God is Always Working
Series: Naturally Supernatural
Brad Bailey – September 29, 2013
INTRO
Social science has revealed a truth that can serve us well: WE T SEE REALITY AS IT IS...BUT ACCORDING TO PRECONCEIVED PARADIGMS
Back in the 1940's, two researchers conducted an interesting experiment regarding people's ability to perceive unexpected facts. The researchers presented the subjects with a series of playing cards and asked the subjects to identify the cards. Most of the cards were normal, but some were deliberately made unusual: for example, red spades or black hearts.
The subjects of the experiment were shown a single card and then asked to identify what they had seen. When shown the "normal" cards, the subjects always responded correctly. The subjects shown the unusual cards, however, almost always "saw" normal playing cards!
They responded without any hesitation or questioning: The card was "fit" into a category that corresponded to the subjects, prior experience of playing cards. In a very real sense, the subjects had not even seen anything different than what they had expected.
Only when the researchers increased the exposure time to the unusual cards did the subjects begin to hesitate and display any awareness that they were viewing something out of the ordinary. Even then, the subjects desired to fit what they were seeing into their prior expectations. Exposed, for example, to a red five of spades, one of the subjects said, "that is the five of spades, but something is wrong with it. It has a black border"
Further increases in the exposure time resulted in even more hesitation and puzzlement until finally, and often quite suddenly, most subjects understood what was going on and were able to correctly identify the unusual playing cards. A fascinating side note was that several subjects were never able to adjust their prior categories or expectations. Even at forty times the average exposure necessary to recognize normal cards, several subjects were simply unable to correctly identity the unusual cards.
Importance of paradigms.
According to Thomas Kuhn's famous study of the our understanding ...
Our understanding of reality is not simply shaped by what we see...but by how we see. Our understanding is shaped by "paradigms." A paradigm is a way of looking at the world that is influenced by personal and cultural ideas that shape perception. In other words, we do not view the world "as it is," but through the lens of assumptions and collective cultural ideas.
All of us look at the world through a set of assumptions and expectations. An easy way to think about a paradigm is to compare it to a pair of glasses that one wears when looking out at the world. Often, in fact almost always, one is not even aware that he or she is wearing a pair of glasses. [1]
As we continue in our series entitled Naturally Supernatural…we must consider how clearly we understand and perceive what God is doing.
At one point the religious leaders get upset at Jesus healing a man because it was the Sabbath. He hadn't broken the actual commands of God...but rather their traditions. It was outside what they understood. Jesus declares:
John 5:17 (NIV)
"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
Jesus declares the way things really are...and it is...
The Shift that Changes Everything
Most of us don't live in that constant awareness...we might believe it is true...but we don't actually engage such a constant connection.
In the midst of the busyness of our lives, it is easy to forget that God is actively involved in the lives of people around us. We often have many interactions with people in a day—our family members, co-workers, friends, the man at the grocery store register, the woman bothering us with a solicitation phone call during dinner. Without exception, God has a plan for each of these people and He is actively, intimately involved in their lives to work toward the end which He desires. He loves them immensely and dreams more for them than they are able to dream for themselves. He desires to bless them, calling them out of darkness and into His light. If our desire is to be Christ’s ambassadors on earth—not merely seeking to minister to people out of pious compulsion or in order to put another proverbial notch in our religious belts—then we must learn to look at people through the lens of God’s love for them. We can rest in the knowledge that God is always actively and lovingly involved in the lives of the people around us. Our job is to simply join Him in His activity. [2]
Jesus Reveals Living in Relationship to the Father's Work
A great example is the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman as described in the Gospel of John
John 4:4-42
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, … 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
NOT IN PRINTED BULLETIN - They discuss the issue of this water and then...
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
(The Disciples Rejoin Jesus)
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
(Many Samaritans Believe) - NOT IN PRINTED BULLETIN due to space
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
A lot here to reflect on…but lets focus on what this event tells us about what it means to live as naturally supernatural people.
Summarize:
• Jesus and his followers are on a road trip. Disciples head to find where they could purchase some lunch...Jesus just takes time to rest near his old historic
• Woman comes out in the noon day...likely noted because the mod-day heat is not the time woem went for water. The would walk it together in the early morning or evening. Her timing likely says something about her social place.
• He allows her to offer him a drink... and she raises her curiosity regarding he as a Jew speaking with her as a Samaritan (considered second class and unclean)...and he draws out even deeper needs that can be fulfilled... as he speaks of "living water."
• Opens up the larger needs in her life. You may recall that Jesus had recently announced that he had come to bring the year of Jubillee for good... the time when all prisoners were set free to be rejoined with those they were separated from... those enslaved were set free and regained the lands they had lost. God had prepared to restore life under his reign.
So Jesus sees this woman in that light...he sees a women bound by her past
as a Samaritan ....
as a woman...
as a divorcee.
He speaks of freedom from all the ways she was bound.
She doesn't fully grasp the significance of what he is offering in terms of "living water" that won't leave her in need. So he speaks to the obvious hunger she has been having a hard time satisfying... that of being loved. The Father cared about her and was working... appears to have revealed to Jesus how she had been looking for love in all the wrong places. She now is being drawn into connecting with God...wondering about salvation through the Messiah. What is interesting...is that later she spoke of how Jesus had "told her everything she had ever done." We know that is quite an overstatement...he had only spoken of her history of seeking someone to be her partner.
But that is the very nature of God moving with "signs and wonders" of His will and work.
Signs are like tastes offered at the ice bream and frozen yogurt shops. They are not going to provide the total amount....but rather they offer the taste that will cause one to then want more.
This past week...I felt God may be prompting something about the taxi driver ...shared it...opened up much more conversation.
So it is that this simple conversation opened up so much ...first for her...and then for so many that came to Jesus from her town. He had spoken of God's reality for her life...and though she doesn't understand much... she knows it is real. How did it all begin? Did he say I need to fulfill a task today so I better go make something happen? No...it says that he was "tired." And he was thirsty. In the midst of meeting a basic daily need... running an errand... he SAW what the Father was doing in this scene.
It's a great example of operating in the Naturally Supernatural
And the disciples? Well...they missed it. And it becomes a moment for Jesus to open up their reality...even as he wants to open up ours.
They didn’t ask “what do you want?” (“Jesus we got some lunch…do you want the turkey with cheese…or the matzo special..”…or what he was doing….
In other words…they knew more was going on than they didn’t really get it. (Sort of normal feeling with God.)
That is when Jesus really teaches what matters most here: they couldn’t see that God is at work.
John 4:34-38 (NIV)
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
With these words, Jesus describes the shifts that are at hand for them...in joining the Father's work.
Joining the Father's Work involves...
1. Re-setting Our Priority (Orbit)
These guys got lunch … come back and realize something bigger was going on….which Jesus said was his “food”
They went for lunch...but Jesus explains...
John 4:34 (NIV)
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
Jesus said that this was his food…it brought satisfaction. He wasn’t suggesting food wasn’t valuable. He enjoyed so many meals with people. What he seems to be implying to them...and us…is that lunch was their priority… and so they missed what was at hand.
> We do well to consider this challenge. How much more are we focused on the material world?
A first step is a shift in priority.
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33 (MSG)
Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
His kingdom means His will. What is the center of Jesus' life? The will and work of the Father.
We tend to ask God to show us our purpose in life… has it’s place…but only after we realize that what he is doing is the center.
Our common tendency is to ask what does God have for my purpose?
But that might be the wrong central question in life. If we ask the wrong question, we won’t get the right answer.
Don’t ask, “God what can I do?” But ask, “What is God purposefully doing where I am?”
Now the focus has moved from my our life to God. That is where you find our answers.
Life in this created temporal realm is futile apart from the eternal will that it belongs to and will see it culminated into what it was meant to be. He knew he couldn’t work that eternal will out apart from the eternal will and force.
Get the orbit right. We are not the center of the orbit…around which life revolves. God is…and like Jesus…we can align with the will of that orbit and the power of the orbit.
Jesus challenged many of those who followed about the priority factor. For those who said they needed to take care of certain matters first...he made it clear that the reign of God's will isn't something that can be negotiated or negated to some optional. It's the treasure that if one realizes they have found....they will do everything to get it.
We do well to be honest with ourselves. When we approach any setting....are we thinking about our will or God's Are we seeking to simply fulfill some basic practical expectations or are we seeking what God may be doing? Have we developed a hunger for God's work in the lives around us?
2. Re-setting Our Perception (Worldview)
John 4:35 (NIV)
Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
They couldn't see what God was doing. It simply was not in their expectations. It didn't fit their paradigm....or worldview.
As described before...our view of reality is shaped by basic beliefs that we use to make sense of the world. People with different worldviews can view things very differently.
Though we may believe theologically that God is actively involved in the world around us, why is it so difficult for many of us to live in the reality of that knowledge? Why do we go through our day to day lives unaware, oblivious to His activity in our neighbor, our waitress, or our boss?
For many Western Christians, this is tied to our worldview; we are simply conditioned to not see beyond what our five physical senses tell us.
Unfortunately, we quite often miss what God is doing around us simply because it is outside our expectations. Our worldview teaches us to expect very little intervention from God in our lives and the lives of those around us, so we are often simply blind to His activity.
The challenge we face as Western Christ followers is that we have often become more Western than Christ following.
We have been shaped by an enlightenment worldview so that when one embraces Christ as their savior...they room is made for God, from time to time, to reach down and intervene...but only on rare occasions.
We must face the nature of our modern western worldview.
Western civilization was birthed in an understanding that the world was NOT just the outworking of whimsical gods nor any mere chaos...but rather a Creator who held ultimate purpose... and a redemptive purpose always at hand.
That gave way to the ability to look for order... to value reason and natural laws.
What changed is that we became enamored by such an ability...that by the eighteenth century... we became enamored by what we could understand and control...that we became blind to how little we actually could understand and control.
We have become finite creatures who pretend we are infinite in what we know.
We're like kids who think we can empty the ocean with our little buckets.
We have so much information that we think we have become masters of the world.
• One documentary on the stars and we think we are now masters of the universe.
• One Google search about the idea of "god" and we think we can contain God in our opinions.
The simple truth that we must face...is that we cannot contain God in our understanding and control. We shouldn't want to.
We need to break out of our limiting perception...our limiting worldview...
As Job 33:14 states,
"For God does speak--now one way, now another-- though man may not perceive it." - Job 33:14 (NIV)
Even within the thinking of those who followed Jesus... in recent years there was such concern for the problems associated putting too much emphasis on experience... that many in the west began to try to bind up God in the pages of Scripture. The Scriptures are the central revelation of God...they reveal Him but they do not contain Him.
And some suggest that once the Scriptures were set in place....God does not need to keep revealing Himself to people in supernatural signs. No where do the Scriptures ever suggest such. I can appreciate the fears of experientialism...but God is not bound by our understanding NOR is his activity bound by a book.
After all...who is speaking here...but Jesus. Jesus is God coming into the world... breaking in and breaking down the barriers. He starts showing the kingdom and says...go and do the same. I am sending the Spirit... to continue to testify...to bring signs and wonders.
God intends for every one of us to see what He is doing to restore lives around us.
Take a moment and consider...
What do you see in the lives around you.?
Take a moment….consider one neighbor
Now consider one co-worker or family member.
3. Re-setting Our Role (Activator rather than Originator)
Notice Jesus makes a point to note that the opportunity at hand was that of reaping what had already been sown.
John 4:36-38 (NIV)
Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.
His point is not simply that they hadn’t seen an opportunity…but that they didn’t see that it was an opportunity to join what God was already preparing.
It is about the joy of harvesting what another had sown…and the two doing s together.
It's time to see what is already there.
It's time to work with what God is has already been doing.
The restoration of creation is certainly a big responsibility...but how many of us naturally think of it as something more we must create or make happen simply from within ourselves.
We never create something from nothing.
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created (…from nothing)
> we will never do that. ...we always create from what exists.
> In that sense we are always activators of what God is already doing.
We create from what already exists. We are activators more than originators. [3]
Jesus would explain shortly after…
John 5:19 (NIV)
the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.
Closing: Will you ask God to show you one thing He is doing is the life of someone around you... that you can join?
Notes:
1. Adapted from: Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson, pages 117-120
2. Drawn from "From Sanctuary to the Streets" Bello, Charles; Blount, Brian (2011-09-15). (Kindle Location 613).
More on World Views by Jerry Solomon at http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/w-views.html
James Sire asserts that "A world view is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world." (James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1988), 17)
Walsh and Middleton provide what we think is the most succinct and understandable explanation: "A world view provides a model of the world which guides its adherents in the world." (Brian J. Walsh and J. Richard Middleton, The Transforming Vision (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1984), 32)
Consider two guys standing in an art museum. One is color blind and the other is not. The color-blind person will see only shades of gray. The person with normal vision will see the rich colors of paintings. These different pairs of eyes see different things. These pairs of eyes are like worldviews. Different worldviews cause people to understand the world differently.
3. Here are some more distinctives between operating out of our common sense of having being the originators (creators) of things...and being activators of what God has done and is doing:
Originating
within Ourselves
Activating
what God is Doing
It's an Overwhelming and Ultimately Negative Proposition It's a Challenging but expansive and positive proposition
Presumes Control Embraces Influence
Must "fix" problems...which limits growth of others Helps in mutual discovery of God's work...which empowers others
Will lead to emphasizing obligation and guilt Will emphasize opportunity and mutual good
Will begin and end with focus on results Will begin and end with focus on God
