Where Angels Never Tread

Have you ever seen pictures of those gloom and doom guys walking around Times Square with those placards on their front and back announcing Armageddon and the end of the world? Wouldn’t it be cool if we did the same thing but the placards read "The Kingdom of God is within!"

That’s the kind of thing Jesus actually did! Luke 17:20 [NIV] says, "20Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied,‘The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, here it is, or there it is, because the kingdom of God is within you."

Whoa, mind bender! No wonder Jesus and His followers Jesus treated every day as outreach! Because they understood that the Kingdom of God is not in heaven. It’s on earth. And it begins now! That’s why I love this T-shirt that says, "The church has left the building." In Exodus 25:8 [NIV], God said, "8Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them." Which apparently worked well for a while. But hundreds of years later Jesus showed up and said in Matthew 18:20 [NIV], "20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Which means the sanctuary, the dwelling place of God, has moved. It’s not in a building anymore. It’s in our hearts. And since Jesus promised never to leave us nor forsake us, we take the sanctuary with us wherever we go! Even to the movies. The bowling allies. The bars. The parties. All the places I was told growing up Jesus’ angels never tread.