Spooks Or Saints?

Joshua 3:7-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12

Our gospel lesson for today from the book of Matthew talks about how Jesus criticized the Pharisees for being hypocrites. He described them as being people who told the people how to behave in their daily lives, but were, themselves, unable to practice what they preached. And, what's worse was that they were unwilling to help persons once they had committed sins. So, Jesus criticized them for their self-importance and narcissism. He criticized them for thinking that they were the most important people in society; for their love of being greeted in the market places and having people call them "Teacher," which was a title of great respect.

To Jesus, the Pharisees were no better than anyone else. The only thing they had going for them, or perhaps not going for them (depending on how you look at it), was that they knew the requirements of the Law of Moses more than anyone else. They were experts at it. And, because they were experts at the Law, they made sure that everyone knew how learned they were. But, the only problem, as far as Jesus was concerned, was that if they were truly experts in the Law, then theirs was the extra responsibility of following it better than anyone else, which they didn't. For, as Jesus believed, and as the apostle Paul points out in his writings, there is no one who is perfect. No one can follow the Laws of Moses perfectly, not even the experts in the Law. And, going by the traditions of the religious people of Jesus' day, if you had broken just one of the Laws of Moses, you might as well have broken all of them, for God demands perfection from those who desire salvation.

So, Jesus told his followers, and he also told the Pharisees that they shouldn't desire distinctive titles; that they shouldn't desire to be called "Teacher," or "Doctor," or "Master," for such distinctive titles divide and separate the people of God. Such titles fly in the face of Jesus' deep belief that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the Heavenly Father.

From reading this scripture, I believe that Jesus would have been very much in favor of democracy. As far as he was concerned, kings, great leaders, learned men and women, and others that somehow have an aura of respect, actually have the same problems in life as everyone else, including spiritual problems and psychological problems. As far as Jesus was concerned, and as far as God was concerned, the condition of the hearts of people who sit in ivory towers was pretty much as tainted as those who are down at street level, every day.

Now, as has already been pointed out, tomorrow is All Saint's Day. In England, many years ago, it used to be called "All Hallows Day." And, the night before was known as "All Hallows Even," or "Halloween." As far as the Church was concerned, All Saint's Day (or All Hallows Day) was a day upon which the all the saints of the church were remembered and honored for their contribution to the life of the church. And, it was (and still is) a day upon which we Christians acknowledge that through faith and by the grace of God, and by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are all made holy. And, if we are made holy, then we, too, are saints of the church. For the word "saint" actually means "holy one."

So, today, as we sit here, if we truly believe in God, if we have faith in Christ, and if we believe in his death and resurrection, then we can look at one another and call each other "saint!" without being very far off the mark, at all! Nevertheless, most of us would probably feel a bit uncomfortable being called a saint. After all, we usually reserve that for after a person has died! And, certainly, not one of us here would like such a title! Yet, it is true. If we have faith in Christ and endeavor to follow in his footsteps, we're saints.

And, so, of course, as saints, we should strive to be saintly; which is why so many committed Christians, today, are concerned about what goes on in most communities the night before All Saints Day. I was reading in the newspaper, yesterday, and saw how many people all over Monroe County are really concerned about the issue of Halloween. And, concerned we should be.

Maybe you knew that the witches, ghosts, and goblins of Halloween actually have their root in the pre-Christian celebration by the Druids of England that took place on October 31st. The Druid priests taught that it was on that night that the god of hell allowed the souls of the dead to leave the abode of the dead to visit the places where they had once lived. To celebrate this evening, the Druids would make small lamps, placing a candle in gourds they had carved out. It was believed that the spirits of the dead would house themselves inside the lamps. And, certainly, the effect was made even more real if the person who had carved the lamp had made openings in the gourd that made it look like a face. And, that, of course, is where we get our jack-o-lanterns, today.

Later, then, after Christianity came to England, the vestiges of this ghostly celebration were still present, even when All Saints Day followed the next day. The English people would dress up like ghosts and play tricks on each other. Tricks could be avoided, however, if a person left treats out for the "ghosts". Thus, we have the term, "Trick-or-treat."

Of course, to many people, Halloween is a fun night. But, for other people, the night is frightening. For, in many communities it is often preceded by Devil's Night, a night used as an excuse for persons to commit acts of vandalism and arson. And the symbols of Halloween have also become fairly gruesome, when you think about it. Skulls, skeletons, which are actually the disinterred remains of human beings who were once laid to rest, are commonly seen in Halloween advertising and decorations and costumes. And, what would Halloween be without witches, who were actually the priestesses of the Druid religion? And people dress up like murderers and hang bodies in trees and put scenes of ax murders on their front lawns while playing tape recordings of screaming. And we teach our children not to take candy from strangers but think nothing about sending them out into the dark to do just that.

It all may sound like fun. But, how fun is it, really, especially in this day when scenes of murder and child abuse and spouse abuse are all too common and all too real? We may agree or disagree with the deeply religious people of our community who say that the secular celebration of Halloween should be abolished. But, we should know that there are some very good reasons to make it our concern.

Christ has called us to be his followers, his saints. I am reminded today of a scripture from the book of 1 Thessalonians which reads: "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And I am wondering: If we Christians really believe this, if we really believe that we should avoid every kind of evil, and hold on to the good, and be sanctified through and through, how we can do this and make light of Halloween, which was, from its very onset, a celebration of evil.

Christ calls us to be his people, the children of the light. Let us walk in that light, in every way, in all our conduct, every day and every night, to the glory of Almighty God. Amen.