Way back in May 1997 when I was working for Nestlé, I had to travel down to Oamaru to help my colleague Russell Marsh set up a system for the confectionery factory down there. Mhairi came with me, we hired a car at Christchurch and drove down the East Coast to get there. It was brass monkeys down there and we were listening to Dunedin band the Chills all the way matching the weather perfectly. It was a successful work trip but the best things we did were all non-work related like visiting the penguin colony and watching them all arrive back from their daily excursion at sea on the dot at 5pm and travelling to Dunedin with Russell to watch Otago play. On Russell’s recommendation we took a detour home via Central Otago where he told us the lakes are as blue as the sky. He especially recommended us to go see the Church of the Lonely Shepherd at Lake Tekapo with the view of Mt Cook across the lake.
If anyone asks me my favourite place in New Zealand, it is there.
10 years ago this very week I was at the 2009 Promise Keepers event at the Vodafone Events Centre when the Lord gave me a picture of The Church of the Good Shepherd for my ex-colleague who had recently returned to France.
So began my own journey that has lead so far to the purchase of a small apartment in Vannes, Brittany and my hope to fulfil the Church of my vision - the Church of the Good Shepherd.
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
John 10:1-18
Jesus tells the Pharisees he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for all the sheep, not just the Jews but for the whole world and they didn’t like him saying that. In the same way, it is easy to think once we’re Christians that we’ve got life right and get comfortable with our Church friends ignoring the need for the Gospel outside our own 4 walls. Here in Papatoetoe, Jesus looks after our little community flock but he also will go to another location where another flock needs to be brought home. Jesus laid down his life for the sheep, that’s what it took. He is the Good Shepherd, anyone who wants to be a pastor or missionary has to realise that’s what it takes. All the apostles were killed except for John. Sheep are not smart, they are stupid, they are stubborn, they are jittery and they run off in the wrong direction into the wolf’s domain very quickly.
Here’s another picture from Tekapo, I think this could be why Russell called it the Church of the Lonely Shepherd, he was thinking of one man and his dog. There is quite a contrast between a wolf and a dog isn’t there !
When we first came to New Zealand one of the most popular shows on TV was A Dog’s Show. After being accustomed to the excitement of Match of the Day in London, I couldn’t for the life of me work out the top New Zealand Sunday night sports entertainment. There were the sheep in one corner of a field, there was the dog standing still at a distance waiting for the farmer’s whistle. There could be very interminable pauses while the dog stood completely still, fur bristling in the wind, then he would move suddenly at the farmer’s command and the sheep would inch a couple of meters towards the gate. If one sheep ran off suddenly, all the others would follow and the whole exercise would start again. I often think of this programme when I imagine my futile attempts to get the stubborn Breton sheep though the first gate.
During last year’s English summer, my brother was visiting his boys and while there reconnecting with some of the family including my Auntie Jackie who we hadn’t seen for many years. Colin had spoken to her about the vision of the Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo and the connection to Brittany and had commissioned her to do a painting. She was inspired by what Colin had said and by January this year it was finished, all I had to do was go and collect it from London ! After Colin died, the painting became more poignant to me. It is inspiring me to keep going to finish the work that was started all those years ago.
In September we went to London to see my Aunt. We had breakfast at an old courthouse called the Verdict and then we went to see the painting, here it is and I love it ! I realised some time ago that I cannot conquer the mountain by staying in the little Church. I have to prepare and take risks if anything will be achieved. I look at Brittany like the great mountain and wonder how will I ever get up there, but I know I must try.
Notice in the picture how small the church is ! I don’t suppose you can fit much more than 50 people in there. Jesus describes himself as the Gate, he is the only way to salvation, you must enter there. It is very narrow. I’m sorry to say there is no other way. Not Buddha, not Mohammed, not Allah, not Krishna, not your own Religion. All roads may lead to Rome, but we are not going to Rome. There is only one way into Heaven, that is Jesus. Many times Jesus used something small to describe the beginnings of the Kingdom of Heaven.
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Matthew 13:31-33
My favourite parable;
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Matthew 13:44
The pearl of great price. The picture my Dad gave to us when we got married telling us that a Pearl is formed around an intruder between the 2 shells such as a grain of sand with great irritation to the Oyster !
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:45-46
The point that Jesus was making in all these parables is that the Kingdom of Heaven has small beginnings that require patience to see it come to fruition. You don’t see the fruit until the last season but then you must not delay the harvest. Many of us want to leave a great legacy but that is not necessarily going to happen in a short space of time. It is a true saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is God’s will for our lives fulfilled in an moment. I imagined I would give the Gospel to my friend, they would believe it and be transformed and many in France would come to faith as a result. That may well be but not on my imagined timeline I can tell you after 10 years.
Jesus said
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20
You may wonder how you can do the thing that God is calling you to. Jesus said you only need the faith of a mustard seed to move a mountain. Our faith can move the hand of God.
Therefore we can persevere knowing that God is at work. The Lord has promised;
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
When we teach Kids Church or LinC, or preach a sermon, when we share a verse with a colleague at work or write a post quoting scripture we are sowing a seed into the persons life that the Lord has promised he will bring to fruition.
Do not worry about small beginnings. Don’t worry about teaching an audience of 2 or 3. Don’t worry whether you’ve said enough in witnessing to a friend.
Here is the little Church of the Good Shepherd and there is the Great Mountain and how could you have one without the other. But you may have to leave the safety of your little church if you want to conquer the great mountain.
If I think back to the vision, the story seems like it has only just concluded part 1. We are now starting Part 2 to build a little Church so the hard work begins. It’s a blank canvas as you can see in these photos...
