Celebrating Halloween definitely doesn’t sound too church-y.
But when you consider how every year Halloween falls close to the church’s celebration of Reformation…
And you consider the church reformation of about 500 years ago was about having no fear but fear of the Lord…
And you know “fear of the Lord” means awe or reverence for God…
And you know the Lord delights in us (Psalm 44:3) and wants us to live life faithfully and fully…
And healthy Halloween is a platform for taking pokes at conventional fear…
Well, you start to see some connections between Halloween and Reformation—and not just the “All Saints” connection.
This is the beginning of how Reformation Sunday has become also known as “No Fear Sunday” at our church.
This year the Halloween/Reformation connection was even stronger as our text was Ezekiel 37:1-14 on October 28 (part of a 13 week study of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel). Ezekiel 37 is the story of the prophet Ezekiel being led into a valley of dry bones (how about that for Halloween-y?) God makes the dry bones come to life. How’s that for spooky?–except that the bones are the people of God shaking off hopelessness and embracing a new life and era of trusting in the Lord who delights in them and calls them to meaningful activity in the world.
Wearing costumes and enjoying Halloween are ways of poking fun at the devil. They show creativity and humor and build community.
Wearing a “bone” costume on Reformation Sunday to celebrate the Ezekiel story and testify to the power of God —well, I just hope it’s a way of modeling fearlessness and joy in a world that often has some small ideas about God, scripture, the church and what a Christian life can be about.
If nothing else, wearing a bone costume this Halloween/Reformation helped with the motions as we sang, Ezekiel cried, “Dem dry bones! Now hear the word of the Lord…” The foot bone connected to the leg bone…
Pastor Sarah Dickinson