Worship Devotional CXLIII
The Light Of The Sanctified
Worship Devotional from 10/30/22
~ All Saints’ Day / Hallowtide ~
The winter season has arrived, and with it the cold, the darkness, and the stillness that will make the days and nights ahead feel long until the spring light returns. However, with winter also comes a string of holidays to observe in the coming months. For many people, holidays are just something to do to keep themselves occupied during the cold season. However, there is great value in their meaning for those who are willing to dig deeper and seek to understand why we do the things we do and where these days and traditions come from. The end of October brings us the first (and possibly most controversial in the church) of the major holidays recognized in American culture: what we refer to as Halloween.
Costumes and candy, trick-or-treating, festivals and games, graveyards and haunted houses are some of the things that have come to be associated with Halloween in American culture. Some common pictures, symbols, or motifs we see in costumes and decorations might include ghosts, skeletons, witches, devils, zombies, spiders, blood, death, and many other things that are regarded as frightening or disturbing. All this leaves many Christians with the understandable feeling that Halloween is evil, a day on which evil is celebrated, and that the people of God should not be involved with such things.
So how are we to view Halloween? How should the church respond to these things? What does this mean for us as believers in Christ? I believe we need to dig deeper than just what is seen on the surface so that we can develop real understanding and insight, and then use the knowledge we obtain to make wise decisions. This is something that can be beneficial for us in every holiday season.
The word “Halloween” broken down means “Hallows’ Eve",” or the evening before “All Hallows’ Day,” which we would say as “All Saints’ Day.” I’m not going to go into the entire history of All Saints’ Day, but it is essentially a holiday that was established in the Catholic church as a day dedicated to the remembrance of all saints and martyrs. It was originally observed in springtime and for martyrs only, then later moved to November 1st and made to include all saints as well as martyrs. The word “hallow” literally comes from the word “holy,” and was used to describe the saints because the “saints” are referred to as the “holy ones.” The word “saint” comes from the word “sacred,” which is also where we get words like “consecrate” and “sanctify.” So who are the saints? The saints are those who are “sanctified,” meaning “set apart” for a “sacred” or “holy” purpose. And who are those who are being sanctified and made holy? The answer to these questions is made clear in Scripture. When the Bible uses the word “saints,” it is referring to believers in Christ. That’s us! So the word “Halloween” actually refers to a day that is all about Christians! I think that it is important then that we really consider what we are doing and why when it comes to Halloween.
So how did Halloween come to be associated with so many signs of evil and death? There is another influence on what the world knows now as Halloween, mainly because it took place at around the same time of year: October 31st. Pagan cultures have been influenced by the pagan Celtic festival from some 2,000 years ago known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”), which literally means “summer’s end.” I won’t go into the whole history of Samhain either, but it was a celebration festival observed by the Celtic peoples to mark the end of the summer and harvest seasons and the beginning of winter and a new year. The people in those cultures associated winter with death and would remember their deceased loved ones at around this time, and superstitions arose having to do with the spirits of the deceased visiting the living, or with evil spirits and ghosts manifesting in the physical realm, etc. Over the centuries, particularly as Christianity spread to cultures influenced by Samhain festival observance and as the church grew all around the world, the two holidays became intermingled with each other. The Samhain traditions were practiced in various cultures on the night before the church observed All Saints’ Day, and so the night of these festivities became known as All Saints’ Eve, or All Hallows’ Eve, or eventually, Halloween.
It is not surprising, then, that there are so many different views of what Halloween is all about. We may do well to try to look deeper and understand what is really underneath the surface than to get so caught up in the outward appearances. After all, we know from 1 Samuel 16:7b:
“Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
When the world is observing a day to remember the things they fear and do not understand, do we not have the truth to speak? When the world is pondering death and the afterlife and the spiritual realm, does the church not have something to say on the matter? In whatever way each Christian or church chooses to do it, Halloween presents an opportunity to speak truth and hope, to be an example for unbelievers and a light in the darkness, to show the world that there is a people who have the answers, and that the true Answer to all of our deep and ultimate questions is Jesus Christ! May we keep our focus on the victorious light and truth we hold, and which dwells inside of us, and refuse to be moved by the turmoil and fear and deception that is in the world.
Some may see Halloween as a day when the world celebrates evil, and so it is their conviction to avoid any association with the holiday. Others may see it as an opportunity to shine into the darkness by engaging with the community and even participating in the festivities. I believe that the Lord can use each person’s conviction for His purposes, for we know that He is still at work and that He is still God, sovereign over all and perfect in holiness and goodness, and that no power of darkness or evil can thwart His plans and purposes nor stop the overflow of His love for His people. This is why we have been singing about His sovereignty, His greatness, and His light in the previous weeks leading up to Halloween. We must always remember that the God we serve, who we believe and trust in and who is sanctifying His people in the image of Christ, is greater than all evil and deception. Where there is evil, His goodness will prevail. Where there is deception, His truth will still prevail. Where there is darkness, His light will prevail. Our God wins, no question. All the victory and power and authority and dominion belongs to Him alone forever and ever. Therefore, the fears and superstitions and lies of the world have no place in His church. Instead, may we rise up in the thick of it with praise, with thanksgiving, and with the light of the truth and the glory of the gospel to shine in this broken and dying world.
There are much needed reminders for us in Romans 12-15, to which we would do well to pay close attention. In these chapters (particularly chapter 14), Paul addresses believers having convictions about certain issues that sometime differ from each other; specifically in the text, he is referring to convictions about eating meat sacrificed to idols and observing Jewish festivals. Some people may be convinced that certain activities are wrong while others are convinced they are fine, or convinced that some things are necessary while others are convinced they are not. Paul makes it clear that the issue is not who is right and who is wrong, but rather whether we are loving one another or destroying one another with our convictions. He writes in Romans 14:12-23:
“So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother’s way. (I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.) For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy that one Christ died for by what you eat. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by men.
So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling why what he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble. Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is blessed. But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and everything that is not from a conviction is sin.”
So we see that it is important to know where we stand on these issues, but what truly counts is love. This is the “even better way” Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12:31. He continues in Romans 15:1-7:
“Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even the Messiah did not please Himself. On the contrary, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.’ For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice.
Therefore accept one another, just as the Messiah also accepted you, to the glory of God.”
We can be confident that the apostolic instruction from Paul is indeed from the Holy Spirit, that it is the instruction and commands of Christ Himself. We know that all of Scripture is from God, His very word written for us to believe and obey. But consider also the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Paul has just written to the church about loving one another with the ultimate goal of glorifying God with a united mind and voice. Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples and for all of us who believe in John 17:17-26:
“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify Myself for them, so they also may be sanctified by the truth.
I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in Me through their message. May they all be one, as You, Father, are in me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me. I have given them the glory You have given Me. May they be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me. I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.”
This is the calling of the saints! In a time of darkness and evil, this is how we rise and shine to the lost and broken. We are the ones who are being sanctified by the word of God, by believing in the truth, by the work of the Holy Spirit who lives within us! The answer is Christ, and Christ is in us by the Spirit of the living God, who alone is holy and worthy to be praised. We will shine and glorify Him who is worthy when we love each other with the same sacrificial and self-forsaking love that Christ has shown to us, setting aside our differences and tearing down the walls that divide us, joining together in unity as those who have been brought out of the darkness and into the glorious light of God’s holy presence, who have been brought up from the lies and deception that has a hold of this present world and into the life-giving and eternal truth of God, who have been set free from the grip of evil and given a share of everlasting and all-satisfying goodness of the Holy One, who have been ransomed out of slavery to fear and adopted into the family and kingdom of God by His eternal and ever-faithful love, who have been raised with Christ Jesus from the dead into everlasting life, called as saints and disciples of the true Son of God who gives eternal life to all who believe in His name. This is who we are. May we walk in holiness as He is holy so that the world may see His light in us and believe in the only Name that saves. May we rise up and shine with the true light of Christ in us this Hallowtide, so that the world may see the love of God among us and know that Jesus Christ has come to bring salvation to the ends of earth.
We receive this prayer from the apostles to the church in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13:
“Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we also do for you. May He make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.”
Themes: The Church, The Saints, Unity, Light, Love, Sanctification, The Kingship of Christ, Holiness
Songs:
Scripture references:
1 Samuel 16:7
Psalms 16, 32, 34, 37, 84, 85, 107, 115, 118
Proverbs 29:25
Isaiah 60:1
John 17
Romans 12-15
1 Corinthians 6, 8, 13-14
2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 7:1
Galatians 5-6
Ephesians (esp. 5-6)
Philippians 2:1-16
Colossians (esp. 1:9-14, 3:12-17)
1 Thessalonians (esp. 3:11-13, 4:1-8, 5)
Titus 2:11-14, 3:1-11
Hebrews 2, 10:19-39, 11-13
James 1
1 Peter (esp. 1-2)
1 John
Revelation 5, 7, 13:9-10, 22