OUTLINE FOR OPEN CELLS

(Week of 2 /7 – 2/13, 2010)

Icky World 6

"The Mystic Journey"

Subject - Mystic Christians from various historical and spiritual settings describe different stages we may or may not pass through on the journey of experiencing God. Each of us could probably describe our own stages and would probably use different language to describe them. What are some of the more common experiences in stages of growth and obstacles we might encounter? How can we cultivate a heart to continue the journey?

I. Beginning the journey - I spell GOD with two O's . . . be imitators of God as dear children. (Eph. 5:1)

A. "Few people seem to choose mysticism deliberately. It often takes a jolt of some kind from God to wake us up to the fact that there is something there, something full of love, wanting to be known."  . . . The starting point of mysticism is encountering the Goodness of God; not a conditional "goodness," but          pure Goodness itself, with a capital G." (Jon Zuck)

B. (1 Chron. 16:34, Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 118:29, 136:1) "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." (God is good in every time and in every place. Are you?)

1. good/towb/good, pleasant, agreeable, valuable in estimation, glad, kind, right (ethically)

2. mercy/kheh'-sed/goodness, kindness, faithfulness

3. forever/endures (added)/oh-lahm'/eternity, the ages, infinity, the universe, the world (Olam refers to that infinite and everlasting expanse God has created. It is both an unending expanse of space (universe) and time (eternity), indicating the limitless dimensions in which God's sovereignty is displayed. It sometimes refers to the remotely distant past and sometimes to the remotely distant future. He is called (Jer. 25:5) El Olam, the Everlasting God.)

C. We were all born natural mystics, eager to see pure Goodness in everything. Jesus said, "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 18:3) Early on, we are taught that receiving God's goodness is dependent upon our beliefs and actions, and so, fear begins to cloud our childlike faith, almost from our earliest recollections. (OCD?)

D. To be like the Father; perfect in belief and behaviors or perfect in love and goodness?

1. (Mt. 5:43-48) "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

2. (1 Jn. 4:7-19) "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear . . ." (v. 18)

II. "Life is lived on levels and arrived at in stages." (Edwin Louis Cole)

A. (Matthew Fox: Original Blessing, a four-fold path) followed the work of Meister Eckhart, Thomas Aquinas, Nicolas of Cusa, etc. (Original blessing preceded original sin.)

1. Via Positiva (The path of joy and pleasure)

2. Via Negativa (The path of loss and grief) "Thou hast taken from me all that I had of Thee, yet of Thy grace leave me the gift which every dog has by nature: that of being true to Thee in   my distress, when I am deprived of all consolation. This I desire more fervently than Thy heavenly Kingdom." (Mechthild of Magdeburg) (Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of the Cross)

3. Via Creativa (The path of external change)

4. Via Transformativa (The path of inner change)

III. The perils and the pitfalls; obstacles to the continuing journey.

A. Pride (vs. meekness, Ps. 25:9, Mt. 5:5, Mt. 11:29) What does "meekness" really look like? (quote)

B. Fear (We fear the unknown. Therefore we cling to the perception of what we think we know.)

C. Holding on to experiences (Abraham built altars and moved on, Henry Blackaby quote . . .)

D. Loneliness (the prophet's lot in life, hearing and seeing what others have not yet heard and seen)