Mysticism

Someone asked me yesterday about mysticism (the use of candles, stones, icons, smells etc. to get closer to God) - what does the Bible say?

Well, I pointed her to Jim Packer's great chapter in 'Knowing God' which explains the Bible's teaching. And then, this morning, I read this in Hosea,

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him, 'Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.

God's word tells us to approach God with words! Words of sorrow and repentance. Words of praise ('the fruit of our lips').

And this is completely in tune with the rest of the Bible. We come to God through the cross of Christ always acknowledging our dependence on his grace and mercy - and we do this in words. So the prayer books are right when they dictate that our services should normally begin with a confession, and continue with praise.

The rest of Hosea 14 is a list of wonderful metaphors for the blessings we receive from God when we come to him with words of contrition:

I will be like the dew to Israel,
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow.
His splendour will be like an olive tree;
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
Men will dwell in his shade.
He will flourish like the corn.
He will blossom like a vine,
and his frame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

But does all this preclude the use of candles, icons etc? Well yes. In Hosea, one of God's main complaints is the way Israel constantly used idols. And idols are more subtle than we think. In Exodus, when Israel made the golden calf, Aaron said, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt... tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.' And they presented offerings to the calf. But notice - as far as they were concerned, they were worshipping the LORD. But the LORD himself did not take it that way. How insulting to represent Almighty God as a cow - even a gold cow!

In the same way, God has chosen to communicate with us by speaking through his word. It's not hard to pick up your Bible and read, hear God speak, and speak to him in response. Why do we think this is insufficient? Why do we also need candles and icons and incense? Generally it's because we want some kind of 'spiritual experience', but what greater experience of God is there than hearing him speak?