A Word on Halloween

by Bob Setzer
As a Baptist boy growing up in the South, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. It was the one time of year my preferred sins were sanctioned: gluttony, especially of the chocolate variety, and getting to dress up like a ghost or goblin. The latter allowed me to go public with the fact there was a dark side to my “good boy” image.

Thus, for me, Halloween has always been a fun-loving time, both for the kids, and for the adults who get to revel in the wonder of a child’s imagination and bravado. However, there are a good many Christians and churches who view Halloween as Public Enemy Number One (or at least, Number Two or Number Three). The objections, to the extent I can fathom them, seem to be twofold: (1) Halloween began as a pagan festival and therefore, is sub-Christian and (2) Halloween constitutes dabbling in the occult.

As to the first objection, it is true Halloween has its roots in ancient Roman and Celtic festivals marking the approach of a cold, dark winter. At such times, it was believed the boundary between the living and the dead thinned and ghosts might slip through. Eventually, these pagan celebrations were Christianized as “All Hallows Eve,” the evening before All Saints Day, November 1. By the late 19th century, especially in America, Halloween had essentially become a secular holiday featuring tricks and treats for the children.

But if we’re going to dismiss holidays because of their pagan origins, let’s get rid of Christmas while we’re at it. December 25 was originally the day Romans celebrated the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice. Thankfully, Christians turned that day into something far better: a celebration of Jesus’ birth. Personally, I like the “take something bad and turn it into something good” approach to once pagan festivities. As Luther said of hymnody, “Why should the Devil have all the good tunes?”

As to dabbling with the occult, I seriously doubt Satan--whoever or whatever one deems Satan to be--sees Halloween as a ripe opportunity for snatching a few unsuspecting souls. No, Satan prefers the stealthy approach, sneaking up on us when we least expect it. According to the New Testament, Satan is far more likely to show up disguised as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:4) than reveal his true colors as the Prince of Darkness.

Here’s my suggestion for Halloween. Turn on the porch light. Have plenty of candy on hand. Be a neighbor. Welcome and delight in the kids who show up at your door. Smile at the parents who linger behind in the shadows. Act a lot less like a finicky, self-righteous Pharisee and a lot more like a joyous, fun-loving Jesus. Make him proud. Shine his light, share his love.

Trust me: If Satan is in the area, he won’t linger long at a place like that.

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Camping on Hope

by Bob Setzer, Jr.

There is a line in the Apostles’ Creed, an early Christian confession, that says Jesus “descended into hell.” That claim is based on some fairly obscure New Testament passages, 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 4:16, being chief among them. Did Jesus preach to the “spirits” in Hades, the abode of the dead, merely to announce his triumph? Or in “proclaiming the Gospel to the dead,” was he offering those condemned the proverbial second chance?

I’ll let other argue the fine points of theology. Let’s just say in the light of the Chilean mine rescue (and near disaster), I have a vivid picture of what it means to say Jesus “descended into hell”: It means there is Someone who loves you so much, he will stop at nothing to rescue you from whatever hell hole where you have landed.

 For seventeen days, 33 Chilean miners existed in a subterranean abode of pitch blackness, meager rations, and stifling despair. At “Camp Hope” above, determined rescuers drilled probes that eventually established an umbilical cord between them and those stranded below. With that life support, the grace of God, and the miner’s own native pluck, these men survived day after excruciating day until a opening large enough to deliver a life capsule was drilled. Finally, after 69 harrowing days, the miners were lifted to safety one-by-one as the world looked on in gratitude and awe.

Now that the nightmare is past, I find myself thinking of Jesus. What did he do on those three days between Good Friday and his Easter triumph? Knowing Jesus, he didn’t twiddle his thumbs or put his feet up on some gold-gilded ottoman in heaven. No, he started digging. He started digging through the rock hard cynicism and despair of those who had written him off. He started clawing his way through the crusty defiance of the world’s disobedience, the dirt and grime of the world’s sin, and the rich, black humus of potential squandered for want of seed.

Finally, at long last, Jesus broke through. Suddenly, his light pieced hell’s darkness, his love vanquished hell’s hate, his truth shattered hell’s lies. In the depths of a brutal, barbarous abyss, Jesus shone with a radiance divine. Then, his face etched in Easter light, he announced, “I’m headed back up. Who wants to come with me back to hope, back to God, back to life?” I suspect the Devil looked helplessly on as Jesus emptied the place, ascending with a long train of newly-minted believers (Ephesians 4:8-10).

Yes, there’s Someone who loves you so much, no matter what hell hole you land in, he’s coming after you. He’s already started digging. Listen for the crumbling dirt. Watch for the light.

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Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue

Monday is Columbus Day, the holiday that gets no respect. Columbus Day is the holiday I’m most likely to drop by the bank only to be surprised it’s closed. Columbus Day is the day I check the mailbox at day’s end and wonder what happened. Why did the junkmail kingpins decide to give me a day off?

Who has Columbus Day celebrations? When was the last time you were invited to a Columbus Day cookout? Do they have a Columbus Day parade, even in Columbus? (I googled “Columbus Day Parade” and got 268,000 results. That’s nothing in Google land. “Elvis” garnered over 41 million hits).

So how come Columbus Day gets no respect? Is it because we now know Leif Ericson and his mighty Norsemen beat the intrepid Italian to the new world by 500 years? Or because native Americans were here for thousands of years before that? Or is the lack of enthusiasm for Columbus Day, at least in the south, due to its status as a “northern” or even a “Catholic” celebration?

Who knows? But I believe Columbus rates a day all his own and not just because giving him his due spawns another three day weekend. No, Columbus deserves a day because he embodies faith wedded to courage, faith wedded to action, and that kind of faith is the fulcrum that moves the world.

Columbus believed the world was round. This idea was not unique to him. The ancient Greeks, masters of astronomy and geometry, had long ago calculated the earth was likely round. The educated classes of Columbus’ day, steeped in the classics of antiquity, knew this. Still the folk belief persisted the world was flat--it certainly looked that way--so sailing off its edge was a distinct possibility.

But instead of debating the matter from the safety of his study, Columbus set sail with his three trusty vessels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña. He decided to settle the matter in the world of action. And eleven weeks and over 4,000 miles later, settle it he did when he bumped into the “new world” the Bahamas.

In the Bible, the creation of God’s people, the Hebrews, begins when God tells an aged nomad, “Leave your country and your father’s house and go to a land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Perhaps God had told others the same thing but they hemmed and hawed, they doubted and equivocated, and in the end, they stayed put. But “Abram went,” the Bible says with stunning simplicity, “as the Lord had told him” (Gen. 12:4).

Maybe in a world where Christians, Jews, and Muslims are so divided, we should rechristen Columbus Day, Abraham Day, since all three religions revere the Patriarch. But the importance of acting on what we believe is an essential part of what the Bible means by “faith.” Columbus knew that. Abraham knew that. And on the second Monday in October, it’s not a bad thing for the rest of us us to remember.

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