We love celebrating holidays in our family, it’s a great time to get together and enjoy each other, but also to point to our Savior.
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.
-John 10:22-23
I am aware that many people want to decry Halloween as something that a Christian should not participate in, and I understand the sentiment, but I would rather redeem national secular holidays for the Lord.
See, Jesus lived at a time when there were national secular holidays too. The best known of which is Hanukkah. This “Feast of Dedication” (as it is known in the NT) was not from the Scriptures, but commemorated the time when the Maccabees overthrew those who had been in control of God’s temple. These folks who dedicated the temple are in the line of the Sadducees who had control of the temple when Jesus walked the earth. So, this was the “holiday” instituted by the corrupt temple leadership who did not believe in the spiritual world and denied the resurrection.
Yet, as we see in John 10, Jesus participated in this national secular holiday. The fact that this holiday was started by a corrupt and broken culture did not stop Jesus from joining in and bringing His own message to the table.
It is not evil to participate in community events and to enjoy holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, and especially not Christmas and Easter.
Obviously we celebrate things differently, as with everything else. We bring a different perspective because we use these days as an opportunity to worship Jesus our Lord and God.
We don’t dress as ghosts and goblins, but we celebrate the gift of the gospel we can receive like “trick or treat” and choose an eternity separated from God or living with Him forever. We also can go and spread the good news with our neighbors. When we give thanks, it is to Jesus for all that he has done and will do. We celebrate the freedom we have in Christ from the law that no man could keep. Obviously, we celebrate the One who is God With Us at Christmas and His resurrection at Easter (not just buying gifts and the easter bunny).
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
-Rom 14:5-6
It’s not the days themselves that are holy or profane, it is the meaning that you pour into them. Redeem everything that you are given. The Believer’s whole life, his circumstances, his possessions, his time, everything should be saturated with the gospel. Just as Paul did at the Areopagus, use what your community’s culture hands you as a springboard for sharing Jesus.
Have a great Thanksgiving 🙂
