Daniel Nicewonger

One of the joys I have in serving as a pastor is that there are moments, sacred times when during the preparation for a sermon or teaching it feels as if time stands still and God says, “I want you to share this with my people…but Dan this piece is especially for you…is your heart ready to hear, to own, to embrace this?”

I had one of those times a few weeks ago while looking at Isaiah 6.  In the passage Isaiah has a vision where he encounters the holiness of God.  He is forever changed.  His response is to call out, to confess his shortcomings in light of the holiness of God, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.”  In his grace and mercy God has one of the angels take a live coal from the altar and touch Isaiah’s lips saying, “…your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  Amen, hallelujah, praise God!

Isaiah then records hearing the voice of God ring out with two questions, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  Moved by the holiness and grace of God, Isaiah responds, “Here am I, send me.”  Here am I send me…now that preaches…we could get an entire month of sermons out of that phrase.  It is here that we normally end our focus…but this was one of those sacred times when God led me deeper, further and allowed me to see something I had not seen before.  Isaiah’s response leads God to tell Isaiah what to do.  It is not a call to success as the world would define it, but a call to faithfulness.  In other words, if we were to measure Isaiah’s prophetic ministry by earthly standards we would judge it a failure…Israel would not repent, their “heart would be calloused, their ears dull and their eyes closed.”  If someone would have taken the time to chart his ministry, things would not have been moving up and to the right…it would have “looked rough.”

Isaiah asks what I think is a great question in verse 11, “for how long O Lord?”  In other words, how long will you have me struggle with this calling before you set me free to a calling that will be marked with success?  How long will I have to struggle with these people?  How long will I have to endure?  If I put my time in, eventually I will see things move “up and to the right” … correct … I mean that is only fair.  God’s response is that Isaiah is to continue until “the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.”  The only promise God gives Isaiah is “but as the oak leaves stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”  The promise is that there will be a seed, life, hope for rebirth…but Isaiah, it will not necessarily be a part of your ministry.

As I wrestled with that, as I sat and questioned I had to ask myself.  Dan are you willing to put aside success for the sake of faithfulness?

Some of you may be questioning this idea of choosing faithfulness over success.  Yet in the Kingdom of God things work just a little differently and God has the ability to transform and redeem on His schedule, in His time.  Isaiah was faithful.  In chapter 11 we read his words, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him…”  I wonder if Isaiah could fully imagine the work of Jesus as he spoke those words.  I know Isaiah could not have imagined that every Christmas season, thousands of years after his death, people would be reading the words God gave him to faithfully deliver as we celebrate the birth of Jesus each Christmas season.

Success is simple…it is easy…it is quick.  I pray I have the strength, character and wisdom to choose faithfulness.  Won’t you join me in seeking to walk like Isaiah?

Over the past few months I have been using an electronic devotional put out by the Jesuits to help center and focus my days and energy.  I have found it helpful as I become distracted and disconnected from the things that truly matter in my life.  Today’s meditation was based upon the scripture found in Mark 10:28-31, where Jesus teaches,  “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

I found the meditation that accompanied the scripture both challenging and refreshing at the same time…

May it speak to you the same way it spoke to me.

I imagine, like the disciples, we’ve all found ourselves saying to God: “I have given up so much to follow you….What’s in it for me?” Far from selfish, this question is genuinely human.

In trying to live our lives as Christians we come to know sacrifice. We sacrifice our freedom, desires, and dreams when we commit to a vocation, a relationship, a job, or a child. We make material and physical sacrifices for the people we love. We sacrifice popularity, recognition, or acceptance when we stand up for what is right. In whatever form it takes, sacrifice is not comfortable or easy. It often seems a burden and a loss.

In today’s Gospel, however, Jesus flips our view upside down: paradoxically, sacrifice leads to joy, contentment, and fulfillment. A meaningful and rich life comes through putting ourselves aside for others. And each time we do, God promises fulfillment one hundred times over.

In what ways has God blessed you through the commitments you’ve made? Ask God today for the grace of seeing your sacrifices in a new light.

—Aaron Pierre, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the Wisconsin Province, is studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.

The daily devotional link can be found at    Jesuit Prayer.org

Everyone in our house had the day off today.  I told the girls (Nancy and Rayann) they could be in charge of planning the day and we would do whatever they wanted.  We ended up at Valley Forge, National Historical Park.  It is one of Nancy’s very special places.  On the way into the park there were signs for reenactments.  For a moment I thought Nancy   was confused and was thinking she was with her father who enjoyed spending hours upon hours wandering historic sites reading plaques and watching reenactments like the one they were advertising.  Turns out we were there for a nice walk and everyone, including Owen, behaved nicely.  It was the perfect family day.  Time to light up the grill in a little bit and put the finishing touches on a relaxing day.  We could use a few more of these type days in our lives.

A Josh Duncan original tie

The Sunday worship service was over and Josh greeted me, like he did most Sundays, at Church in the Acres.  There was the firm handshake a warm smile and then he added, “Pastor, we have a problem.”  I had learned that when someone said, “we have a problem” it usually meant that they were unhappy with me or disagreed with something I was doing.  So I replied with more than a little hesitation, “Oh, and what might that be?”  “Don’t worry, I will take care of it” was all Josh would say.

A few days later he and his wife Marian stopped by my office with a present.  Josh presented me a box and stepped back to watch me open it.  In the box was a new tie, one he had handmade especially for me.  Pastor, “last Sunday was Memorial Day weekend and you were wearing a plain, ordinary tie.  That just won’t do, so I made this one for you.”  This new tie proudly displayed the colors of the American flag and was something worth celebrating.

I pulled this special, handmade tie out of the closet this past Sunday.  As I put it on I could not help but think of Josh and the many other men and women like him who have served our country proudly and with distinction.  Josh lied about his age to get into WWII.  It was his duty to serve his country and something like “being too young” was not going to keep him from it.  He continued his service through multiple tours in Vietnam and other conflicts our country has found its way into.  He always served proudly and gave his country 100% of who he was.  As you listened to Marian talk about her husband’s service you could feel the pride just ooze out of her.  They were well into their middle 70’s by the time I had the pleasure of knowing them but when she talked about her Josh and his service it felt like you were listening to a young school girl talk about her first boyfriend…she was so proud of her man.

I don’t wear the tie too often.  It spends most of the year in my closet.  Yet when I pull it out and put it on I remember this man who loved God, loved his wife and family, and served his country whenever they called.  Thank you Josh, and the many others like him who have given of themselves so I may enjoy the freedoms I so often take for granted.