In Matthew 26:31 Jesus promises his disciples that after his resurrection, he will go ahead of them to Galilee. In chapter 28, the angel at the empty tomb tells the women that Jesus has gone ahead of them to Galilee and that "you will see Jesus 'there.'"
God is always out in front of us moving forward; in the Christ we see him going ahead of the disciples with the promise that following him to the "there" is where they will see him.
This sounds appealing in theory but is disconcerting (to say the least) in practice because it implies that we leave behind the comfort/security of what we've known, whether that be our long-held belief systems or our long-held practices or our long-held relationships.
Our Shepherd is out ahead of us today bidding us to follow him to the "there." Just like sheep, we aren't good at following but at least we can tell him we want to follow and make our weak effort to go after him...
Dear Shepherd, we want to go "there" because "there" is where we will see you; help us as we clumsily attempt to follow you and help get us to the "there" where you are this day, this season, this era. May we find peace in the reality that you are moving on ahead of us always and wanting us to be with you in your present activity. Amen.
