Halloween, An Evangelistic Opportunity
Ephesians 5:1-13
Intro: Late one dark night, two men were walking home after a party. They were tired and desperate to get home, so they decided to take a shortcut through a cemetery.
They got to about the middle of the graveyard, and they were startled and stopped moving. There was a terrifying noise, "TAP-TAP-TAP" coming from the shadows. Trembling with fear, they spotted an old man with a hammer and chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones.
"Hey Mister," one of them said after catching his breath. "You SCARED us half to death. We thought you were a GHOST! What are you doing working here so late at night?"
"Those fools!" the old man grumbled. "They spelt my name wrong!"
. On Halloween night a little boy couldn’t sleep because he was convinced ghosts were in his room. "It’s all in your head," his mother reassured him. "Now go to sleep." Before she got down the stairs, he came running out of his room screaming. His mother asked what was wrong. The little boy said that the ghosts had moved out of his head and were now flying around the room.
. Halloween is upon us.
. It seems that our world is full of people glorifying evil.
. Some of the most popular shows on TV involve vampires and demons and zombies.
. This Thursday, many will dress up and pretend that they are witches and monsters and Zombies. Most do this innocently for no other reason than to receive candy from others.
. While that is true for many some take this night very seriously and use it as an opportunity to spread pagan beliefs involving witches and demons and worship of Satan.
. Halloween was actually celebrated hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. In the British isles, a group of people called the Celts observed a festival they called Samhain on Oct 31st.
But unlike today’s Halloween, theirs was no children’s holiday.
You see, the Celtic New Year began on November 1st. The fall harvest was complete and winter loomed. At this season of the year the Celts knew that the power of the sun was fading. For the next several months, darkness would prevail.
For the Celts this impending darkness was a fairly scary time.
It was especially scary because they believed that there was a something like a curtain that separated the living from the dead. And they believed - that at this time of the year - that curtain was at its thinnest.
On the evening of October 31, it was their belief that evil spirits and souls of the dead passed through this barrier and entered into the world of the living. And when the dead crossed that barrier they would torment the living. Crops might be destroyed, babies stolen, farm animals killed.
To appease these dead spirits, various sacrifices -including human - were performed the Celts. And food was left out for the spirits, hoping that this "treat" would prevent an evil "trick."
. That is the history of Halloween.
. In Christendom, There has always been much debate on how we as Christians should deal with Halloween.
. Should we participate should we not participate?
.Should we allow our children to dress up as witches and Ghosts even if they have no concept of why they do this.
.All they know is that they get to dress up and get candy.
. When I was a little boy, that’s all I cared about was the candy.
. Sadly, if this is all there was to it, there would be no debate.
. There is more to it though.
. In God’s word, we are told to separate ourselves from these things. We are told not to participate in things that are evil and vile and sinful.
. How are we to act during this Halloween season. Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians 5:
. Look with me at 5:1-13
. 1Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
2Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
3Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
4Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
5You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
6Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.
7Don’t participate in the things these people do.
8For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
9For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
10Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
11Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
12It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
13But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them.
. We are to have no part in these obscene stories or worthless deeds of evil and darkness.
. You see Halloween is all about darkness and we as Christians are to be all about the light.
. Look at verse 11 again:
. 11Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
. Not only are we not to participate in the darkness, we are to expose this darkness and shine a light on the darkness.
. Is there anything inherently wrong with children wanting to play dress up and get candy from people.
.No
. It’s the meaning of what they are doing that is important.
. Look at verse 10 because I believe that it answers all of our questions.
. 10Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
. Will dressing up like the Devil and witches and evil creatures please the Lord?
. I don’t believe so.
. Pretending to be a princess or a super hero or a ninja turtle in order to receive candy.
. This is nothing more than allowing your children to enjoy themselves.
. What we as Modern Christians must do is re-define Halloween.
. We did this with Easter and Christmas.
. Originally, Easter was a pagan holiday.
. Easter was a pagan festival, originating in the worship of other gods, and was introduced much later into Christianity in a deliberate attempt to make such festivals acceptable.
. What Christians did was take a festival that already existed and re-defined what Easter means.
. For Christians, this holiday now is the most sacred holiday for us.
. This is the holiday where we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. we would be like all the other world religions and have a dead prophet as our leader instead of the risen Lord.
. We re-defined Easter.
. We also re-defined Christmas
. The origins of a holiday on December 25th can also be traced back to roman pagan celebrations.
. This was a weeklong celebration when all laws were set aside and basically you could do anything you wanted to do. It culminated on the 25th of December with a human sacrifice.
. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).
. I will never look at a gingerbread man the same way again
. How dark and awful that was.
. We as Christians, through the years have tuned what was once an awful celebration of debauchery and murder into a celebration of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ.
. We re- defined Christmas.
. As Christians we need to be vigilant and re-define Halloween.
. We do this by looking at Halloween as an evangelistic opportunity.
. We use Halloween as a tool to share Jesus with those who don’t know him.
. When we see someone who is dressed as a ghost, we can share with them that although there are no ghosts, that we know someone who was once mistaken for a ghost.
. Then we can share with them the Matthew 14: 25-27:
. 25About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.
26When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
27But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
. We can share with them how Jesus has calmed our fears and how He can do the same for them.
. When they are scared and alone, there is someone they can turn to.
. If they are dressed as the Devil or a Demon, we can acknowledge who they are dressed as but that we know someone who has dominion over the Devil and his demons.
. We can share the story of the two demon possessed men in the region of Gadarenes found in Matthew 8:28-32:
. 28When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area.
29They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”
30There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.31So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32“All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
. We can share that yes we believe that evil exists and that the Devil exists but Jesus is the answer. He is more powerful and has dominion over the devil.
. Even those we may see with their super hero costumes on are opportunities to share Jesus and re-define Halloween.
. We can share the fact that Jesus can raise the Dead and share the story Lazarus and the cross. We can share the story about the young man that fell out the window during an extremely long sermon by Paul in Acts 20. How Paul went down to Him and through the Power of Jesus Christ, restored his life to him.
. Talk about a super Hero.
. We can tell them about This Jesus who can walk through walls as he did when He appeared to his disciples after the resurrection.
. We can tell them how He can disappear unlike any magician by relating the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and how when He was finished talking with them, he just disappeared.
. What a Super Hero we serve.
. I could go on and on about what our Lord has done and will do.
. We re-define Halloween by seeing it as an evangelistic opportunity.
. This Thursday night is Halloween; we are having our Hallo-Him festival. We do this in order to re-define Halloween for our community.
. We give them an alternative to dressing up as witches and demons and zombies and devils and going house to house not knowing who or what their children will encounter.
. We give them a safe environment for their families and we will tell them about Jesus.
. Clay will be sharing with the Children this year.
. I don’t know how many times people have told me how much they enjoy coming here just because we give them more that just games and candy. Don’t get me wrong, there will be plenty of games and candy but they will also hear about the ultimate super hero. The one who can conquer death and demons and zombies and the Devil. They will hear about Jesus Christ.
. We re-define Halloween by making it about Jesus not the Devil.
. Allow your children to enjoy the games and candy this Halloween. There is no harm in pretending to be a princess or a prince . A super Hero of a Ninja Turtle.
. We just need to teach them that the true one to emulate is Jesus Christ.
. Do you know our super hero this morning?
Invitation.
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
