Sermon for February 8, 1998

Pastor Gunnar L. Anderson

"By the Grace of God"

Delivered at the Memorial Service for Pastor J. Edward Gonzalez, Pastor Emeritus of St. Peter's Lutheran Church

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty ..." For some reason that is one of the most memorable verses of holy scripture for me! I can be at home, watching TV, sitting comfortably in my rocking chair, and this verse will come to mind:

In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lofty ...

And it strikes me again today! For we are yet in the year that J. Edward Gonzalez died, within the year since he died last March at age 91. And through him, through his preaching and teaching, through kind pastoral care at the bedside, and through personal example, many of you here gathered and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of others saw the Lord, "high and lofty.".

Now this memorable verse comes from a wonderful passage. It is the call of the prophet Isaiah, the call of Isaiah to ministry, to be spokesperson for God. J. Edward Gonzalez heard that call to serve God in ministry too. I don't know how it was for Edward, but for Isaiah the call was dramatic:

Seraphs were in attendance ... each
had six wings ... And one called to
another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth
is full of his glory.' The pivots on
the thresholds shook at the voices
of those who called, and the house
filled with smoke.

And this shaking was an inward experience of the prophet, awestruck in the presence of God, daunted by the call to ministry. Cries Isaiah:

Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man
of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips; yet my eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

And this morning Peter, when called by Jesus to "put out into the deep," literally to follow him reacts in the same way. Peter falls down at Jesus' knees, saying, " 'Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!' " And I can well imagine Edward, hearing the call to ministry, on his knees before the cross, struggling, praying, "Who am I that God should be mindful of me?" Who indeed are any of us? To serve God? It surely is as Luther said that we are most worthy when we realize how unworthy we are! "Do not be afraid," Jesus said to Peter, "from now on you will be catching people." "The seraph touched my mouth," Isaiah recalls, "and said: 'Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." From the cross before which Edward must have once and often knelt, Jesus cries, " Father, forgive them!"

So it is after receiving grace, after receiving unbelievable, unimaginable grace, the love and forgiveness of God that Isaiah and Peter and Edward and hopefully you and me accept the call to ministry, to speak for God, to fish for people, to serve the Lord, to bring the presence of Christ to others!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us?' And I said, 'Here
am I; send me!'

And J. Edward Gonzalez was sent to St. Peter's Lutheran Church! Ordained in 1928, after serving as pastor in Poestenhill, NY and acting as pastor of Atonement Church in New York City, Edward accepted the call to St. Peter's in 1933, the 11th pastor of this congregation. In 1998, 65 years later, I stand before you as only the 13th! J. Edward Gonzalez served St. Peter's as pastor for an incredible 37 years, retiring finally in 1970, serving since as our honored Pastor Emeritus, active in preaching and particularly teaching until recent time! This May would have been the 70th anniversary of his ordination! How many people did he minister unto? How many lives did he touch? How important was his long leadership for this church? Incalculable questions!

Right away, upon assuming the duties of pastor here, Edward was a man of vision, a man before his time. He instituted a more frequent celebration of Holy Communion to monthly, and he began Sunday afternoon services in addition to early and late morning worship. Today the whole Lutheran Church is committed to such sacramental renewal and alternative worship!

In the beginning it wasn't easy. According to the recorded history of our congregation, 1934 saw apathy, doldrums, lack of interest, a decline in attendance and offerings! Groups didn't function well. Securing council members was difficult. It was a time of "Depression," in many ways. Things picked up immeasurably for Edward in 1936 when he married his beloved and effervescent wife, Geraldine! In 1937 Pastor G. inaugurated Vacation Church School, which I am proud to have continued to this very day!

Yet it was still a hard time. World War II was beginning. Twenty-five young men from St. Peter's went off to war at the outset. Over the next ten years through the Korean War, 90 served! Of course, Viet Nam would follow. Edward, Pastor G., was here ministering through it all!

At the conclusion of World War II and again after the Korean War, St. Peter's was called upon to provide food and clothing to help people in war-ravished countries and, according to the history, such benevolent generosity marked the church under Edward's leadership during many subsequent disasters! Benevolence sharing with the wider church was also about 25% of the congregation's budget. Amazing!

In 1946, though, on March 19, a devastating fire laid waste to the entire interior of the church and severely damaged the exterior. "It was a sad day when Pastor Gonzalez, the Church Council and congregation view the ruins of the church ..." Obviously thereafter, an extensive building and rebuilding project was planned. In 1947 the Sunday School reported having an active membership of 178, including 16 teachers. By 1949, enrollment was 217, with an average attendance of 70%! So, on January 20, 1952, the new Church School addition to the building, our current office and kitchen area, was dedicated. The congregation now was active and growing! The Easter Sunday attendance in 1956 was the largest on record with 308 persons present! St. Peter's was bursting at the seams. In 1957 our membership consisted of 184 families with 471 confirmed members. On September 25, 1960, our Fellowship Hall and classroom building was dedicated. J. Edward Gonzalez shepherded the church through all of this!

By the mid sixties, though, attendance had started to drop off, and the church put forward a deficit budget. Edward had to deal with this too, as we still do today. So, I think by remembering Pastor G. this morning, he is yet here and he continues to lead us. For I am quite certain that because of his longevity, because of his sense of history, because of his long experience at St. Peter's of doldrums, of boom and growth, and then falling off again, that he would say to us today, "I've seen it bad, but I've seen it get better again. So, don't despair! Hold fast! Keep your faith! Never doubt! God has been with you. God will continue to be!"

Pastor J. Edward Gonzalez was a man of great faith, quiet intellect, incisive scholarship, and consummate grace. When I arrived as pastor in 1974, just four years after he retired, his first words to me were not marked with competition or jealousy in the slightest. He said, "Whatever I can do ... whatever I can do to help you, please ask." And it was true. In fact, if Edward were here today, I think he would be most pleased to stand before you with the Apostle Paul to encapsulate his own life, to proclaim his epitaph by preaching:

For I handed on to you as of first
importance what I in turn had received:
that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures, and
that he was buried, and that he was
raised on the third day in accordance
with the scriptures, and that he
appeared to (Peter), then to the
twelve. Then he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters
at one time ... Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me.

When Edward's wife, Geraldine, died in 1989, I said to him that the message of comfort and hope in Christ that he had so often shared with others was now for him! And today it is for Joe and Margie, and their families and for all of us: "Let not your hearts be troubled ... I am the resurrection and the life," says Jesus, "he or she who believes in me shall never die but have eternal life" ... "if you have been united with Christ in death like his, you shall surely be united with Christ in a resurrection like his" ..."where there shall no more be anything accursed" ... "where one day we will be reunited with those we love!"

One of the proudest moments of my life and ministry occurred on October, 1992, at the 100th Anniversary Dinner Dance of St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Pastor G. and I were asked to stand; and I thought, "Together this man and I, as pastors, account for 55 of those 100 years! And we both had the opportunity to speak. I don't remember what either of us said. But J. Edward Gonzalez, pastor, pastor emeritus, servant of the call of God, could well have said with the Apostle Paul:

By the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace toward me has not been in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than
any of them - though it was not I,
but the grace of God that is with me.

AMEN

Hearing the voice of the Lord calling, both Isaiah and Edward responded, "Here am I; send me!" We are also called to speak for God and serve the Lord so let us sing in the Blue Book (With One Voice), a requested hymn, number 752.

Copyright © 1998 Gunnar L. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

---