These things never start on time

 This week's verses are Luke 17:20-21:

Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

The Pharisees were serious scholars of the Bible. Their question about when the kingdom of God was coming is interesting in that context. Why do they want to know when the kingdom is coming? Is it academic curiosity? Do they want to debate theology? Are they trying to figure out whether or not they should renew their subscription to Playboy in the coming year?

Why do we want to know? Why are speculations about the end times so popular? Does it give us a sense of control? Do we plan to change history, to create an alternate timeline? Do we want to know on what date and at what time we need to start paying attention and taking this whole Christianity thing seriously?

The answer Jesus has for us is the same no matter what our reasons are for wanting to know. The kingdom of God is not some external thing that we can observe from a distance. The kingdom of God is not some future thing we can put on our calendars and plan for. The kingdom of God is here and now. It is among us. 

How does that change how we read the Bible? If Jesus says for us to do something, we can no longer look at it as a "someday I should probably do X" kind of thing. We're not making plans to travel to eternity. Eternity begins now. It's already here.

How can we respond with detachment to something that is here and now? If an elephant was walking through the house, crushing furniture and pulling things off of shelves, would we be thinking: "If there's ever an elephant someday in the house, we should send him outside." No! We would act now, because now is when the elephant is there. The same is true of the kingdom of God.

Looking at God's kingdom as something which begins at some far off point in the future means we will arrive late or never. It's like a church service that starts at 10am, but which people think will start late, so they arrive late. "What is the sign that the service is starting? Is it really when the clock strikes ten? Or is it when the music starts? Or is it when someone stands up and starts to speak? What is the latest possible point at which we can arrive and not be considered late?"

If church was now, would we be late? If Jesus was here, would we make him wait until we finish eating, until the episode is done playing, until we find an opportune time? Nobody is going to point him out for us. Nobody is going to blow a horn and signal that things are about to begin.

What is the sign we're waiting for to stop procrastinating? Are we reluctant to begin living the way we're supposed to live? The kingdom of God has started already; it is here. We don't have to wait anymore.