Indeed, he is going ahead of you

But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raise, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.'" Matt 28:5-7

In his formative book (which I recommend to any and all pastors and pastors-to-be) "Under the Unpredictable Plant: Explorations in Vocational Holiness," Eugene Peterson writes of the importance of this verse from the end of Matthew for his life as a pastor. When setting out on pastoral calls, he repeats to himself, "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to ----------- ; there you will see him." This is profoundly perspective-altering--at least, I have found it to be so.

It occurred to me when reflecting on this, that I rarely--if ever--have managed to act in this hope. Whether approaching the bed of a sick person, or the couch of one serving me cookies and tea, my mind has all to frequently been focused on what I'll say, on keeping track of things to pray about before I leave, on looking and sounding the part of the pastor. Even in my attempts to live out the all important sheep-goats passage from Matt 25, I am not sure that I have very often expected to see Jesus; I have been more concerned with what I'm going to do than whom I am going to meet. Instead of going to meet the Christ, risen and working in the life of the one before me, I have secretly been trying to impress Jesus--making sure I have some good work to remind him of the next time I slip up.

How much different the pastoral approach would be if I always anticipated that Jesus had already gone before me, that Jesus has begun to work long before I show up, long before I offer sage advice and spiritual guidance.
Even acknowledging that pastors have a job to do, have been called to minister in particular ways, acknowledging first that Jesus works first, we could live out our vocations in the hope that we work with (not simply for, or sometimes in spite of...) our resurrection God.