My Emmaus Road

In 1997, it was my privilege to lead a small group of christians (43 of us met on that first Sunday), as we pioneered a new work we came to call Palmside Community Church.

I have always believed that the mantle of Christ falls on the shoulders of His church. We need to engage ourselves with what occupied Him, with God's help and in the strength of His Spirit. For me, this meant that I envisioned developing a church on the east side of the city (Christchurch NZ, where we were living at the time), that would be characterised by its desire for:

• preaching good news to the physically, emotionally and spiritually poor
• healing the brokenhearted
• announcing freedom to those in captivity
• setting prisoners free
• proclaiming God's grace and acceptance
• reaching out to comfort those in grief or experiencing painful loss of any kind
• helping any/all of the above to find beauty in their life again
• showing a way out of the dark places of despair
• bringing people we would minister to on to new ground where they could become trees of strength and stability, where their lives could reflect God's righteousness and bring glory to Him

In short, the Isaiah 61 vision so beautifully and perfectly harnessed by our Lord Jesus in the time of His ministry here on earth. The mantle had passed our way!

God's heart of holiness requires a holistic ministry, something that attends to all the needs of men and women. Eugene Peterson puts it well in his translation of Ephesians 1:4ff: "Long before He laid down earth's foundation, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love" (The Message). Redeeming love is interested in the whole man – physical, mental, emotional, social, psychological, spiritiual, relational. Body, soul and spirit are all close neighbours. Sickness felt in one sphere invariably impacts on the others.

A vision that reaches into any dysfunction within the community would of course require a dedicated band, all equally committed to the vision, and a prayerful, energetic moving over time towards a community church operation. Everyone would need to be involved!

However, the Palmside venture failed on several points:

1. I had not put high enough premium on casting the vision, so in some respects the vision still sat locked within my own heart;
2. The people I shared it with were the wrong people, namely fellow-pastors and ministers, instead of regular planting of the seed with my own leadership team, and those who were committed to the sustaining life and growth of the church;
3. I failed to consider resources and capacity, I didn't question my passion but should have held it more closely to the light – asking myself if I was just wanting to build a replica of an extremely effective 7-day community church on another side of the city. Noble perhaps but not sufficient to be my primary motivator;
4. I hadn't reckoned with a number of church crises that would hit us after a year of substantive growth, ending in a reduced number to field anything like the outreach my vision had in mind;
5. Most of all, I wonder if in hindsight I had really consulted the Lord as to His vision for our church, His blueprint for Palmside. (I subsequently came to see another church dear to my heart, also located in the east of the city that God is blessing with a multi-ministry community arm to its outreach, so timely in the context of a post-earthquake Christchurch. There was nothing wrong with the vision but it needs to fit the church and God's appointed time).

A new song

Four and a half years into Palmside's life, I encountered my own Emmaus Road. Our church membership was shrinking faster than I wanted to admit. I went for a walk hoping to engage in some serious conversation with the Lord. If you had been listening in, you would have heard me echoing the Emmaus travellers sentiments: "We had thought He was the One to redeem Israel…"¹ had become "I had thought Palmside would be a vibrant, effective community church. I had hoped…"

Suddenly, I almost tripped over a dead sparrow in my path. God certainly had my attention – and I heard His gentle voice: "Wayne, the season's over. There's a time for every purpose under heaven. What I intended for Palmside is now complete."

Was this how Samuel felt when God accepted Israel's desire for a king and he believed he had judged the nation well, served God's people so faithfully?

Over subsequent days I came to find strength in other lessons from Ecclesiasties 3:

• He has made everything appropriate in its time
• No-one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end
• I know that whatever God does (the Palmside season) shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it
• And for my future I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of man are to be occupied

My future must now encompass my God-given task, not just a noble passion.

All the vain things that charm me most (my vision for Palmside), I sacrifice them to His blood
Isaac Watts, When I survey the wondrous cross first. Pub.1707

I came to see that in life when we get angry with God, or feel let down by Him, if we're honest it's because we've handed Him a list of expectations. What freedom comes when we own that "His thoughts are higher than ours." Some things have already served their purpose, other things end up holding us back, still others stand in the way of something better (Hebrews 11:16).

A letter arrived in the mail at this time from a dear friend of the family Eddie Read, best man at my father's wedding. He had worked hard for the Lord over the years, so often with little back-up from others and so little to show for it. He wrote some telling words: "I ceased to rate myself as a valuable servant of the Lord entitled to expect desired results, but rather a decidedly helpless child secure in father's love, who might be allowed to do 'little things for his daddy.' "

Still, God is no man's debtor and since my years with Palmside, I have gone on to have a very full life including many fresh seasons of opportunity to serve and minister for Him now on both sides of the Tasman. I think of Shakespeare's words, "What is past is prologue."

Through the journey, I shall never forget the solid rock of God's Word. When eternity surveys the years of Palmside and the people's lives who were touched, "nothing (shall be) taken from it" (Ecclesiasties 3:14). We leave the final evaluation of our lives and our work with God and God alone!

There is much rest in St Theresa's famous prayer, "May you trust God that (today) you are exactly where you are meant to be." I don't want to stray from there since I have come to see that if I am not enjoying and appreciating this moment in my life, I am missing out on God's very best for me, Now that's not somewhere I want to be.

¹ Ref. Luke 24:21

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