My entire direction is set

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness. Psalm 100:1—2

 

Read Matthew 28:16—20

I think about those rather tentative disciples, some worshipping, some doubting, at the place Jesus appointed to meet with them. They go away from that encounter with a promise, a promised lifetime presence; an instruction, a lifetime instruction that will redirect all their waking moments; an authorisation, an authority that they would need to recognise and obey above any other claim on their time, or the urgency of their appetites, or the submission to their own interests and little enthusiasms. Their lives will no longer be at their own disposal. All this, by the way, accompanied by a stand-tall, thrilling, impossible joy. So, this night, now that I sit down to my appointed meeting with Jesus himself, can I emerge, should I emerge with any different outcome from theirs?

Prayer
My meeting with you, Lord. You have promised me your presence, always, that I will never be out of touch. You have graciously made yourself available to me. And in beauty and love you have called on me to be available to you as living witness. Whatever could I propose in my life that would be better, more pressing, nobler or more desirable than that? Take all the components of my life, the way I have been shaped by my upbringing and the opportunities that have formed me; take the things I love and love to do; use them as your own, to form me as one who gladly and thankfully points others toward you. For you are the truth about each person I will ever meet.