What If We Had Halloween but No Easter?
Good Morning Friends,
Today I ramble a bit about the promise of the resurrection and the reality of an overwhelming sadness of a world without this great hope. It of course would be a terrible tragic thing if Christ was still in the grave but also a very frightening thing if all those in the grave got out. Ok I can understand if you do not want to think about this because it forces us to look in the mirror under our masks and imagine death…a terrible death…with no happy ending. It is an unthinkable question for Christians but still we have to ask as all hallows eve approaches. What If We Had Halloween but No Easter?
Scripture: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 (NRSV)
He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Luke 6: 17, 20-26 (NRSV)
But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 (NRSV)
Message: All Saints Day is coming in a few weeks and honestly it confuses me a bit with its images of graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils. It is a judgment day of sorts. And the time reminds us that the resurrection of the dead is a spooky thing. We want it for ourselves but are a little freaked out about it being available to others. It is a holiday with an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs…a kind of purgatory of sorts. Still understanding Halloween (which is not essential) rests at least in part on the core our belief in the resurrection of Jesus (which is essential). Ok so we dive in and ask who moved the stone? And if was angles, did Jesus really conquer death? Let’s face it, if Jesus did not beat death then all this preaching stuff is a bit deceitful…it is without profit…all our faith would be foolish and sin would quickly become our sovereign. Friends, if death has dominion then the future is indeed a place of fear. Thankfully there is this thing called love that lasts beyond the veil. Thankfully the disciples are not deceitful for who would for the sake of a lie intentionally face torture, persecution and such pain. Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff. I am not sure about a lot of things but of this I am certain… the world would be a dreadful and miserable place without a Living Jesus. Friends, if there is no resurrection then there is no Savior. And if there is no Savior, then we are all lost. Nothing but the resurrection matters. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive now and forever more. So friends, if there is anything we should conspire for it is kindness. In living Christ’s teachings we will change and in being like Christ will change the whole world. Here too we become saints with a connection to the church triumphant in God’s love. And so even now in this joy we remember and celebrate those of whom the world was not worthy and who surround us as a great cloud of witnesses.
Pray we believe that Jesus Christ took the sting out of sin, the dread out of death, the gloom out of the grave, and gave us a hope that is steadfast and sure. Pray we affirm that the Church is still here as a witness to the resurrection. Pray we believe that preaching is profitable, faith is feasible, the disciples are dependable, sin has been subdued, death has been defeated, and the future is fabulous… Pray we live in faith of a living Lord. Pray in fact that we too see Jesus and touch Jesus in the love we share. Pray we worship a living Lord. Pray the stones shout out that Jesus has risen. Pray all heaven breaks loose with the transformative news of the total liberation of humankind in the enduring physical presence God. Pray then that we learn to live lives that count for much. Pray we give thanks for the lives and deaths of the Saints. Pray we be creatures of light. Pray we wear the armor of God. Pray we are happy to wait for Jesus. Pray we share our candy. Pray we realize that transformation is not the same as reformation.
Blessings,
John Lawson
“For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest”
by William W. How, 1823-1897
1. For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
3. Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
4. O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
5. And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
6. But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
7. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
8. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Daily Devotionals 