Retreat or Reach Out: The Conundrum of Halloween

I grew up torn about Halloween.  As a young child I dressed up as a cowboy and went door to door for candy.  Oh, how sick I was that night.  But as I grew older my parents and my church began to withdraw from Halloween.  We began to see this holiday for what it truly was, a celebration of the demonic forces in this world. 

But as I moved into my college and adult years I began to become torn.  The question I began to ask about my life in general was, "How can the children of God go on the offensive against Satan and his dominion in every aspect of life?"  In other words, how can we reach out to others with the gospel of Christ in every aspect of our lives?

Halloween was no exception.  How can the children of God turn this celebration of evil into a time of gospel living?  David Mathis has a great piece on the Desiring God blog which asks some very good and pertinent questions about Halloween and our reaction as believers.  Check out the small portion of it below and read the entire piece here.

What if we saw October 31 not merely as an occasion for asking self-oriented questions about our participation (whether we should or shouldn’t dress the kids up or carve pumpkins), but for pursuing others-oriented acts of love? What if we capitalized on the opportunity to take a step forward in an ongoing process of witnessing to our neighbors, co-workers, and extended families about who Jesus is and what he accomplished at Calvary for the wicked like us?

What if we resolved not to join the darkness by keeping our porch lights off? What if we didn’t deadbolt our doors, but handed out the best treats in the neighborhood as a faint echo of the kind of grace our Father extends to us sinners?

Perseverence in Suffering

I once heard it said that suffering will either pull you closer to Christ or push you further away.  Tabletalk addresses this in today's reading.

Persevering faith is the type of faith required for salvation.  It is easy to have a fleeting and false trust in the Lord when things are going well for us.  Authentic faith, however, endures even in the most difficult circumstances of life, moving us to trust God even when we are at our wits' end (Matt. 13:18-23; Heb. 11).

Our time here on earth will be filled with trials, tribulation, and suffering.  This is true whether you belong to Christ or not.  But those who truly belong to Christ are able to endure sufferings because of the "faith required for [their] salvation."  The reason for this persevering faith is that we who belong to Christ have hope in the words of our Savior:

Matthew 25:31-40 (ESV) ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Our Divine Vocation

Luke 2:34a-35 (ESV) “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

This past Saturday I officiated over a funeral for a 69 year old man who had been battling cancer for the past two years.  In the end he had lost over 80 pounds, could barely walk, and was so sensitive to light and sound that no one could talk to him and all the lights had to be turned off.  For the two years he took chemotherapy and radiation his body slowly began to deteriorate and suffering became a daily occurrence.

The question begs to be asked: Why would God allow such suffering?  This man was no stranger to God.  He had been a believer most of his life, raised his children in a godly way, and was a great example of faithfulness to Him even unto the end.  Why would God allow his own children to suffer in such a terrible way?

Tabletalk from Ligonier Ministries addresses this issue.  Why do the people of God suffer?  As a child of God, suffering may be my divine vocation.  Here is what Tabletalk has to say about this issue.

Scripture is clear that suffering is one of the many vocations - calls - that the Lord gives to His people.  This may be hard for us to receive, but there are many examples in the Bible of people who were called to periods of pain and difficulty.  God allowed Job, for instance, to experience all manner of trouble. . . When Job asked, "Why?" God answers by emphasizing His sovereignty and , consequently, Job's need to trust Him.  Much of our suffering falls into this category - we do not know exactly why the Lord lets it happen, but we must nonetheless trust His goodness.

Christ was the ultimate example of suffering.  What he endured on the cross is unimaginable and more suffering than any one person will experience in a lifetime.  In Luke 2:22-35, Simeon tells Mary of the suffering her baby will endure.  But that suffering will also have an affect on Mary.  This suffering was the vocation of Jesus and Mary.  It was their divine call to endure such tragedy for the sake of God's glory and great name.

Why did my friend have to suffer so much in the end?  It is truly a mystery.  But to the end he continued to praise the name of God and trust in his ways.  Like my friend, we must trust in the goodness of God.  We may never understand the meaning of suffering and tragedy, but we can understand that God is sovereign over all things.  He is in control and in the end his good name will be lifted high.