All Hallows' Eve (Page 2)

Dear Faith Lutheran Church and School,

Within our culture, October 31 is widely known as Halloween. Most of our culture recognizes this as a day for dressing up to “trick-or-treat.” Many celebrate (or lament) the association this day has with death and horror. But very few recognize the origins of this holiday.

The name, “Halloween,” is a shortening of the original name, “All Hallows’ Eve.” Halloween is, properly speaking, the evening before “All Hallows’ Day,” which we know as “All Saints’ Day.” Since at least the 4th century A.D., the church has set aside a day to celebrate all the saints who have died confessing Christ, with a particular focus on the martyrs. This association with martyrdom is likely one of the reasons Halloween has also become associated with death.

In modern times, churches that celebrate All Saints’ Day commemorate the faithful Christians who have died during the previous year. This coming Sunday, we will do so at Faith, with the recitation of the names of members and friends of the congregation who have died confessing the one true faith.

All Hallows’ Eve has another important association for Lutheran Christians. Martin Luther chose the Eve of All Saints’ Day in 1517 to nail his 95 Theses to the door of the Church in Wittenberg. His Theses condemned the practice of selling indulgences and declared that the pope and the clergy had no right to sell forgiveness when God bestows it for free on all those who trust in Christ and His cross.

Luther’s choice of All Hallows’ Eve was probably a practical one. A large number of people would come to church on the festival day and see his Theses. But there’s also an apparent theological connection. The celebration of All Saints’ Day is a celebration of the hope that God’s people have. For the sake of Christ’s holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death, our destiny is no longer death and hell, but life in the Kingdom of heaven. This sure hope is based not on our own merit or worthiness, but on the merit and worthiness of Christ alone. In Him we hope and in Him our future is secure.

But the sale of indulgences attacked this promise and the hope of God’s people. Those who sold forgiveness trampled underfoot the merit and worthiness of Christ crucified for sinners. The treasure of the Gospel was treated with shameful disdain. And in the process, the peace and confidence of faith, which we celebrate on All Saints’ Day, was replaced with doubt and uncertainty.

For this reason, All Hallows’ Eve was the perfect time for Luther’s 95 Theses. Not only was it a call for a restoration of the pure Gospel, but it was also a restoration of our Christian hope. And this restoration of hope means that we can remember our Christian family and friends with joy, trusting that they are truly resting in the peace of Christ, rather than suffering in purgatory. And we can be confident that our destiny as Christians is the same.

For beyond this valley of death’s dark shadow, there is hope, rest and peace for all the saints. And meanwhile we celebrate the communion of the saints. We trust that all of God’s people, living and dead, are truly members of Christ and share in the fellowship of the saints in His timeless and Holy Christian Church. Amen.