What do zombies, hanging skeletons and vampires have in common?
They're all dead. Halloween is upon us and if I didn't know any better, I would think that I live in the local cemetery. Our neighborhood is filled with kids, young and old alike, and for some reason mock gravestones, hanging skeletons, grim reapers and the creepiest, bloodiest things you can find are what they want to set out for Halloween. It's cool, mom.
The funny thing is most of them would probably pee their pants if they were to come across zombies, hanging skeletons or vampires. Zombies would eat them, hanging skeletons would warn them that something bad is going on in the neighborhood, and a vampire would suck the blood clear out of them until they were dead. No more children.
Morbid, right? Yes, it is Halloween after all.
I was reading Ephesians chapter two and came across the verses, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."
Hmmm... how fitting.
Perhaps there is a way to use all of this "scary stuff" to talk about death. We all know what it means to be dead physically. But to take it a bit deeper, what does it mean to be dead spiritually?
Hmmm... how fitting.
Perhaps there is a way to use all of this "scary stuff" to talk about death. We all know what it means to be dead physically. But to take it a bit deeper, what does it mean to be dead spiritually?
Well, since it is Halloween, I have paraphrased the verse above, Ephesians 2:1-2, using pop culture references. Fitting into the genre of horror and the most recent craze of zombies and vampires it is a metaphor about being dead in your sins and transgressions.
I was a zombie, following a ruler, a spirit who is at work in those who are wreaking havoc and mischief. I was the walking dead, searching to satisfy my craving for flesh, following the ways of zombieland. Those ways did nothing to give me life. In fact, just as a vampire sucks all the blood out of its victim, so did the world around me, making me even more of a zombie. Everything about that world, it's smell, the way it looked, even its voice seduced me. I craved everything that was separate from God, following my primal nature, putting all my needs above anyone else's. I devoured and destroyed anything that stood in my way in order to feed my craving for flesh. By my nature as the walking dead, I was doomed to return to the grave.
That is definitely a gruesome and ugly picture. But thankfully, there is good news.
But because of his great love for me, God, who is rich in mercy, made me alive with Christ even when I was the walking dead -- it is by his voluntary and loving favor, his merciful and loving character that I was saved from being a zombie forever. I was brought back to life. I was born again.
Halloween is a holiday where we are encouraged to celebrate the sinister, mock death, and act a bit devilish. As I walk around this weekend and look at all the creepy images of blood and death, the "scary stuff," I pray that our hearts might be encouraged by the promise in Isaiah. One day, the Lord Almighty is going to swallow up death forever.
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and he will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" (Revelation 21:3-4)
O death where is thy sting?
