He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” [Luke 20:38]
God of the Living not the Dead
As I write this, I am awaiting the onslaught of young children, all dressed in costumes, from Superman, to Dracula, Princess Ariel to a dragon. It is Halloween, or the Day of the Dead in other cultures, or as it was centuries ago, All Souls Day Eve (all Hallows-een). Each originally paid respect to departed ancestors as well as to the souls of loved ones who died over the past year.
As I write this, I am awaiting the onslaught of young children, all dressed in costumes, from Superman, to Dracula, Princess Ariel to a dragon. It is Halloween, or the Day of the Dead in other cultures, or as it was centuries ago, All Souls Day Eve (all Hallows-een). Each originally paid respect to departed ancestors as well as to the souls of loved ones who died over the past year.
This time of year,
when the seasons change, darkness becomes much more of our norm and the world
around us is filled with signs of death in leafless trees, dying plants and
bitter cold, become reminders of our own mortality. These holidays were each
attempts to acknowledge and pay respect to the dead before us and were our tip
of the hat to our death, whenever that may come.
In the Gospel of Luke,
we read of the prophet and law giver Moses, encountering God in a burning bush
that is not consumed by the fire. But Luke makes a grammatical observation,
that the God of Moses, as well as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in not the God of
the dead, but instead, the God of the LIVING. In it he notes that the text
says, “I AM” the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not I was the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. All of these saints of God are still alive with Him.
This gives us
great hope as we can anticipate, not an eternity of darkness and gloom,
illumined only by our fears, but in God, an eternity of light, hope, laughter,
love, peace, and joy. God tells us in His revelation to the Apostle John that
there will be a new heaven and a new earth that will recover the perfected
glory of the original creation.
Halloween in eternity
will become an unnecessary and unwelcomed holiday as we will see no more dying,
no more tears, no more illness, no more darkness, no more fear. We will face
the future with hope and love and will walk with God in person, not merely in
memory.
Halloween, Day of
the Dead, All Saints Day, All Souls day, until redemption comes, will remind us
of our own mortality and honor those who have gone before us, but when God
brings about His new creation, we will no longer have any need of these
holidays. So I hope you enjoyed the night of ghosts and goblins, super heroes
and super villains and the sweet treats that the night brings. But I also hope
that you will look for the new life to come in the God of the living, not the
dead.
Rev. Michael
VandenBerg
Pastor, HOPE
Church @ the YMCA
October 30, 2016
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