Jesus in the Real World

The non-Christian glibly threw the remark, “So, where is Heaven? Is it always up? What about if you are in California and I am in Tasmania… Who’s up is Heaven?”
We spent the first week of our family holiday at my wife’s parents home in Melbourne. As the airplane banked to line up with the Hobart runway, Rachael, our four year old, looked out the window and made a profound statement, “We’re not in Grandma’s world anymore.”
Truer words have never been spoken! While to an adult Melbourne is only an hour from Hobart, to a four year old it is a world away. It is often much the same in our faith journey.
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like… a mustard seed… a merchant… a treasure…a net… a king… the owner of a house… ten virgins… a landowner… yeast…” While you and I may struggle to answer the sceptic’s question, Jesus made one thing very clear – Heaven is anything but a world away.
John the Baptist said it. Jesus said it. And he commissioned his disciples to say it – “The Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Jesus saw God’s Kingdom in every landscape and smelled it on every breeze. And he made it as real as possible for every person he encountered. Heaven in the real world – that was Jesus’ canvas and his paint.
How down to earth is your picture of Jesus? Is he someone you can laugh with, smile at and listen to? How you see him is how you will paint him. Paint him in the everyday garb of the life about you. That’s what he did. That’s who he is. That is a Jesus your friends and family can relate to. Give them Jesus – in their world.