortunately, Joseph is not thanked in the Bible (or in some ways, in history) for his efforts.  At the holidays, we can often feel unappreciated as the Christmas story plays out in our lives.Joseph perhaps offers a way through the bitterness that can come when we are not thanked.  For Joseph's story reminds us that although we have a role, the story is not about us.   This can free us to serve in love, worship in joy and give thanks for those who have gone before us in faith.

 "Your mercy is from generation to generation to those who fear you" Mary, in the Magnificat, from Luke 1Today we have three generations meeting and interacting :  Elizabeth, Mary and John.  Each generation brings a different gift.  Elizabeth brings the patience of one who has life's disappointment turn into celebration.  John brings the joy of a child, simply enthralled with the birth of Jesus.As Mary draws on the joy of John and the patience of Elizabeth, she breaks forth in a song of praise.  This is a song that acknowledges the brokenness of life, but also the gift of the redeemer in our lives.  This is a song that is not dependent on the circumstances in the world.  This is song for you too, as you join with the generations: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior."The Artwork comes from Grace Church, Dupage, IL.

 “How can this be?” Mary asks.  (Luke 1:26-38)Mary has been asked to do the seemingly impossible:  Become pregnant, suffer rebuke from her family and have the Messiah in her womb!The angel gives her two things to equip her to move forward.  First a friendship with Elizabeth. Second, the word promise that nothing will be impossible with God. As we say to ourselves “how can this be?”, when asked to do the seemingly impossible, the angel of God points us to friends in faith, and offers us the same word of promiseThe artwork is by African-American artist Henry Tanner, 1898.

The Prophet Isaiah has a vision (2:1-5) that is compelling millennia later - humanity streaming to the house of God, where they learn and are transformed into agents of peace.This vision is so compelling that it brings into immediate contrast the world in which we live, where there is a constant stream of violence.  What do we make of this disparity, this chasm between vision and reality?Some Christians develop a way of understanding where Jesus becomes much like an alien who takes us away from the bad place of earth and puts us in the good place of heaven.  But this vision from Isaiah suggests that God isn't in the business of getting people out of earth, but renewing it through Jesus, in the power of the Spirit.  As Christians, we celebrate that love has come in Jesus, but we acknowledge that love must return to finish the work.A reflection on how the Bible points toward the renewal of all things instead of the escape of people...and what this might mean for us this Advent, as we prepare for the coming of Christ.

We praise Christ as King today.   Should we?  This is rather strange for us as Americans, who typically don’t like kings.  The pilgrims, in fact, were fleeing England because they were upset with the king's interference in religion.Turns out the rest of the Bible also has some pretty negative things to say about human kings too.So why do we praise Jesus Christ as King?  It turns out that Jesus is not like other kings.  The way in which he revealed to us his kingship on the cross casts judgment on all other kings and teaches all of us something about power. The kings of this world use their power to create their own paradise, come what may for others.  Jesus uses his power to create a paradise for others, come at the cost of his own life.   And the power he uses to create that paradise, as it turns out, is mercy.  And for this mercy, we can give thanks!Art credit, Wikipedia, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, an 1857 portrait by Robert Walter Weir now housed at Brooklyn Museum

 What events in your life made you say: The world as I knew it has ended!For Pastor Rob, one of these events was the fall of the Berlin Wall; the other was when his sick grandmother moved into their home.Jesus today readily admits that the world we live in has many cataclysmic events and challenges that make us say, my world has ended!  Yet life moves on.  Jesus reminds us that the Christian life requires endurance.For many of us, the way that we endure tough situations is to hunker down and put on the emotional armor.  Yet Jesus calls us to a non-defensive endurance, one in which we are open to his provision, including his provision through other people.

 Our church hosts the community food bank.  This week, the bins were empty because so many people have needed food these past few weeks.We hear a story in the Bible of God responding to great human need by sending Moses.  As we consider the suffering of those around us, are we also called into action?When Moses hears the call, he protests, thinking that he is not enough.  Like Moses, we may feel that the problem is too big and too complicated for us to address. Yet God has called us, with others, to give what we can; which, in this case might literally be a can a can of food. Pastor Rob offers us that the "Holy Ground" is the place where we recognize our "empty", where we experience God's fullness as something greater than our sin, and where this resolves itself in a "I can."

We all have a "River Jabbok" in our lives, a place where the past, present and future collide with a whirlpool of anxiety and anticipation.  Today we heard the story of Jacob coming to the river Jabbok, where he must comes to terms with the demons of his past, navigate the present and look forward to the future (Genesis 32:22-31)Here Jacob wrestles with someone else, but it is not clear who it is.  Often in life, when we are wrestling at the banks of the River Jabbok, we struggle even to figure out against whom we are wrestling, but we definitely know we are wrestling. Ultimately, it is revealed that Jacob was wrestling with God.  A reflection on what prayer looks like in the midst of this kind of wrestling.The artwork comes from artist Chris Cook. who tells the story of his art.

"Increase our faith" the disciples cry out (Luke 17:1-7)When we read the news, when we struggle with health diagnoses, when we worry about the next generation growing up, we feel overwhelmed and pray, like the disciples, "Increase our faith."In our series on What Matters, we reflect on the power of faith and our culture's need for faith to confront the challenges it faces.Unfortunately (fortunately, really) we cannot gain faith from Jesus.  Rather, we recognize that it is not about what we have or don't have, but that all Jesus has and has given to us is sufficient.  And so, we get to work, invited by Jesus, to use what little faith we have to move mulberry bushes!The artwork is "The Mulberry Tree" by Vincent Van Gogh, currently on display at the Norton Simon Museum.