Dear Faith Family,
Have you noticed that Jesus often responds to our inquiries with the most unanticipated replies? For example, when asked a question I'm sure we all have asked a time or two, "When will the kingdom of God arrive?" Jesus replies, "It's not a matter of timing but where you are looking."
Well, maybe he didn't say that exactly, but I think that's what he meant. Here is what Jesus said,
The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.
(Luke 17:20-21)
I don't know about you, but when I think of God's arrival, his action in the world to bring about both goodness and justice, my mind fills with the extraordinary stories of our scriptures. Impenetrable fortifications crumbled at the sound of praising trumpets. The sun stopped mid-sky to ensure a promised and thorough victory. Seas parted, God's people safely across, and their pursuing oppressors crushed as the water walls collapsed upon them. Each episode, even at a distance of time or faith, is an easily observable advent of rescue and adjudication.
If I am honest, I am often on the lookout, scanning the horizon as far as I can, straining to decipher what might be out there, all hoping to catch a glimpse of God's impending arrival. I long to see some sign, some indication, that He is here. If you're honest, are you looking out like me? Are your eyes set on the horizon, the world out there and all around us, hoping to see a sign of God's activity? Do you find yourself looking for yet wondering when the kingdom of God will come?
If so, Jesus says we are looking in the wrong place. If we want to see the kingdom of God, God's acting to bring about goodness and justice, we have to look a little closer to home: "behold," says Jesus, "the kingdom of God is in your midst," literally, "within you."
I don't believe Jesus is promoting self-aggrandizing navel-gazing. Instead, what Jesus says is that seeing God's kingdom coming into the world starts with seeing God's activity in your own life. His acting to bring goodness and justice into and out of your past and present. When we see God within us, inside our story, we can see and participate in His kingdom "going on all the time" and all around us.
If you're asking when the kingdom of God will come, or desire to better see where Jesus says the kingdom is already arriving, I encourage you to take some time this week to look a little closer to home. I have included the exercise below that will help you (us!) do so.
Love you, faith family! God bless!
EXERCISE | THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN YOUR MIDST
While employed and applied under various labels, rhythms and methods, taking time to see God's activity in our past and present so that we might fully participate in His kingdom's future has been a regular habit of Jesus followers for millennia. In this exercise, we'll focus on the last month.
START | Find a quiet (or minimally distracting!) place. Sit down with a pen and journal, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see God with you and to guide you as you look back over the last thirty or so days.
MOMENTS | Now take a deep breath and begin working back through significant moments over the last month. Moments when you did something important, like making a significant decision or a new friend. Moments when you felt something different or more intensely than usual--whether joy or grief or something in between. Moments when you experienced either the presence or perceived absence of God.
MEDITATE | After you've marked out your moments, meditate on them. Asking the Holy Spirit again for eyes to see and answer:
In what ways was God acting to bring goodness to and through me at that moment?
In what ways was God acting to bring justice for me or through me at that moment?