Independence Day 2010, and for many of us, our field of dreams has a few thorns.

Do we have it all together? Not by a long shot; we’ve got thorns; by Wednesday of this week, I’d spoken with folks who had thorns like high blood pressure that put them in the hospital, blood disorders and kidney disorders that have them on the transplant list; thorns like unemployment; they need a job; thorns like pain that is more than they can stand; loved ones who are ill, marriages that are strained, and the economy – thorn upon thorn!

We don’t have it all together; we’ve got thorns; and they hurt. So, like Paul, we cry out to God. We ask God to take them away, but God says to us, 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NRSV) “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

When we “hear” God say that to us, and by “hear” I mean, when we know, when we have an inner certainty that this is what God is saying to us; this word is for me; we are having a mystical experience, because that is what mystical experiences do – they give us direct and intimate knowledge of God; they empower us with the certainty that not only is this word true; it is true for me.

We Presbyterians get uncomfortable when things get mystical. We’re reasonable folk; we think things through; we deduce. Mystical experiences are so out there. What’s next – Miss Cleo reading our tarot cards on the psychic hotline?

We get uncomfortable, but we do have mystical experiences; we have encounters with God that open our eyes to new possibilities; encounters that comfort and sustain us through our most difficult trials. Indeed, these trials are often the occasion for our richest learning!

How do we make sense of these experiences? How do we learn from them? This is the challenge of the path of Christian devotion that seeks to rightly order our experiences of God.

First, we’re guided by Scripture. When we heard the words, 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NRSV) “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” How did we react? What pieces fell into place? What thorn did we see in a new light – no longer as a punishment to be endured but an opportunity to be embraced?

Second, we’re guided in community. Worship is a mystical experience. I preach one sermon. You hear another. Thankfully, the one you heard is the one you needed to hear.

What happens in worship, and why worship is so central to “rightly ordering our experiences of God” is that we share what’s going on in our lives. We pray for one another. And the Spirit of God moves through the word that is preached, through the sacraments of baptism and communion, and through the sharing of our stories; the Spirit moves through our community; the Spirit moves us so that we can hear the good news in the midst of our thorns; God’s grace is sufficient; God’s love endures. God’s power is at work in this situation. Don’t be afraid. Be at peace. Be content.

In a few moments, we have an opportunity for a mystical experience as we celebrate communion. We’ve got thorns; we’re broken and wounded and longing to be whole. Bring your thorn to the table.

Hear again the word, “This is my body broken for you.” Look again as the cup is poured, and see the wounds through which God poured God’s love into the world…into you and me. Lift your eyes and see his face; there above it, see the crown our king wears; a crown of thorns. “Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?” Offer him your thorn; add it to his diadem; and receive in return your Savior’s blessing. Know for certain that His grace is sufficient. His power is at work in your weakness. Offer him your thorn, and allow him to love you through it. Offer him your thorn, and receive the blessing of a rightly ordered mystical experience of God. Amen.