Cat Saliva, a Needle, and The Kingdom

When I was a kid I had severe asthma. We had cats and little did we know I had a severe allergy to cat hair. (some say it is the saliva that I am allergic to but I have never had a cat lick my lungs or spit in my mouth or nose, at least that I know of so I am not sure if that is true). I spent most of my younger years struggling to breath. I was real skinny and a lot of the time had dark circles under my eyes. (Sad I know, don't feel too bad though, my parents took care of me and once we got rid of the cats I blew up to being the fattest and most obnoxious kid in my class and the circles went away.) Well one day I had such a severe asthma attack that my parents rushed me to the emergency room. I was struggling to breath (like breathing through a coffee straw) and they took me back to the room right away. I was going to need a shot of something (I think it was some sort of steroid to help my lungs out...yes you can say that your youth pastor used performance enhancing drugs). Well I, like most people didn't really like shots. I was actually afraid of them. I remember watching the nurse prep the needle. I remember watching the fluid get drawn slowly into a clear surenge and getting extremely anxious about it getting stuck into my flesh. I almost forgot for a second I was sick because fear overtook my mind and all that I knew was that I didn't want the shot. The nurse told me to look away and the next few moments of my life seemed to pause. Here it is, the big moment, I am getting a shot, it is going to hurt, will I die?, will I live?, everything hung in the balance. The moments passed and I had had enough. "When are you going to give me the shot?", I asked the nurse while clutching on to my mom, head turned staring at a painting on the wall. She replied, "I am already done." Are you kidding me, this big moment, this monumental experience came and went and I missed it, I didn't even feel it. All the anxiety and the truth was it was already upon me, it already happened. I had made it through.
In Luke 17:20-21 the Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come...this Kingdom that Jesus spoke about, this huge event, this life altering, world changing event...when would it come. Maybe because they wanted to be ready, maybe because they wanted to know how much more time they had to live their lives the way they were living them. Maybe they where just nosey. Maybe they were trying to prove Him wrong...their intentions I don't know. But they wanted to know when the big moment was going to happen, when the kingdoms of this world would bow down and fall to the Kingdom of God. Jesus response is amazing. "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." Jesus then goes on to tell of His second coming and the expectant nature of it in the lives of ordinary people. People will be busy living life, eating, drinking, celebrating and then bam! Jesus' day will be upon them.
As excited as I am about Christ's return the first part of Jesus response is what intrigues me the most. He tells the questioning Pharisees that what they seek is right in front of them. That the Kingdom of God has been brought to earth in their midst. That though other kings sit on thrones, bathed in wealth and power, the king of Glory has established Himself on the earth and His world changing, eternity shaping movement has already begun. His kingdom is moving, unnoticed to many of the religious of the day, establishing spiritual strongholds, changing lives, training leaders, and casting vision. Not of a day when they will conquer through war and power, but a day when the nations will be turned towards God through faith, hope, love, mercy, forgiveness and sonship. Oh yes, there will be a day when King Jesus will come riding on the clouds with His angels and the faithful and conquer this World by force, but for now, at that moment the Pharisees stared the King of the kingdom in His eyes, heard His voice with their own ears and they did not recognize Him. Today, we still await Jesus' return, but let us not loose sight of the fact that His Kingdom is very much alive and well in our lives. That the God of the Kingdom is alive and well within us....in the midst of us.