2026-04-26 Installation Sermon

Scripture Readings

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

“Hey Dan, what are you doing here?” “Oh hey! We just moved to Chaplain.” … “Chaplain? … Do you have family there?” … “No.” … “Do you like salt?!” That’s basically how it all started, right out there in the Narthex! When God brought Pastor Dan and Connie to Emmanuel it was a very exciting time indeed. Immediately, I saw an opportunity … to make life easier on myself! … If we call Dan, that means I don’t have to go to Synod convention in June!

‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could call another Pastor’ I thought? Wouldn’t that be something! We thought about it. We prayed about it. We ran the idea through every level of congregational leadership. And it came to fruition! With a unanimous congregational vote, for the first time in the history of Emmanuel Lutheran Church we would have two, called and ordained servants of Christ, serving God’s people in the Holy City (a hat tip to our righteous potholes). But at a time in history when many congregations are struggling to get by and supporting even one Shepherd, God has blessed us with two. Truly, this is a day to rejoice and give thanks to our Risen Lord!

A man purchased a farm that the realtor described as having been “sheeped to death.” By that he meant that an absentee land owner had rented the place out to a tenant. The tenant came in and loaded up the lease with sheep, then took off. He left the flock to their own devices. The result was utter desolation. The pasture became so overgrazed that grass barely grew there anymore. The sheep made trails that quickly became gullies and well-worn gulches. The land eroded badly and the whole place was nearly ravaged beyond repair. The dugout was all but dry and very muddy. All of this happened because the sheep, instead of being tended and stewarded with great care had been left to struggle through life by themselves. They were left to go their own way, left to their own whims and destructive habits. The sheep all had their preferences for certain spots in the pasture and these well-used areas became breeding grounds for parasites. In short order, the whole flock was infested with ringworm, foot-rot and scours. The final nail in the coffin was that both the land and the owner were ruined while the sheep became thin, frail and sickly.

We notice a key feature in this little story. These poor sheep are missing … a shepherd. Henceforth and thusly, our scripture readings chosen for our Installation today all reflect the importance of shepherds. Doubly so because it is also Good Shepherd Sunday. All of these readings really illustrate the merciful and shepherdly heart of God. We heard it in the reading from the prophet Ezekiel: “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. … I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.” (34:11-12, 15).

We heard it in the Epistle reading from St. Peter: “shepherd the flock of God that is among you … And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1Pet 5:2,4). Just as the Lord Jesus is our Good and Beautiful Shepherd, so too are the men He calls to care for His people with blessed Word and Sacrament.

And, we heard the same message loud and clear in the Gospel reading with our Lord Jesus’ Trinitarian restoration of St. Peter: “Feed my lambs…Tend my sheep…Feed my sheep” (JN 21:15-17). Jesus is imploring that St. Peter show the same kind of love and care for God’s people that He has for us. The pattern and template is that of none other than Jesus Himself. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (JN 10:12).

We know exactly how our Good Shepherd lays down His life for us and for the life of the world on the old rugged cross. This becomes the very definition of love, that amazing love of God that stops at nothing, not even death on an excruciating cross to redeem and save fallen humanity. And if He is the shepherd, then we are the sheep. Those poor, miserable, sickly, sinful sheep. It’s not a very dignified description but it is oh so accurate!

Jesus further compares Himself as the Good Shepherd to a hired hand. This is a critical distinction that really illustrates the love and mercy of God. The hired hand really doesn’t care. He’s only in it for the money. When the hard times come he’s outta there, just like the renter in our little sheep story. Jesus says this guy “sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them” (JN 10:12).

And this is precisely why we don’t hire and fire our Shepherds. We don’t do piecemeal, scab labour when it comes to the Office of the Holy Ministry. We don’t do fence-hopping hirelings. We don’t do ‘Rent-A-Rev’! We call our Shepherds. Men who the Holy Spirit has likewise called by the Gospel to believe in the Good Shepherd Who laid down His life willingly for us and our salvation. Men, who are unworthy sinners like any of us, are yet Ordained by Christ and called to wear the shepherd’s stole, symbolizing a lamb being lovingly carried on the shoulders of a shepherd. Feed them with My Word, our Lord says. Tend them with the rod and the staff. Feed them with the very body and blood of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

And so, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not have in our midst today a hired hand. We do not have a renter who loads up the flock and then disappears. By God’s gracious provision, we have called and ordained servants of Christ, shepherds with hearts for the Good Shepherd and His people. We have Pastor Dan, a shepherd after God’s own heart, who has entered the office of the Holy Ministry not to chase a job but because the Chief Shepherd Himself has laid His hand upon him and called him to this noble task. He has come to us to do what shepherds do: to feed you with the pure Word of God, to tend you with the rod and staff of Law and Gospel, to visit and be present with you, to fill you with the abundant life of Christ our Lord. Jesus, our victorious Shepherd King who went right through the heart of the valley of the shadow of death and on the third day rose victorious over the grave - it is in Him that we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Pastor Dan and Connie — welcome to Emmanuel! You have already been such an amazing blessing to our church family and we look forward to all that our Lord has in store for us. Our Beautiful Shepherd Who called you is the same Lord who has promised to be with you, to strengthen you, and to work through you for the feeding and tending of His precious flock here in Moose Jaw.

And to all of us, our Lord’s beloved sheep: come to the table that He has prepared before us. Receive the forgiveness, life, and salvation that your Risen Shepherd freely gives, restored, refreshed, and rejoicing. For the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. Now and forever more. Amen!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!