Halloween? A Christian holiday?

     When it comes to holidays, Halloween is one of the most controversial.  Whether it is controversy over what or whom to dress up as, or how skimpy that costume is; whether it is about the amount of candy and sweets that kids eat and whether or not to let them eat home-made goodies; whether it is about the evil and 'pagan' nature of the holiday itself, Halloween certainly creates a stir.
     In actuality, Halloween is part of a great 3-day celebration in the Christian church, and it is a tradition that we as Christians, can help to take back.  Our friends at Vibrant Faith @ Home have given much thought to this and provided some good ideas for families this week.  For the full version, visit their activity 3 Scary Holy Sad Days.  Here is a quick overview:

1. On October 31 (Halloween), whether you are taking kids “trick or treating” or just handing out treats at home, it’s nice to know that the idea of wearing scary costumes comes from the fact that the word, “Halloween” is a variation of “All Hallow’s Eve” which means the evening before the Feast of All Saints – celebrating people who have died but are remembered as holy people. Dress up if you like and enjoy the idea that sometimes it can be scary to be a holy person because you might be called upon to do courageous things.
2. On November 1 (All Saints Day) read about the saint you were named after. If you don’t have a saint’s name, pick a name or a saint that you like and read about his or her life.

• What made them special?
• What challenges did they face?
• How are you like your saint or different from him or her.
• If you are doing this with your children, teach them about their saint too or have them pick a favorite saint’s name.
• What saint would you most like to emulate?

3. On November 2 (All Souls Day), make a list of your deceased relatives and close friends. Remember how precious each person is to you. Was there any element of faith that any of these people passed on to you?
4. If possible visit their graves. If this is not possible go to a cemetery anyway and pray at the grave of any unknown person. They can remind you of your loved one. Besides, everyone deserves to be remembered – even the unknowns. Invite your children to go with you. Life goes on and passes on through them.

     So with this in mind, that the holiday of Halloween is actually a Holy-day, what does that mean for us?  What does it mean to celebrate all the saints?  On Sunday we will remember that we are part of the great communion of saints, 'knit together in the mystical body of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord', as our prayer for the day says.  We will remember by name all those who have died from our community as well as any saints you wish to share.  We will remember that our hope comes from that third article of the Apostles Creed: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
     Did you notice the progression of this statement?  The Spirit knits us together as one body of Christ.  Together, as God's children, we make up the church.  The church is something that reaches from the past into the present, and extends forward into the future, including the saints of all times and places.  The communion of saints experiences salvation by means of forgiveness of sins, which frees us to love, live, and serve as saints should.  When we die, we believe Jesus ushers us into God's kingdom through the resurrection of our bodies, and from there we have eternal life everlasting.
     Halloween?  A Christian holiday?  Absolutely.  A wonderful opportunity for us to remember all the saints of ages past who have shaped our church today, and whose examples of life, love, and service form and shape our own lives.  It is a wonderful opportunity to explore what it means to be a saint in today's age - to remember as Vibrant Faith says, that 'it can be scary to be a holy person because you might be called upon to do courageous things.'  It is a wonderful opportunity to remember that scary or not, pagan or Christian, tricks or treats, in the end we have a loving God who grants life, salvation, and who, in the end, will wipe every tear and death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.  Thanks be to God!

How is God re-forming me?

     Reformation Sunday is one of the celebrations in the church year that has one set of readings, which means that we hear the same readings every year.  The readings all center around Martin Luther's radical, new-to-the-time teaching that creation is saved by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone.  Luther called this 'the absolute truth by which the church stands or falls.'  We find this teaching particularly in Romans 3, and it is underscored by the prophecy in Jeremiah 31, and is highlighted by Jesus' teaching from John 8.
     We often use big words on reformation Sunday, words like justification, righteousness, and sanctification when we talk about our faith.  Exactly what do we mean when we use these words?  Theologian Carl Braaten has a wonderful book on justification and in it he talks about how the church uses these words, and says:

 The presupposition of Paul's message [about justification by faith] is the Old Testament idea of God as the judge who calls for righteousness. Paul also holds that human beings are slaves of sin and stand guilty before God.  He rejects the kid of optimism that believe it possible for people to fulfill the law of righteousness.  On the other hand, only the righteous can enter into true fellowship with God.  Only the gospel can break this impasse.  The gospel declares that God acts to communicate God's own righteousness that no effort on the part of human beings can possibly attain.  This happens at a particular place and time, namely, through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  This puts an end to the way of the law.  God's act in the death and resurrection of Jesus is the final and full revelation of God's justice and mercy.  Faith is the way that an individual person receives the righteousness of God in Christ, and therefore not on the basis of law and merit.  The state of being righteous in the sight of God is radically a free gift of grace, never the result of human achievement.  Faith itself comes of the Spirit of God.  To say that faith is reckoned as righteousness apart from the works of the law underscores the absolute gratuitousness of God's generosity.  God gives what [God] demands, both the righteousness and the faith by which it is grasped.*

During worship on Sunday we will celebrate the rite of Affirmation of Baptism, in which 14 young people will affirm their baptisms.  

In the Lutheran doctrine of baptism, infants are not only regenerated.  They are simultaneously declared to be justified, and this, not because they believe, but in order that they may believe.  The pardon of God rests upon this child as the creative basis of its emerging faith.**

Justification, God's free gift of declaring us sinless and giving us new life in Christ, is a thing worth celebrating.  It is also something of which we need to be continually reminded, and Reformation Sunday is the perfect opportunity.

     It is the opportunity for us each to examine our own lives and contemplate how we have been re-formed in God's love and grace.  How has God's free gift of forgiveness and life changed you?  It is also a perfect opportunity to examine our lives and see if there is something that presently needs re-forming.  Perhaps you are struggling with a particular sin in your life - gossip, trusting in something other than God; perhaps you struggle with an addiction to pornography, alcohol, gambling; perhaps you are in need of healing from a past hurt and hold a bitterness in your heart.

     For Martin Luther, the reformation was not simply the posting of his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg.  It was a continual process by which the church examined its teachings, prayed for the Spirit's discernment, and then took courage to make changes where necessary.  We are still going through the reformation, albeit with a different outlook on our own faith and God's grace.

     So God has given you freedom - you don't have to do anything to receive it.  It just is. For me and for you and for the whole world, given through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The question is now, what will we do with this gift?  I am left pondering the mystery of how has this gift re-formed my life?  How is God re-forming me? 

*Braaten, Carl E.  Justification: The Article by which the Church Stands or Falls.  Augsburg Fortress: Minneapolis, 1990.  p 82

**p 34

Where do I find my glory?

     Finally! Our text for Sunday from Mark 10 is getting to be a little more reasonable.  Jesus isn't demanding impossible things of us, he isn't pointing out total and complete incongruities with our reality and God's will, and he doesn't make me squirm.  Finally, I get to say to those disciples, "Ha! How could you be so dense??"  Thinking that you have the audacity to ask for a seat at Jesus' side in glory.  If only you knew.
     I mean, really.  Don't you know that Jesus shows us glory doesn't come through being great but through the cross?  He's just told you  3 times that he'll be going to the cross to suffer and die.  And you get it wrong, AGAIN!  Everyone knows that God isn't shown in the beautiful, the powerful, and the strong.  Everyone knows that greatness is through service to others, from being in the background, from loving those who need it, selflessly giving to those who can't repay, accepting the topsy-turvy thinking that is God's kingdom.
     At this point, maybe you're the one saying, "Ha! How could you be so dense??"  Obviously we can say that we believe and know what I have just said, but living it and doing it is quite another.  Our culture practically worships greatness - professionals of all sorts get the glory.  Professional athletes, professional artists, the famous, the beautiful, the perfect.  Yet professionals who serve - teachers, custodians, nurses, administrators, parents, grandparents, those who make the coffee at the office - these people get very little glory, are often glossed over, and relegated to simply the people who make our society run.

Drum major from the Oklahoma Marching Band

     In doing some initial research for this text I came across a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is titled, "The Drum Major Instinct" and could very well have been written yesterday.  I have provided a link to both the audio (it's about 40 minutes) as well as the transcript, though I encourage you to take the 40 minutes to listen.  It is a beautiful sermon on greatness in our country, on what we do and what lengths we take to be associated with the great and glory in our society.  We all, deep down, want to be the drum major - the one out front in the spotlight, the one who controls the band, the one who gets the credit. 
     It is a human desire, and we are all like James and John, who want a piece of the sweet glory.  And Jesus grants us that glory - only the glory Jesus gives looks different than we expect.  It is a glory of service, a glory of NOT doing what society expects, a glory that comes only through suffering, rejection, and ultimately death.  Mr. King's sermon, along with our text for this week, have me wondering, where do I find my glory?

In what do I trust?

     Our text from Mark's gospel on Sunday is commonly known as the Rich Young Ruler however it is a bit of a misnomer.  You see, this is one of the stories found in all three synoptic gospels, or Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  The story is told slightly differently in all three, beginning with the rich, young, and ruler part.  It is only in Matthew's gospel that the man is identified as young.  It is only in Luke's gospel that the man is identified as a ruler.  The only detail about this man on which all three gospels agree is that he was rich.  
     Now it seems a bit strange in our reformation ears to think about the things that must be 'done' to inherit eternal life.  Yet that is the question.  And, rather than say something like, "Well you can't earn or inherit eternal life by doing anything," Jesus gives him a very straightforward answer: keep the commandments.
     Easy enough, right?  Well for this man, it was.  He was able to answer sincerely and, I believe honestly, that he had kept these commandments.  Again, it seems strange in our reformation ears that someone can keep the commandments.  But in the Jewish tradition then, and today, they believe that it is entirely possible to keep the commandments thereby living in the absolute shalom (peace, wholeness, and love) of God's salvation.  Notice that the disciples didn't balk at this response from the man.  Jesus himself didn't bat an eye.  It was seen as not only possible, but probable.  So, what then is this man really asking Jesus?
     I wonder if you hear, as I do, a sense of sorrow and disappointment in the man's response to Jesus, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth."  If he had kept the commandments, had followed the letter of the law, it would seem that the man would be happy and content living in eternal life with God.  But the very fact that he asked the question seems to imply that he was missing something, that keeping the commandments wasn't all it had cracked up to be.  Sure his life was good - he presumably had good relationships with his family, with his community, with his spouse, and those with whom he had business dealings - but it was missing something.
     Have you ever felt this same way?  Have you ever woken up and thought, "I have a pretty good life.  But there's something missing."  Jesus hears this unasked question and seeing the man kneeling at his feet, loves him, and tells him what that something is: complete trust in the God of the universe.
     Jesus sees that this man is happy, content, and yet simultaneously searching deep in his soul for something he can't quite name.  In his comfort with possessions, in his safety and security of knowing that he can provide all he needs, he is missing the point of all the commandments: relationship with God.

     We often suffer the same fate as this man.  Our possessions starve us from relationship with God, the one from whom all of our possessions come in the first place.  We find security in our home, our job, our closet where we know we have clothes.  We find happiness in a well-stocked pantry, comfy sofas, and heated, energy-efficient living rooms.  We find all we need in our stuff.  You want to know something?  Hop online and do a short research project.  You want to get better at something?  Spend the money to get a tutor, buy the equipment needed, and the memberships needed to practice.  You want to look better?  Go to the store, buy some new clothes, new makeup, or a new car.  All we need.  Right at our fingertips.

     Except all too soon we end up like this rich man.  We have what we want and need, except we are still not happy.  Our possessions don't offer relationship with us.  Your house won't give you a comforting hug when you're having a bad day.  Your closet won't give you solace when you find you don't have a job to which to wear your clothes.  Your pantry won't give you unending love when its shelves become empty.  So what is Jesus' solution?  

Sell all that you have and give it to the poor.

     Again, easy enough, right?  Or...wait...what?  Sell ALL that I have?  Excuse me Jesus?  Surely you can't mean ALL?!?  And thankfully I feel justified in my reaction because the disciples had the same reaction (although knowing the track record of these people who deserted Jesus in his deepest hour of need, it doesn't give me too much solace).  Surely there must be some lesson Jesus is trying to teach and he can't mean everything.
     Well, perhaps to appease my own conscience, I do tend to think Jesus is using hyperbole here.  But his point is made: we trust in our stuff way more than we trust in God.  And in his attempt to help this man see that eternal life can come only through 100% complete and full trust in God, he tells him what that might look like.
     How much to you rely on your stuff?  How much do you trust that your stuff will be there for you?  That your car will always start and run like it should?  That your stockings will stay run-free?  That your pantry will satisfy all your cravings?
     God cares very much about your welfare, and God cares very much that you trust God for all things.  Which is why Jesus talked so much about giving and money.  God cares what you do with your money because your checkbook is as much a statement of faith as the words you say and the deeds you do.  Where your money goes tells a lot about your faith.  What you give to others, your offerings and your gifts, says a lot about your faith.
     Our money has on it, "In God we trust."  So, with this text and with this saying, I am left to ponder the mystery, In what do i trust?

You want me to pay attention?

     I'm not sure why each week I am surprised that the lessons are in some way abrasive, or that they are controversial, potentially offensive to some.  But I still am.  So you won't be surprised when I say that this week's lessons are abrasive, controversial, and potentially offensive.  Jesus teaches on marriage and divorce from Mark 10, we hear from Genesis about the time in creation when God created people and marriage (and about the 'first sin'), and then this seemingly unrelated passage from Hebrews where the writer goes into a section on Christ's divinity and humanity.

photo from weddinginvitationideasblog.com

     In the Mark lesson, and from what we know of commonly quoted Biblical values (which, believe me, isn't all people think it might be), we know that the Bible teaches divorce is wrong and that whoever remarries after being divorced is committing adultery.  And this abrasive.  Offensive.  Particularly if you yourself are divorced and remarried.  So what are we to do?  In a culture where some 40% of the population has been divorced, this seems as if it could be one of those 'stumbling blocks' Jesus talked about last week.  This teaching is indeed something that might get in the way of people hearing the message of God's love and forgiveness.
     So perhaps we can gain some insight as to what Jesus means by starting with the reading from Genesis.  God is creating the world, and has created the first human being.  This human (human, not 'man' because the Hebrew words are different at this point) needs a partner so God begins experimenting.  Animals of all sorts are brought before this human who rejects them all.  So God does something drastic.  God creates the second human being, and it is at this point that we have the distinction of male and female.  And they are a perfect pair - complementing, partnering, and living together in perfect relationship, with God at the center.
     And then they separate.  Not divorce, but separate: from God and each other.  Their own needs, desires, and wishes have gotten in the way and caused a rift.  You don't have to have been divorced to know that this happens in all relationships.  Broken relationships between God and others is, unfortunately, the way of life for us human beings.
     So, it is as Jesus says, that Moses allowed for divorces.  However, this was not as God intended.  What God intended was right relationship.  And, sometimes, because relationships can be so badly damaged, the way to right relationship is through divorce.  As much as God doesn't intend for divorce, God also doesn't intend for people to remain in abusive, harmful, or toxic marriages. 
     Which is why it is important to note our last reading from Hebrews where it says,

Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, 

so that we do not drift away from it.

What we have heard is the message of God's desire for right relationship, wholeness, reconciliation, and forgiveness.  In any relationship, not just marriage, sometimes wholeness, reconciliation, and forgiveness can come only through a parting.  Sometimes the wholeness, reconciliation, and forgiveness comes through a new relationship, or new marriage. 
     And, if we focus on God's reconciliation, forgiveness, and right relationship with us, it becomes all the more easy to focus on these things in our relationships with others.  Paying attention to God's unending, unconditional love for us allows us to view others in the same lens.  Once again, it is looking first at ourselves, then at the other.  Because, unless we are narcissistic (which I admit I can sometimes be), we see that we are no more perfect than the next, and that if God can love and heal me, surely God can love and heal others, and God can heal our relationships. 
     Thinking about marriage and relationships in this light, I wonder to what I am supposed to pay greater attention.  How do I let my own wishes, desires, and needs get in the way of my relationship with others? 
    What follows is a hymn by Fred Kaan, God When Human Bonds Are Broken, that I believe helps us to ponder these words:
God, when human bonds are broken
and we lack the love or skill
to restore the hope of healing,
give us grace and make us still.

Through that stillness, with your Spirit
come into our world of stress,
for the sake of Christ forgiving
all the failure we confess.

You in us are bruised and broken:
hear us as we seek release
from the pain of earlier living;
set us free and grant us peace.

Send us, God of new beginnings,
humbly hopeful into life.
Use us as a means of blessing:
make us stronger, give us faith.

Give us faith to be more faithful,
give us hope to be more true,
give us love to go on learning:
God, encourage and renew!