Thursday, October 27, 2011

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?


People always come up and they ask “Why do we ‘celebrate’ Halloween?” Yes, Halloween is the darkest night of the year and it is called “Devil’s Night”.  Yes, Halloween came from a pagan culture and witchcraft.  And we could argue our opinions to no end, but even the Bible speaks of that as foolishness for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).  If you really think about it, you walk out into a world of darkness every single day.  The Bible says that there is an enemy after us and he is out to kill, steal, and destroy us (John 10:10), and if we are not careful we will help this enemy accomplish his mission.

Halloween is a dark night, and if we as Christians shut off our lights, close our doors, lock up our houses, we are basically saying to the devil “there’s a WORLD out there, accomplish your mission, we will not participate for we are hiding”.  And we’ve let the devil reign on Halloween night for years and years and years.  I don’t know about you, but I’m angry… I’m tired of the devil in my family, I’m tired of the devil in my church, I’m tired of the devil stealing away and robbing us of our freedoms.  And I’m not going to sit and let the devil do this every single year…

I don’t know about you, but I want to be like Jonathan who looked up into the high place and saw that the enemy had taken over the high place, instead of hiding, Jonathan and his armor-bearer climbed up and defeated the enemies! (I Samuel 14)  Our purpose is not to hide, but to further the Kingdom of God, and that does not stop on one night of the year.  Isaiah 60:1 says this, “Arise Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is shining upon you.”

According to Scripture, the Word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).  Do you see this flashlight here? When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we accept the Light of the World into our lives, which means we receive a light.  But if we only once in awhile pick up the Word of God, guess what? Our light will not work, so you continue to walk in darkness.  Let’s say you read your Word, but it only stays head knowledge it never reveals in your life, so you can quote Scriptures, but those Words you are speaking out don’t match up with your actions, guess what? That’s like putting batteries in my flashlight the wrong way, and my light will not shine.  But if I pick up the Word of God, I read it, I let it manifest itself in my life, and I realize that my thoughts are not God’s thoughts and that my ways are not God’s ways and I follow the words that I read, guess what? My life is going to reflect the Light of the World, for my path and for others to see Jesus in me!

This really hit me hard this week and I started researching out the word “light” in the Bible and to my surprise that single word is found in almost every Book of the Bible and it appears many, many, many times!  Now, I want to ask you this question… “Why do we NEED to celebrate Halloween?” And the answer is found in Scriptures…

  1. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world – like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.”
  2. John 1:5 says, “The light shines through the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
  3. Acts 13:47 says, “For this is as the Lord commanded us, ‘I have made you a light to the world, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”
We need to be this… A LIGHTHOUSE!!! Let's look at the qualities of a lighthouse:
  • A lighthouse stands out by itself.  Sometimes in ministry, it feels like we are standing alone when surrounded with many different personalities, beliefs, opinions, and we are trying to tell them about Jesus and they are wanting to do a myriad of other things.  But as you stand there with a message to deliver… you are shining out like a beacon!
  • A lighthouse watches out for those in trouble, in distress, heading in the wrong direction … how many times in caring for others do you do exactly that, especially if you have little ones? And perhaps it isn’t pleasant to be the one to correct, instruct, remind and remind again… but it is necessary.  A lighthouse is necessary!
  • A lighthouse gives light when conditions are foggy, or hazy, or stormy, or just simply dark.  They make a pathway at a time when visibility is difficult.  You do that.  You really do.  So many times in families’ lives things get foggy and hazy.  They need you – they need all of us – to shine our light steady and true, unwaveringly, to help them through these times.  A lighthouse is a sign of refuge, safety and redemption!
  • A lighthouse adds beauty.  And that you do.  Your smile, your love, your commitment to Jesus and to this church and the community in particular adds beauty to everyone who gets to witness it – whether they realize it or not.

A lighthouse has a light in its tower and it revolves on a time interval.  The reason it revolves on a time interval is so that no matter where you are standing the light that you see is BRILLIANT, it’s not a weak light.  If we are a lighthouse that is stagnant, we need to start picking up our Swords, the Word of God, and asking Jesus what needs to be removed in our life.  When Jesus was on the earth, He was not a stagnant light; He was constantly moving, spreading the Word and giving life to the darkness.  Luke 11:36 says it like this, “If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight is shining on you.”

Here’s an illustration...  When I got married the most important part of my wedding that I cherish the most was the lighting of the unity candle.  See she has a light in her, and he has a light in him… and see, when 2 or more are gathered in Jesus’ name He is there amidst them.  When these two combine their lights together, something radical happens… the light GROWS! It becomes more brilliant, more radiant.

Now think of this, if we are all housing a light in us, what do you think will happen when we decide to bond together and create one BIG lighthouse? I need 3 volunteers.  As these people bond together with their lights in hand and they become one lighthouse and they become an example of Christ moving as He did, the light grows, the light is brilliant, and it lays out a pathway for all those needing and wanting the light to come to.
Everybody take a moment and feel under your chair and pull out the star that’s stuck to your chair.  Stars are like lighthouses too, since the earth rotates, the star always appears brilliant and it twinkles… but no matter where you are in the world, that same star shines bright.  This star is a reminder that you have been brought to life by God and He lights up your darkness.  This star is a reminder that it can NEVER be extinguished by the darkness, because even if the godly fall down seven times, they always get up (Proverbs 24:16).  This star is a reminder that God is jealous over you and He’s jealous of those walking in darkness because He wants to free them, just like He freed you! It’s time we stop hiding our light and step out like Jonathan and take a stand!

Halloween is no longer Devil’s Night! The devil is no longer going to keep us in hiding so he can continue to steal, kill and destroy in the darkness… because we are going to be a beacon of light, shining a path for those who want redemption, freedom and salvation!

So, again I ask, “Why do we NEED to celebrate Halloween?” Because there are people out there that were just as lost as you at one time, that need the light that is in you to guide them to the Savior, Jesus Christ.  Keep your star and let it remind you that God made you a light to the world to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.

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