My Admiration for Ed

Last week Ed Hostetler was killed in a car accident. I miss my friend because I have a great deal of admiration for him. I know he knew that, but I wish I had taken an opportunity to share just how much his friendship and his approach to life meant to me. He was a leader at the church I used to serve.

I have had a lot of church friends, but Ed was a little different. It is hard for people who are not in ministry to understand some of the dynamics of being the pastor, but because Ed had two brothers who were pastors, he had a more accurate idea of what being a pastor feels like. Beyond that, he wanted to understand. From watching his brothers he knew that pastoring is a lonely business. Pastors know lots of people and a lot people know them, but, often, their close friends are not nearby.

Ed was also aware that it is hard for pastors to know who their friends are. Sometimes a pastor finds that church members, which he thought were friends and supporters, suddenly find a reason to not like him anymore. Early in my ministry an old pastor told me, "Be careful of the people who meet you at the train, because they will be the ones that put you on it." Unfortunately, as years passed I saw that happen. Too often, the people who were the most excited about a new pastor's arrival, later became the people who made it difficult for him to stay. Sometimes they went as far as to openly oppose him and try to ruin his ministry. Ed saw that happen to at least one of his brothers, so he was determined to be his pastor's true friend. I was glad to be the beneficiary of that determination.

Ed would stop by my office to see how I was doing. Whenever difficult things happened, or hurtful things were said about me in the church, he always had a word of encouragement, and a prayer for me. In fact, Ed stopped by my house on the night before he left for what turned out to be his last vacation, just to make sure I was all right.

Another thing I admired about Ed was the way he used his retirement. A lot of people can't wait to retire from work so they can play golf, sit on a beach, pick flowers, or watch soap operas, but Ed was very different. When he retired, it was like the Lord unleashed a warrior for His Kingdom. Ed remained highly involved in the life and leadership of the church, but he also became vitally interested in other ways he could take help build God's Kingdom. These included:
- He helped get the church's Missions Task Force off the ground, and participated in both local efforts and mission trips.
- He was very important to the prison ministry, Chairos, which takes Christians into prisons to spend four days sharing the love and message of Christ with men and women who hve been cut off from society, the church, and their families.
- Ed loved being part of the local Christian Motorcyclist Association, even though health concerns forced him to quit riding a year or two ago.

The day he retired from Delphi Electronics was a bad day for the forces of Satan. His life is a wonderful example to anyone who is a retiree, or hopes to be one someday. Ed gave himself to Christ, not only for the promise of heaven, but also to be used by him in anyway God saw fit.

Also, I admired the fact that Ed "got it." Too many people in his generation have forgotten, or, perhaps, never knew what the church is supposed to be about. He realized that Jesus gave us specific instructions: love God, love others, and make disciples. Ed dedicated himself to do those three things, and he was all for anything the church did to fulfill its mission. He was willing to put his preferences, and his comfort aside if that was what was needed to spread the message of God's love, hope, and salvation.

Finally, and most importantly, I admired Ed as a grandpa. His son-in-law died tragicly four years ago leaving Ed's daughter with two sons, a four year-old and an infant. Ed stepped up to try to fill the void for those two boys. Though in his late 60's and not in the best of health, Ed could be found playing little kids' games, chasing the boys around, and, this year, coaching sports teams. What a great example to me, and to others.

I think Ed's epitaph would have to be something like this. "He put God first, others second and himself a distant third." I'm going to miss you Ed, but don't worry, except for missing you, I am doing just fine.