Pulling Back The Curtain

I’m working on my Friday night message:

More On Mysticism:
“Pulling Back The Curtain”
Mark 1:9-11

I thought I would share the introduction with you:

Heaven and earth is the primary division within creation (Genesis 1:1). The heavens are not a distant place within the material universe, but a different dimension. Heaven and Earth are not far apart, but near to one another, overlapping and even intersecting. Some places seem to become a point of common intersection. Ancient Celtic Christians called these “thin places.” A thin place is a sacred space that has become an interface between God’s space and our space. In one sense, the ultimate thin place is the human being. If earth is the domain of animals and heaven the domain of angels, then man, as a hybrid being comprised of both the clay from which he was formed and the spirit which God breathed into him, is suited for both heaven and earth.

But since the Fall man has been primarily confined to the earth, living as little more than a sophisticated, intelligent bipedal animal, or seeking to gain illegal entry into the heavenly realm through occult means. The Garden of Eden can be looked upon as the place where man was at home in both heaven and earth — enjoying the garden and walking with the Gardener. But with the Fall, the way to the garden was lost (Genesis 3:24). Fallen man, whether he understands it or not, pines for a return to the garden. But, sadly, human attempts to recover the lost garden always end in either disappointment (consider the arts) or tragedy (consider Communism).

But what man could not recover on his own, God recovered for us. Through the mystery of the Incarnation and the triumph of the Resurrection Jesus Christ has again opened the way to the garden. Consider the implications of these Easter events: The risen Christ first appears in a garden. He moves easily between dimensions, appearing physically in a locked room without going through the door (He is the door!). He breathes upon His disciples to confer the life of new creation even as the Gardener had done in the beginning. The first Easter was the eighth day of the new beginning, the first day of the new creation; it marked the dawn of the true new age and the recovery of the lost garden.

To walk again with God in the garden is the great desire of humanity and might properly be called the mystical aspect of Christianity (Christian mysticism being defined as the philosophy and practice of a direct experience with God). Christian mysticism is what will save our soul from the madness of the age — the frenzied life of technological tyranny — and enable us to again walk with the Gardener in His garden far from the madding crowd. But to do this we must learn the open secrets of Christian mysticism and put into practice the spiritual disciplines that enable us to part the curtain and step beyond the veil.