The Installation of Rev. Brian Beardsley

July 20, 2025

John 10:1-18

Today is an answer to prayer.

But when you prayed for a pastor, what were the qualities or characteristics you asked God for in your new pastor?

Where does one even start?

Did you pray for a pastor who was handsome or a little more outdoorsy with a beard? A real lumberjack of a man. Or maybe you prayed for a young whippersnapper to motivate the younger population around Adams? Did you hope for a pastor who is good at organizing events? Someone to take the lead at planning potlucks? Or did you pray for a man who would be a little more rigid, a teacher of the Law, or a shepherd who is always encouraging and comforting with the Gospel upon his lips?

Or did you pray, “Heavenly Father, you know best, just send us a pastor according to your will?”

That’s a dangerous prayer… But a good prayer.

Shortly, Pastor Beardsley’s fellow pastors will gather around him to read aloud the responsibilities and characteristics a pastor should have. This reading serves as a reminder for both the pastor and the congregation of what a pastor is Called to do. 

One passage that will not be read, but is aptly appropriate, comes from St. Peter as he writes,

I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

This text calls pastors to be shepherds to the flock God entrusts to their care. Peter adds that this should be done joyfully and eagerly, too, not out of selfishness. In fact, Peter also says that a pastor is to be an example to the flock they shepherd so that when the chief Shepherd appears, they’ll receive a crown of glory.

So, who is the example for these pastors and shepherds? It’s the chief Shepherd, it’s Jesus Christ.

It’s for this reason that pastors are often called undershepherds; they serve under the chief Shepherd, and for this reason, they are to encapsulate all the qualities and characteristics of the chief Shepherd. They are to be an image and icon of Jesus.

In our second reading today, we heard the Gospel of the Good Shepherd.

This Shepherd is the gatekeeper, one who guards the entrance to the sheep pen. Likewise, the pastor is called to keep watch over you, the lambs of Christ.

It said the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice, and He leads them out. This is an interesting statement because shepherds usually tend their flocks from behind their sheep. But this Shepherd is different; He instead will lead the sheep by His voice into all truth.

And this is what the undershepherd is called to do: to lead the flock entrusted to his care into the ways of all truth. To preach the Word of God in and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:2) To speak the words of the Chief Shepherd with boldness and purity so that you will know His voice, the voice of Jesus Christ.

But here’s why your prayer for a new pastor could have been dangerous.

A pastor can either be a true undershepherd or a hired hand. The hired hand will not come to you with God’s Word or call you out of the thicket of sin you have befriended. A hired hand will not tell you to come to church when you have gone absent. A hired hand will not journey with you to the grave. The hired hand thinks of himself before and above anything else.

But a true undershepherd embodies Christ and enters the thicket of your transgression so that you might be led out of this darkness through the confession of your sin. The undershepherd will come to your home with the Word of God when you have strayed to invite and lead you back to the flock of St. John’s, back to the gates of heaven before this altar. The undershepherd will walk with you even to the grave, for this is the ultimate desire of all God’s sheep, to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice as they are led into His eternal presence.

The undershepherd of Christ does this out of love for you, the sheep that have been entrusted to his care. 

So, what kind of pastor did you pray for?

This man, an ordinary man sent by God, to serve as a humble image and icon of the Great and Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

He has been sent to you to be the Lord’s undershepherd, to proclaim the Word of your Savior so that you might hear His voice, know it, and be guided by the crook of His cross unto life everlasting.

Let us then rejoice and pray for the man God has sent you. +INJ+