Naturally Supernatural
“Naturally Supernatural” – March 3rd, 2024 (Luke 4:18-19)
We have a lot of musicians around here. In my “Biblical Preaching” seminary class that I just finished, the textbook “The Jazz of Preaching,” ignited my imagination. The author says, “The mysterious common ground of jazz and preaching is this: one never ever arrives. Their wells are always deeper; there is always more. Where they are concerned, there is no period.”
That’s what the kingdom of God is like. There is always more. Every moment, every hour, every day the natural and the supernatural collide; heaven and earth mesh together. We are not just trying to get people into heaven. We’re trying to get heaven into people! We are not just trying to work within human kingdoms to reach God. We are trying to welcome God’s kingdom to reach humans.
That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). No matter where we look, it’s not hard to notice that there are “haves” and “have-nots.” There are uncommon slices of justice and uncountable spheres of injustice. There are marvelous medical remedies for some, while countless others hope and wait for healing and relief. Generations of children grow up thinking that trauma, isolation, abandonment, or even war is normal. Jesus points us to God’s kingdom, in which there is enough justice and righteousness for all, enough provision and peace for all, enough healing and wholeness for all, enough joy and love for all.
When we pray, “Kingdom of God, come” and when we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit,” we are praying for God’s kingdom to be made visible right here, right now, with justice, righteousness, provision, peace, healing, wholeness, joy, and love. God’s kingdom is far more beautiful, more expansive, more wonderful, more enduring, than any of us could possibly imagine. When Jesus went to the cross, it marked the climax of the good news that Jesus came to proclaim and demonstrate. Jesus embodied the ultimate good news on the cross. Jesus’ resurrection marked the beginning of the celebration of all celebrations! God invites and welcomes everyone to this celebration, this heavenly banquet, this eternal embrace.
How did this party get started anyway? We’re going to read from Luke chapter 4 in a minute, but, first, a little backstory. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up working as a carpenter in Nazareth. When he was 30 years old, right at the start of what we call his “earthly ministry,” Jesus burst onto the scene when he did something different at his local synagogue. He had gone there every week to participate in worship services. On this particular day, Jesus read aloud from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The part he read is recorded for us in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Instead of just quietly sitting down, Jesus then said something quite shocking. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Jesus is clearly saying – look, you’ve been waiting for the kingdom of God to come. You’ve been waiting for Messiah to come. I’ve got some news for you, some really good news. Your waiting is over, because here I am and here it is!
In Greco-Roman society at the time that Jesus made his announcement, 95% of the population had either no status, low status, or despicable status. Jesus’ ministry went on to bring release, recovery, freedom, and healing to the poor, blind, and oppressed, as well as to lepers, the spiritually impoverished, and the demonically oppressed. No wonder this announcement was good news! But no one recognized how this good news would be carried out.
It seems like people were expecting that when Messiah came, bada bing bada boom, everything would suddenly be put right again. Jesus did come in order to set everything right again. But Jesus didn’t do all that needed to be done in the three short years he walked the earth. Jesus walked around and occasionally got on a boat or rode a colt during his ministry years. In those 1000 or so days, he covered less than a 100-mile radius. After Jesus died on the cross, rose again, ascended to the Father, and poured out the Holy Spirit on the church, Jesus now continues what he started through us! We who follow Jesus are the ones who get to set everything right in every place on earth, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been told and empowered to go here, there, and everywhere!
Has the good news changed since Jesus started announcing it 2000 years ago? Did he say, “This is the good news I announced. But here, I’ve toned it down a bit for you, so you can announce just these parts. We can save the rest for later.” Because we are immersed in the age of cynicism, it would be easy to forget that the very same good news Jesus announced is the very same good news we get to announce today. Because we live in an empire of entertainment, it would be easy to grow apathetic or just numb out. Let’s remember today that the good news of Jesus that we get to announce, is all-encompassing good news. Jesus’ good news is for every person and every part of creation. Jesus’ good news touches every aspect of life! Jesus’ good news announces that justice, righteousness, provision, peace, healing, wholeness, joy, and love have already-but-not-fully-arrived, and they are available right here, right now!
As we continue our series on Vineyard Values, today we’re looking at what it means to be naturally supernatural. How do we do that? Let’s listen in on a conversation between Jesus and his closest followers during their last meal together.
John 14:5-12 (NRSV) – “5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ 8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”
Jesus wants his followers then and his followers now (that’s you and me) to know and see the Father, to know and see Jesus, to believe in Jesus. As we know and see and believe, we announce the good news of the Kingdom of God. But then Jesus takes it a step further. We don’t just talk about the good news, we also get to do it. Jesus tells us to do the works that he does, even to do greater works than these.
We talk a lot around here about how everybody gets to play. Every single person gets to participate! The Holy Spirit empowers and directs us all to do the works of Jesus, often in unexpected ways, as we make ourselves available to God. Being naturally supernatural is something that is available to every follower of Jesus.
I want to tell you five stories today that I hope will help each of us to become more “naturally supernatural” as we proclaim and demonstrate the good news of the kingdom of God. These are all stories that I’ve experienced first-hand.
Story 1
In the first story, a woman in our small group told me one day that she sensed that God had told her, “You’re going to have a daughter and this is her name.” She was already past the normal age of childbearing. But she had strong faith and certainty that God had spoken this to her. If God had done it for biblical Sarah and for biblical Elizabeth, God could do it for her, too. I couldn’t disagree with that. But I fell into the trap of presumption. As we prayed together, I, too, sensed that God would grant my friend her heart’s desire to have a baby with her husband, and in particular, a daughter. After all, these are good desires. God says that children are a blessing. So far, so good. The mistake I made was that I presumed that I knew more than I did. I cannot hear God perfectly. No one can. I truly desired the blessing of a daughter for my friend, and I knew that my desires could make it harder for me to not only hear God’s voice but discern what to do with what I heard. I decided to go ahead and tell her what I sensed God was saying. I have since come to realize that even if I hear the audible voice of God, even if I see God’s handwriting in the sky, even if a scroll falls from heaven onto my lap, when it comes to things of long-term significance in someone else’s life, especially related to pregnancy, children, or marriage, the best course of action is to be silent like Mary. Mary treasured and pondered what God and angels revealed to her in her heart. No matter how sure I am that I’ve heard God’s voice accurately, even if I speak with the utmost love, it is presumptuous to promise any of these things to someone else. I have no power to make them happen, and my wisdom and foresight are definitely insufficient. In that season, our church encouraged us to “speak out” when it came to prophetic words. That can sound better than it is, even though well-meaning. When we speak out words that turn general promises of God into specific promises for a specific person in a specific way, we speak presumptuously. As it turns out, my friend did not get pregnant; there was no daughter. When I saw her years later, I apologized for my presumption. It can be hard sometimes to live in and speak from a place of faith without stepping over that line. Being naturally supernatural means that we do not presume to know more than we do. Being naturally supernatural means there is a time to speak and a time to be silent when it comes to revelation from God.
Story 2
The second story happened when I was pregnant with Cascade. A friend came over with her son for a playdate with our sons. As often happens when young moms get together, we shared birth stories. A few weeks before her due date, my friend was on her way to the grocery store when a speeding car came out of nowhere and slammed into her vehicle. The impact was so severe that it pushed the baby through the walls of her uterus. An emergency C-section saved baby; emergency transfusions saved mom. It was nothing short of a miracle that both survived! After several more surgeries to complete repairs, doctors delivered bad news to my friend. They said she would not be able to have any more children. The tearing, damage, and subsequent scarring in her uterus were too severe to sustain another pregnancy. As our boys happily played with their blocks, I took a deep breath and asked, “Can I pray for you right now?” While we were praying, the Lord showed me a vision of an outstretched finger smoothing out a rough-looking T-shaped scar that ran the length and breadth of her uterus. I shared what I saw as I saw it and prayed with faith for God to heal and restore her broken uterus. We both felt the Holy Spirit’s presence and power that day. Shortly after that, her young family moved far away, and we lost touch. About 18 years later, we reconnected online. She had gone on to give birth to not one but two more children. All glory to God! Being naturally supernatural means that we trust God and pray for healing, out of obedience to Jesus. Being naturally supernatural means we pray for healing and leave the results to God.
Story 3
The third story happened to a young married couple in another small group we were in. Many in our group were lifelong church goers who were just beginning to believe and learn the “both-and” that God speaks in the Bible and God speaks to us personally today. We all heard solid teaching that stirred our faith to seek God and to seek to hear God’s voice. Unfortunately, there was a lot of flaky and imbalanced teaching mixed in, along with a bit of hype. We all read from the NIV in those days, and, in retrospect, we would have done well to pay more attention to Proverbs 19:2, “Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way!” One week, the husband announced that God had told him to purchase a house “by faith.” What we didn’t realize that day was that when he said, “by faith,” he meant that because of his certainty that God had told him what to do, he was just going to go ahead and do it. He rushed ahead without the wisdom of allowing others to speak into the process. Before we knew what was happening, he’d signed the contract and coerced his wife into signing it. His desire to hear God’s voice was good. His desire to have a home in which to grow his family was good. But none of us has enough knowledge or wisdom on our own. In his misguided attempt to act “in faith,” he deliberately omitted the standard clause in real estate contracts, “subject to finance.” That clause means that if someone applies for a loan but is refused for any reason, the prospective buyer can withdraw from the contract with no penalty. Within a few weeks, this young couple’s loan application was refused. Without the escape clause, they were legally obligated to go through with the sale. The financial strain of the situation ended up being the catalyst for the breakdown of their marriage. Years of heartache and pain ensued. Bitterness and cynicism crept into not only their lives but rippled out to others. Being naturally supernatural means acknowledging that we do not hear God perfectly. Being naturally supernatural means making big decisions slowly and with the wisdom of many counselors.
Story 4
The fourth story happened to our family. Paul worked for many years as a computer programmer on a contract basis, with amazingly few gaps between contracts. There was a time, though, when the month-long gap stretched to three, then six, and all the way to 14 months. For that long season, it wasn’t just the eight of us who needed feeding, clothing, and sheltering. We also had two young men living with us who were interns at our church, so there was no income stream flowing into our home. We continued doing what we were doing. Paul kept searching for and applying for jobs each day. I kept teaching the children. Together we dedicated each family member to the Lord, mornings and evenings, and looked to God to provide what we needed. Mouths were fed, teeth were cleaned, bodies were clothed, bills were paid, lights stayed on, growing feet had shoes to wear. We cut out frivolous purchases so that the children could continue participating in soccer and music. Very early in our marriage, we had learned to set and live by a modest budget. Part of that plan included paying off our house as quickly as possible. By the grace of God, we’d done that a couple of years earlier, and then continued to put the same amount each month into an investment account. God blessed those investments beyond our wildest dreams. Even though we knew that was how God provided for our financial needs, it was still nothing short of a miracle. In a way that made no sense either mathematically or economically, God multiplied our finances such that, even with ten people to care for, we had more at the end of the 14 months than we’d started with! We did nothing clever or good to deserve that. It was not a particularly profitable season, according to economic experts. There was no way to explain this other than that God provided and poured out abundant blessing on us. All glory and thanks be to God! Being naturally supernatural means that we look to God to provide all that we need. Being naturally supernatural means that we leave the details of how and when and what that looks like to God.
Story 5
The fifth and final story is another family story. When our family moved to Russia to serve as missionaries, one of the first of many legal steps we had to do was to complete our registration with the city’s government office within three days. The process involved us doing something and the chief official doing something. Our Russian friends helped us do our part. But the chief official in our city dug in her heels and refused to do her part. She had a longstanding reputation of being actively opposed to outsiders, meaning anyone with a different ethnic or cultural heritage. We were not only outsiders, but, even worse, foreigners who hoped to gain residency, the last people on earth she wanted to assist. Legally, we could have been expelled at any time. Meanwhile, we had already visited this city several times and had already set up our apartment two months prior. So, as part of our transition in moving to Russia, even though we were still waiting for our registration to be completed, we started in on our new family, school, and church routines. I attended the weekly evening prayer meeting in our church office, a very lively time with passionate prayers pouring forth from a precious mixed group including Russians of all ages and students from around the world. We cried out to God together about all kinds of things. When the group heard about our situation on day 4, some of the prayers prayed were against the city official, against her actions, against her attitudes, against her. A week went by – nothing in our situation had changed. On day 11, several people railed against the city official at the prayer meeting, with prayers that grew increasingly angry. As the days continued to slip by, we grew increasingly concerned about our status. It was a very real possibility that we could get a knock on the door, an immediate escort to the airport, and a five-year ban from returning to the country. The prayer meeting night came around again. This time, someone in the group hesitantly suggested, “Could we show love to her by praying blessing on the city official instead of cursing?” This was received as a Holy Spirit directive. Beautiful blessings were prayed for her all around. Our translator called us the following morning, day 19 – our registrations were approved! Being naturally supernatural means setting aside our own feelings and praying God’s heart for all people and for all of creation. Being naturally supernatural means speaking words of blessing and life to and about others.
How about you and me today? Let’s have a time of personal reflection on how we can be naturally supernatural in our lives.
What has God revealed to me that I am to speak? that I am to ponder in my heart?
What do I need to let go of in order to leave the results of my prayers to God?
In which decision in my life do I need to invite the wisdom of many counselors?
What expectations do I need to release when it comes to how God will provide all that I need?
Over which person or group do I need to speak and pray words of life and blessing this week?
Being naturally supernatural affects how we talk, how we think, how we act, how we pray, what we expect, how we see others, how we see suffering, how we see healing, how we see waiting, how we see ourselves, how we see others, how we see God.
Being naturally supernatural means that you and I do the natural stuff. God does the supernatural stuff. We reject hype and manipulation. We seek God for who God is, not just for what God can do for us. At times we will experience the power of God in ways that might be best described as miraculous. At times we will experience resistance in all kinds of ways. At times we will feel foolish for knowing, believing, or doing what Jesus said to know, believe, or do. There will often be a sense of incompleteness, because the fullness of the kingdom will not be complete until Jesus comes again.
Being naturally supernatural is how we do our part as transformed people who transform the world one word at a time, one action at a time.
Being naturally supernatural means engaging with others who have a different view from you. They might differ from you in viewing a particular nation as a friend or a foe. Love them, bless them, and pray for them anyway. They might differ from you in their sexual ethics. Love them, bless them, and pray for them anyway. They might differ from you in their political persuasion. Love them, bless them, and pray for them anyway.
Sometimes we will get it wrong. Let’s learn from our mistakes, persevere to know, see, and believe Jesus, and continue to proclaim and demonstrate the kingdom of God. God is faithful and is always working, doing a good, holy, and beautiful work in each person, partnering with us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today. Let’s be naturally supernatural as we live and speak from the love and blessing of God. Jesus is calling to each of us to step into the “more” of the kingdom of God. Do you notice some injustice? Go for it! Do you see some dry bones that need to live? Go for it! Do you encounter some suffering? Go for it! Remember Bachman Turner Overdrive’s great song from 1974? B-b-b-baby, we just ain’t seen n-n-nothin’ yet! Be naturally supernatural, for the greater glory of God! Come, Holy Spirit!
