ome of my Christian friends are not entirely fond of Halloween. I have heard many reasons for their uncomfortable feelings about this holiday. The reasons range from fundamentalist legalism to concern for the children who are often targeted by ill-meaning individuals on nights like Halloween. But few of them seem truly able to put their uncomfortable feelings about this holiday into words that reflect their theology or biblical paradigm. I think the true root of the issue is the fact that it seems that nothing our society does on October 31st has anything to do with Christianity. And as Christians, we gravitate to the holidays that have an element of the truly “holy.”
The apostles themselves considered it necessary to put the New Testament into Greek and to bind it fast to that language, doubtless in order to preserve it for us safe and sound as in a sacred ark. For they foresaw all that was to come and now has come to pass, and knew that if it were contained only in one’s head, wild and fearful disorder and confusion, and many various interpretations, fancies and doctrines would arise in the Church, which could be prevented and from which the plain man could be protected only by committing the New Testament to writing and language.
I tend to look forward to Halloween each year. But the events our culture participates in at this time of year are not the reason that I look forward to this time of year. While I enjoy seeing the kids dress up in costume, I enjoy the community spirit as the children go door-to-door and the adults distribute candy to them, and I enjoy decorating the house and yard in preparation for the fun and somewhat scary evening, there is another reason that I look forward to this day each year.
The reason I look forward to October 31st is that it is the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Castle Church door. Evangelical Protestants look at October 31 as the day when Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation that brought the focus of the Church back to the Word of God. To his own peril Luther proclaimed:
God preserves the experience of salvation and holiness from generation to generation by means of a book of revelation, not a bishop in Rome, and not the ecstasies of Thomas Muenzer and the Zwickau prophets.
I condemn and reject as nothing but error all doctrines which exalt our “free will” as being directly opposed to this mediation and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. For since, apart from Christ, sin and death are our masters and the devil is our god and prince, there can be no strength or power, no wit or wisdom, by which we can fit or fashion ourselves for righteousness and life. On the contrary, blinded and captivated, we are bound to be the subjects of Satan and sin, doing and thinking what pleases him and is opposed to God and His commandments.
Our family celebrated Halloween with the folks in our neighborhood last night. We enjoyed seeing kids in their costumes. We enjoyed sitting on the porch around our firepit with our cute little Grim Reaper attached to the porch railing and distributing candy to the children who ventured down the path between our small "Boo" luminaries that lined the walkway to our door.
But today we begin the big celebration. Today is Reformation Sunday! Today we remember that God always preserves a remnant of faithful men and women who adhere to the Word of God above all the councils of men. Today we say, with the Reformers, that we exist only by His grace and for His glory.
Happy Reformation Sunday!
Great reminder of this important historical event!
ReplyDeleteRichard, I'm glad to hear that your family is able to enjoy Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThis last week I was listening to a Christian radio program on the subject of Halloween. I found it facinating to hear how much anxiety and fear people had around this seemingly simply holiday.
The subject matter expert on the show was a priest who felt that parents who allow their children to participate in Halloween were setting them up to be recruited into witchcraft and other terrible terrible things.
What struck me about the parents calling into this radio program, was how little credit they gave to their own children. They talked as if a night of dressing up and receiving candy would clearly lead to a lifetime of worshiping Satan. As if the minds of their children were so fragile and undeveloped that a bagful of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, would easily turn them into playmates for the devil
To me this is another example of how religion is designed to keep people in fear. I'm 43 years old and I have NEVER met a single person who turned to witchcraft or satan worship as a result of Halloween. However, the Christians I heard on the radio talked as if it happened all the time.
One caller said that did let his kids observe Halloween, but not in the typcal way. Instead of carving pumpkins and dressing up, he would gather around the kitchen table with his family and they would pray for the dead. I'm sorry but that just sounds crazy to me. When I die doesn't God already know my destiny or will he make his descision based on prayers he receives after my passing.
AMEN
Tim
Actually, Tim, God already knows your destiny. It is not based on what you do, or your good works, but rather on whether you receive His free gift of eternal life based on the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ. "And as many as received Him (Jesus), to those He gave the right to be called the Sons of God." And "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works, so that no one can boast."
ReplyDeletePraying for the dead has no value since their destiny is decided before they die, based on whether they exercised faith in Jesus Christ or rejected him, not on any other acts of righteousness or unrighteousness.
Once you place your faith in Christ, He begins to shape your character and behavior to reflect His own, and the way you live will be different. Does this mean we can't celebrate halloween? No, but we do have the freedom to choose whether to or not, based on whether we believe we will bring glory to God. There is no condemnation for celebrating one holiday or ignoring another. It's what we do with Jesus Christ that matters. Those whose conscience is bothered by Halloween ought to refrain, but those who can enjoy the holiday and be thankful to God and honor Him are free to do so as well.