31 Oct Happy day before All Saints’ Day!
Happy Halloween Y’all!
Let’s talk about that for a minute…
“Halloween” is how modern English language has translated the church recognition of “All Hallows Evening,” the day before All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’ Day is the day in the church calendar when we as the people of God remember with thanksgiving those saints from among us who have died in the past year & now live in eternal blessedness, righteousness & peace…and joy & glory and all the other blessings we’re assured are ours in Christ. In the Roman Catholic tradition, & some Orthodox traditions, it was also used to celebrate the ancient “saints” of the church…but for Lutherans, we remember the lives & witness of our co-workers in the gospel who now rest from their labours.
It is true, “hallowe’en” has some pagan roots & Christians are good to be careful about our recognition of the day. But Luther, in anticipation of celebrating the triumph of the resurrection in the lives of Christ’s people on All Saints’ Day, suggested that All Hallows Eve was a perfect time to mock the devil for his defeat…Luther used the graphic bawdy language of spit in his eye & pass wind in his face. He also encouraged feasting and sober revelry. I’ll leave your celebrations up to you, with the simple reminder that we’ll note All Saints’ Day on Sunday the 5th of November & the reminder to really spend some time over the rest of this week thanking God both for the saints in your life who now live beyond the reach of death & decay and for those who serve alongside you still until we are all called to eternal joy.
Speaking of Sunday, 5th November…Giving Beyond Ourselves for Red Frogs AND Morning Tea…
So…please be generous as always & bring something to share, grab a cuppa & a plate & hang around for a while.
AND This Friday – Zoom Bible Study Catch-up
3rd November 2023 @ 1:00 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83586782734 — Meeting ID: 835 8678 2734
AND Saturday 4th November is our regularly scheduled Prayer Morning
85 Red Hill Rd @ 10:00 a.m. – please join us!
My conversations over the past month have seemed to gravitate around the current state of distress & conflict in our world. No surprise there really…I tend to keep saying the same thing: We now face a circumstance where we are forced to admit that our growing reliance on political solutions to human problems is destined to come up short. Psalm 146:3 – “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; (in princes) there is no help for you there.” This has always been true. The effectiveness of God-established human “governing authorities” is always limited by human sinfulness, human incompetence & human self-interest. If our first response to a perceived social ill is “The government ought to do something.” We’re off on the wrong foot altogether & headed for a multiplied disaster.
So…what’s the answer? You know this…devoted prayer for this world & it’s people AND bold witness to the risen Jesus as his power now lives in you. When God’s people fail at their assigned work the world suffers. From Jeremiah 23 vss 15 & 22 – “It is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness has filled the land…If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds.” When God’s people, who have been entrusted with God’s word fail to speak that word faithfully & confidently, “wickedness fills the land.” But when we are attentive before God to receive his word & forthright before the world, people are called & compelled to “turn from their evil ways & deeds.”
Now we know what the rest of this week is to be spent on…
God be with you as you do so.
John
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