How Halloween Can Help Christians
By Rev. Andrew Chan, Senior Pastor, PBC, Vancouver, BC
16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial. And don’t let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have had visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud. 19 But they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God.
20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle, don’t eat, don’t touch.” 22 Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires. Colossians 2:16-23 (NLT)
Another Oct.31st is upon us. Get kinda uncomfortable with it, cos we evil is clearly portrayed in it, don’t we? On an annual basis we find Christian parents perplexed over the question: “Do we send kids out for trick or treating?” Are we not cooperating with evil by this activity? What do we do about it? If we are to abstain shun the event, what the guidelines and how can we gently instruct our kids about God’s opposition to evil? Or are we not responsible as Christians to check things out. Did not I Thess.5:21-22 tell us: “but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil.” How do we put to test - this thing called “Halloween”, so we can hold on to that which is good and do away with what’s evil. Is there a definitive statement from the Bible against observing Halloween? Is there “a thou shalt not celebrate” the event any where in the Bible? Or is there anything in the Bible that says this holiday should be added to the gospel of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ?
Our text for today from the Colossians letter written by Apostle Paul is clear - celebration of certain holy days or holidays, be it new moon ceremonies, Sabbaths, and u can even add Christmas or Easter or Halloween are no longer required (fact is Christmas Easter and Halloween are all baptized Christian versions of a pagan festival). Why? Because, according to the Bible, we’ve got the real deal. It is here in Jesus Christ. He has come in the flesh. God has come, so don’t need festivals are shadows of the real deal. Jesus was once dead but now risen alive and in power. All questions re: evil, death, spooks, and the afterlife is found in Jesus. Therefore the most important agenda on this planet, is not whether this holiday or that is celebrated so we read…, is not whether we should ban Harry Potter books cos it contains so much witchcraft and the occult, the most important thing is…
I Cor. 15:1-11 (NKJV)
1Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Look carefully at how the Bible defines for us what’s most important. Anything that takes away from that is not the Christian Gospel at all. First Jesus died for our sins, then raised then appeared, for those reasons we received grace – forgiveness of sins and assurance of eternal life. If you examine the context of these verses you will find that Paul has just finished arguing about spiritual gifts and he needed to remind his readers what’s important after all that talk about the gifts. I.e. gifts are not important, it is the Gospel, which ought to be the focus. In the same way today, many Christians get hung up with Halloween, they get upset, uncomfortable with it, much like the way, the Corinthians got upset with each other over the issue of gifts. It will be good for us to remind ourselves what’s important, and not get derailed in our faith or railroad some one because of an issue that’s of little eternal consequence. When we see God face to face He will not be asking you about your views on Halloween, instead He’ll be asking you what have you done with Jesus and lived in Him!
Furthermore, the Col. text tells me - Don’t need those holidays to make life worth living. Don’t need to observe those days to tell me I am spiritual or religious. Don’t need them to have a thrill or a full life, because Jesus says in John 10:10 (NLT) “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” In other words, Jesus is enuff for me! So I don’t need to celebrate Halloween, to get real kick out of life. I don’t to play a trick on someone to be loved. My self-esteem, does not rely on what costume I have to wear in order to impress someone that I am worthwhile. My self-worth is not based how loud I can say BOO! My self-identity is not reliant on what I do or don’t do on Halloween. I don’t need to imitate the devil, to steal kill and destroy, to have fun! It is all about me being secure in Christ alone, who promised me fullness of life.
Story of my childhood… I felt like somebody dressed in cub scout uniform, troop leader. Dressed in school field hockey team. Dressed in blazer with school colours as a prefect.
Felt important, felt admired. But once the uniform comes off, I am nobody again. But God is telling me, I don’t need to dress up to be noticed, He has already clothed me in His righteousness, I need not be ashamed, if I trust in Christ. Yes, I don’t to need to dress myself up to impress God, He is impressed if we receive with gladness and joy His gift of fullness of life through faith in Jesus!
Col.2:6-10 (NLT)
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
8 Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. 9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10 and YOU ARE COMPLETE through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.
Complete in Christ!!! I need faith in Christ! Much of what is celebrated in Halloween is empty and high sounding nonsense. Don’t need all that because God is greater than all that people can think up and do. I John 4:4 (NIV) says “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”. O God is bigger than the bogeyman! I John 5:4,5 (NLT) says: “For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
So I don’t need garlic, holy water, wooden crucifixes, to ward off vampires, unholy stuff, I don’t need man-made superstitious beliefs about Halloween, about one day out of 365 days in a year, to have a great life! I am already Complete in Christ! That’s you and me if we …
1. Receive Jesus as Lord.
2. Continue to live in Him – that’s drawing strength from Him in His word (truth that is taught). Persist, proceed in life with growing knowledge of Him in my life, practicing His presence – one word obey His truth
3. Praise Christ – overflow with thanksgiving centred on Christ’s work in my life. Dwell on what God did for you and you can’t help but thank Him over and over again. Genuine praise and worship will rise from the heart!
Those who want to dwell on the horror of death, gore, blood, monsters, fear. Let me invite to search out the scariest place on earth. It’s really dark, full of evil, even deceitful. It’s the place all mass murderers, axe-murderers, all the Jack the Rippers, all the ideas for the Stephen King novels come from. It is a place where the Holocaust is inspired, where wars are fought, where all imaginable horror dwells. Where is the best place to view that horror? Hollywood Slasher movies, Freddy from Nightmare in Elm Street part 33? Newest scary movies like 13 ghosts? I think it’s best take a look at the human heart. Jesus says in Matt.15:19 (NLT) “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.” U don’t have to take Christ word on this, just visit Ground Zero in NY?
Jesus by His blood and death has already done away with the worst monster there is, the heart condition of the world with all its poison, your sins, my sins. Your heart, my heart can be cleansed, that’s the great news! Are we honest to ourselves? Look into our hearts, it is not pretty! If you are guilty, and know it and want out of the sentence of death. Get the best lawyer in town and His name is Jesus! Titus 2:14 (LB) “He died under God’s judgment against our sins, so that he could rescue us from constant falling into sin and make us his very own people, with CLEANSED HEARTS and real enthusiasm for doing kind things for others.”
The darkness of human hearts is conquered when Christ died for us! If you don’t believe human sins are horrible, I ask you to take a good look at the evil and the wars people can think up, don’t need to think hard nor go far, just look and see Sept.11th. If ever there is an event in our lifetime that wakes us up to the hard reality that we are all hopelessly lost without God of the Bible, without Jesus Christ- it is Sept. 11th attack on America. And we ‘re still living in its wake, with wars, bullets, missiles, rockets, anthrax flying and all of it done by people to people, with all the hate, vengeance they can muster!!
What I really need to be really whole, to fulfill my life, to celebrate my life, to enjoy my life, to have the biggest thrill-ride ever, is not to remember more about death, blood and gore, but know Christ! It was He who by His death, by His bloody cross who took away the penalty of our sins, and conquered death. Jesus said He is the Resurrection and the Life and promises life to all who’d believe in Him! There is no one who has conquered death, who came back from the grave and promised we too can defeat all that Halloween glorifies except Jesus. The supremacy of Jesus that Paul wrote about in Colossians therefore is justified. No need to add anything to what Christ has accomplished to rescue humanity! Col.1:15-17 (NLT)
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation… Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.” Did u get that?
The Epistle to the Colossians was written to combat an unspecified but insidious error that crept into the church at Colosse some six years after its founding. There were folks thought they needed to add more to Christianity, silly things such as maybe snip some foreskin off in rite of circumcision or worship angels, don’t eat this thing or that, celebrate this day or that. So when Epaphras (mentioned in Col.1:7) visited Paul during his imprisonment in Rome and brought with him the alarming news that certain false doctrines and practices threatened the faith of the Colossian Christians, he quickly went to his “laptop” and “e-mailed” this letter. Thus Paul writes to combat certain false teachings about Christ and to give encouragement for the Christian life, that all they need is Christ.
Today many people are trapped in their religious upbringing like those who are brainwashed to believe they are great followers of God by killing themselves and others in attack on America. Paul’s instruction is valid again today. They think in ways that the grace of God is shut out of their lives. They think if I don’t give candy on Halloween, then God will be good to me. If I work hard at banning anything that’s even looks like Halloween, I’m gonna be good Christian. Many are trapped because they think if they have this or that (big house, good paying job, girlfriend) , fulfill this requirement (pay my bills on time, give a big offering on Thanksgiving Day at church) or that, or have the latest Harry Potter book, or Pokemon cards or Digimon cards or whatever the latest fad is, do something to be popular or whatever, hijack a plane, get rid of infidels, then my life is complete.
Remind Col.2:10 you are already complete if you have Christ! Hope u got this point down!
1. Halloween can sure help Christians to be reminded they are already complete in Christ.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. (this includes vampires, ghosts, Monsters in Harry Potter books, witches, bogeyman) Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NLT) Do u hear the word of the Lord?
2. It reminds us the darkest horrors are found in the horror of human heart. Don’t
blame in all on the devil. Evil is real and it resides in us! That’s why we
desperately need a Savior who can deliver us from evil. Jer.17:9 (NKJV) says:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
3. It also help us to fix our eyes on facts not fiction, to build our lives around the truths of
Christ’s words not on superstitious human beliefs, not on fear, not on myth/legends.
4. It reminds us death is not to be feared: Jesus who is Lord of all, who is Life and resurrection. He reigns over death by conquering it by His life! Heb. 2:14:15
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
So are u still kinda uncomfortable with Halloween? I say do not fear that one day. If you are God’s child, ain’t nothing to be fearful of, except your own wild imagination.
But do we send kids out for trick or treating or not? For practical reasons, I choose not to. But remember there is no direct prohibition that says kids cannot get candy. Why, we even do it in church here every Sunday, don’t we? But I will not allow my kids out on Halloween nite. First, even b4 the Sept.11th attack, there are just too many incidents of candies being laced with poison or pins or needles. Also, the number of child abductions in Lower Mainland is scary in the past few years. Also I don’t trust our city’s drivers, too many are run over in the past few years. Certainly the risks of having kids on the streets at night is a big concern. Who knows you knock on the door and out comes a lady with a pet python. And before u know it, little Sally is dinner. I guess there too many crazies out there to risk handing your kids over to them. Then they get scared silly and then you have a crying kid for the next 6 months cause he or she keeps getting nightmares. And now with Sept.11th so fresh, who knows what some folks would do as pranks, send white powder or anthrax in the candy, so it is a safety issue. If u ask would I send my kids out? No way. I rather have them have fun, good clean fun at Pioneer Club this Wednesday night. So bring the kids out this Wed night! I would rather have the church people here plan out a fun activity where we can speak of God’s love. As one Christian writer wrote: “Let the children enjoy much lighthearted fun! Parties may include seasonal
events like pumpkin-decorating contests (ever seen a Groucho Marx pumpkin head?), outrageous costumes, and lively skits, perhaps with a Linus pumpkin
patch as a backdrop. There is plenty of room for unique approaches.” Be creative and use it as a way to tell about Christ. Let’s not disappoint our children with a shallow or negative response to Halloween. Let us instead celebrate with all our hearts the completeness we have in Christ, rooted and built up in Him.
On CBN.com, Regent University communications professor Andy Freeman says that Christians should look to Jesus as an example. "He would never have said, ’run and hide, it’s Halloween!’" Freeman wrote. I agree! Don’t run and hide, instead let’s open up the church, come and have fun together, invite others in for a safe celebration.
John Fischer encourages Christians not to be scared off by Halloween, but to seize it as an opportunity. "Why allow those [darker elements] to drive me away from my home on a night I am guaranteed to have visitors?" Fischer wrote.
So Hold on to what’s good about Halloween. For it offers opportunity to talk to kids and witness to others about who Christ is and how He dealt with issues of evil and death, eternity, the afterlife, does it not? Yes, point people to the ways out of darkness into light. Invite people to explore where evil comes from, is it not from within us? Why is there Sept. 11th? Did God hijack the planes or did people do it? Eph.5:15-20 says: 15 So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. 19 Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s choose wisely, use the opportunity that Halloween allows us and turn it into a time of harvest for the Kingdom of God? Perhaps ask people if Dracula were to suck the life out of you will u know for sure you’ll be in heaven? Then lead them to Christ!
In his book CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE (Harper & Row, 1978), Richard Foster says, "Why allow Halloween to be a pagan holiday in commemoration of the powers of darkness? Fill the house or church with light; sing and celebrate the victory of Christ over darkness." Indeed! Celebrate that completeness in Christ, shout it out, till u believe it with all your heart, Jesus is Lord!
Final point: In case u are curious about ghosts. The Dead can’t come back on their own.
“And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment” Hebrews 9:27 (NLT) This tells us that there is no ghostly comebacks from the dead, after death, comes judgment. No haunting of houses by the dead, no seances can bring them back, no reincarnation, no second chances after death comes judgment! Plain and clear, right? If there is such a thing, you can be sure it is demonic in nature, or a great movie trick.
In the end, the good and evil will rise. But who gets to have life eternally - those who believe in Christ.
24 “I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted his Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge all mankind because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment. John 5:24-29 (NLT)
I chose not to spend time today discussing origins of Halloween. If you don’t know go to any encyclopedia look up under h for Halloween and you find where it all comes from. We Christians now want to concentrate and celebrate LIFE and that at death we pass from the land of shadows into the land of light. But this assurance is not for everyone, do u have it?
