For all the saints?

In the church calendar October 31 was traditionally All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day on November 1. It was a time for remembering the dead, both the saints and martyrs (”the hallowed” or holy ones)and loved ones who had died. It may have been timed to coincide with an older pagan festival which marked the onset of winter, although originally All Saints day was in May.

Many ancient cultures believed that on one day of the year the souls of the dead visit this world. Food and drink would be provided to welcome these visitors. Others believed that the unhappy souls of those who had died wandered the earth, or that evil spirits might try to gate-crash the party, so rituals were devised, such as wearing costumes and masks, to ward them off.

In Europe in the Middle Ages, children would go door to door collecting specially baked “soul cakes” in exchange for saying prayers for the dead. During the Reformation the idea of praying for dead souls was dismissed along with the concept of purgatory, but that did little to dampen popular enthusiasm for ancient practices. In England in the 1960’s, “mummers” with blackened faces still came to the door offering to drive evil spirits from the house by humming, for a small donation. Trick or treat is nothing new!

Many Christians see Halloween as a pagan festival that has more to do with Satan than with Christ. Others reject the commercialism or are concerned about the safety of children, physically or spiritually. But how might we find creative ways to remember and reflect on the lives of those who went before us? Rather than condemning our neighbours for their fascination with death, how might we demonstrate in a positive way that Christ has overcome death and Satan?

Blinded by prejudice

But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
 (Deuteronomy 29:4)

Two sorts of people never change their mind - those suffering from delusions caused by mental illness, and the prejudiced. Mental illness can often be treated, but prejudice has no treatment. 

A person whose mind is open to the truth may have very strongly held beliefs based on false information, but once they have better information, they are willing to change their beliefs. No amount of new information will change the mind of the prejudiced because they have already “prejudged” whatever they see and hear.

Perhaps this is what scripture is describing when it speaks of God ‘hardening the heart’ of Pharaoh (Exodus 7.3), or blinding the eyes and shutting the ears of those who have rejected the truth (Isaiah 6:10, John 12:38). To us that may sound unfair. Doesn’t God want people to change their minds? Yes, he does.

Their unbelief is not caused by God, that is their own choice. But once someone has made up their minds not to see or hear anything that contradicts what they believe, only God can change that. Nothing else will. God doesn’t literally close their minds, but only he can soften their hearts and open their eyes and ears. In a sense, it becomes his choice.

This has implications for evangelism. When we share the gospel, we also need to pray that God will open our listener’s ears and eyes and hearts. But it also has implications for ourselves. None of us is free of prejudice of some kind. We need to pray that God would show us where we are blind and deaf to the truth, and that he would heal us. 

Blinded by envy

Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.(John 11:57)

Mark’s gospel tells us that it was out of envy that the religious leaders sought to have Jesus arrested and executed. But what was the cause of their envy?

Perhaps it was that Jesus related freely to God and called him Father, while they were forever anxious about their own righteousness. Jesus spoke with authority, while they could only quote the authority of others. Jesus miraculously fed the hungry, healed the sick and cast out demons, while they, unable to deny that the miracles had taken place, could do no such miracles themselves.

So out of envy they accused him of blasphemy and demanded that he produce witnesses to testify to what he was saying.They accused him of breaking the Sabbath and of using the power of the devil to heal. Envious of his popularity with the crowds, they accused him of consorting with sinners.Their envy not only blinded them to who Jesus was, it blinded them to their own envious attitude towards him.

Envy is like that. It hides itself and blinds us to the bitter attitudes and destructive actions it produces in us.  Unlike coveting, which says simply “I want what you have”,  envy says “I want what you have, and I don’t want you to have it.” At heart envy says “I must have no rivals”. But only God truly has no rival. Envy sets us up against God as well as against other people.

If we frequently find ourselves being critical and judgmental, or find it difficult to rejoice when others succeed, or constantly feel that life isn’t fair, it may be that envy is the underlying cause. Once we recognise and admit that we have a problem with envy, God can start to heal us and teach us it’s antidote, contentment.

Seeing comes from obedience

“The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” John 9:11

Model of old Jerusalem.
Original image by Berthold Werner

The blind man had never seen Jesus. He had only heard him speaking and felt his hands touching his face. But something about Jesus, his willingness to touch a blind beggar, his voice and the way he spoke, made the man willing to do as Jesus told him. Even though it meant leaving his begging bowl and stumbling, still blind, to the pool several streets away, he got up and went to Siloam to wash. And he came back seeing.

Later the man described himself to the Pharisees as a disciple of Jesus, (9:27) though at that stage he was still uncertain about who Jesus was. When Jesus met him again and told him the truth, he instantly recognised Jesus, and fell down in worship. Not only had his physical sight been restored, but his spiritual eyes had been opened.

Not long before this, Jesus had told the Pharisees, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32). In other words, obedience comes before knowing and demonstrates discipleship. Such obedience requires trust in the person of Jesus before we have seen the truth of what he is telling us. The Pharisees refused to trust Jesus. The blind man trusted and through his obedience came to the truth.

To be a disciple of Jesus doesn’t require that we have all the facts about him, or understand every theological proposition about him. We only need to trust him because of what we do know and be willing to do what he tells us. Such trust and obedience will lead us to the truth.