Fright Night!

 

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:15-18 ESV).

 

You may have heard me say that I enjoy some of the “supernatural” movies and series. They typically involve vampires, werewolves, witches, and other fictional characters. I am not a fan of the horror genre. Just doesn’t appeal to me. I have through the years made my way to various haunted houses. In fact, there was a time years ago when I was a fledgling Student Minister at Tyler Junior College that I used our two story building as the base for such a “house.” With lots of help from the student council and other volunteers we turned the interior into quite a display of “horror.” It drew countless college students to make their way through the spooky graveyard and frightening passageways. While they were there we also distributed gospel messages and shared the message of hope and freedom in Christ.

 

While most people associate Halloween with fear—fear of death, fear of dying, fear of evil. But when we come to know the true power and trustworthiness of God, many of the fears we have in life melt away. Fear, however, is a natural and good feeling. Without fear we would make many stupid mistakes, hurting ourselves and others in the process. Without fear, we would not have enough wisdom to flee when true dangers present themselves.

 

One of the ways people deal with their fears is by making fun of the fear itself. That, in fact, is part of the origin of Halloween, which means "all hallows eve." People were naturally afraid of death and dying, and so they decided to face their greatest fear by poking fun at death. In our reading today, we are told that perfected love drives out fear. That is to say, when we become certain of God's love, we don't have to be afraid anymore. It's as if God is the parent who comes in at night and tucks us in, turns on the night light, and tells us that there are no monsters. In God's great love, all fear melts away.

 

We can remove our fears by serving others. When we abandon our lives in service, we often discover that our fears lessen as our friendship and love deepens. As you and I think about our fears now, I hope that we will see that just as God has protected and redeemed those who have come before us, God will protect and redeem us, too. Even from death itself! Happy Halloween! We can celebrate even tonight through Christ!