Today is Halloween, 2024. It’s October 31st and sometimes today is referred to as All Hallow’s Eve. It is the day before November 1st, known in some parts of the world as All Saint’s Day. This day is to remember the saints and martyrs who have died during Christian history. The following day, November 2nd, is called All Soul’s Day. Rituals and observances for these two days differ from place to place but usually, at least in the United States, local churches celebrate and pray for those members of the congregation who have died during the past year. I have written about these celebrations several times throughout the years, but today, I want to focus on Halloween Day itself…
This morning, as I do each Thursday morning, I was getting ready to teach the Soul Sisters at ZPC, the church we attend. We are studying the book of John and each week I spend 45 minutes discussing the highlights of the lesson for the week. This morning, prior to starting my discussion, I was distracted by the activity in our central gathering space. The church also hosts a day care school and this morning, it was clear that the youngsters were excited about dressing up and moving from room to room to trick or treat. Something almost magical struck me as I watched them. They dressed up in all sorts of costumes and were so eager to follow their teachers. Some of these children were only several years old and it was absolutely thrilling to see them so excited about their time together this morning.
In fact, I couldn’t help but remember when Mom used to sew costumes for Doug and me when we attended elementary school. In fact, I recently ran across a picture of us in our Indian costumes, complete with full headdresses that Mom had worked on with us while we were in Cub Scouts. How simple life was back then – the age of innocence.
Each year, we enjoy handing out candy to those who trick or treat in our neighborhood. While it is fun to do, it didn’t compare to the mood at church this morning. There was something absolutely innocent about these VERY young kids blindly following their leaders around the church, holding hands and laughing together. In fact, it was one of the few times that I clearly had a front row seat to witness what Jesus must have felt when He commanded the people to let the children come to Him.
Our verse for tonight comes from the Gospel of Matthew, the former tax collector. In this first Gospel, Matthew conveys the words of Jesus to us in Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” What a great verse to study – having the faith and innocence of a child…
My encouragement this evening is that we should always stop and appreciate the innocent, childlike behavior of our youngest people. My prayer is that we will pour ourselves into this youngest generation and help them attain the kind of eternal peace that only comes from an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. Happy Halloween and have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…