It is the first week of October. Despite the unseasonably warm weather, we have all noticed Halloween decorations going up outside. (You can even find Christmas decorations in Costco!) Fall is firmly upon us with its many rituals and memories.
Halloween can be a divisive subject for Christians and yet, regardless of how you choose to celebrate if you celebrate, you might not be aware that Halloween was originally “All Hallows Eve”—a Christian holiday! November 1st is All Saints Day, a day to remember all those who have died in the faith over the past year. Just like how Christmas has Christmas Eve, so All Saints Day as “All Hallows Eve.” For a further recap on All Hallows Eve as a church holiday, recall that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Church on the evening of October 31st. He knew many of the scholars and officials he aimed to influence would be at church that evening or the next day. While many superstitions and scary images have arisen around Halloween, the day cannot be separated from All Saint’s Day.
All Saint’s Day draws attention to something much scarier than monsters or costumes. Many churches choose to mark All Saint’s Day by reading the names of those who have passed over the last year and a bell is rung after each name is read. The fear of death looms large even in our isolated and sanitized culture. Losing loved ones is never easy and never the same. Even when the passing is expected it feels like our houses are haunted by grief. The early Christians among the Thessalonians, like many people, experienced these questions about loss. They asked Paul questions about loss. Paul encourages them with these words from 1 Thessalonians 4:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
God bringing the dead with him? This sounds like the stuff of Halloween. However, it is the promise of the resurrection. God will bring back the souls of those are with him. Souls that are with him now for safekeeping. Then they and all people will rise from the dead and inherent that perfect world which marks the end of the Biblical story. This is heaven. This is our life with God and departed relatives. This is our hope.
Life and death will give us pause for death was never meant to be a part of life. As death draws a little closer this month, God invites us to lean in through the All Saint’s Day. For as much as we reflect on death; there, God reminds us of the life that is to come. Although we are sounded by the unfamiliar, we can be unafraid. Sad but hopeful.
In Jesus Service,
Pastor Kurt