95 Theses or Reese’s Pieces (or When Narratives Collide)

October 31, 1517.

The young monk scurried across the courtyard with his fine tuned list of grievances rolled up in his hand. By the time his list was completed, he had 95 points of contention where he thought church practice had strayed from biblical teaching. In his other hand he carried a crude hammer and a pair of nails. He made a bee line for the weathered wooden doors of the church in his current home of Wittenberg. He was nervous, but he had a burning passion that swallowed his trepidation.

It was dusk, and the shadows were long and cold. He skimmed up the few steps and unfurled his scroll. He secured the writing on the door with a nail on the top and bottom.

Inside one of the senior Fathers of the church heard the pounding. Somewhat annoyed, he went to the door carrying a sackcloth holding molasses candies the monks had made for their upcoming All Saints Day bingo party. "Who's there?", he asked loudly. "It is I, brother Martin." , replied the young monk.

"What do you want?". "Nothing. I am only posting these theses on the door for future discussions," replied Martin. "Let me take a look at them," said Martin's superior. He opened the door and looked at his posting. "Holy cow. There must be about 100 points."  "Actually, there are 95.", replied Martin, blushing a little.

The senior Father quickly scanned the list and got a troubled look on his face. He sensed that the 95 theses would cause much trouble. "What is this? Some sort of trick?", he demanded. Martin retorted, "I think it's a treat for the church." The superior countered, "I think it is a trick." Martin entrenched, "No. It's a treat."

"Trick!" said the superior.

"Treat!" said Martin.

"Trick!"

"Treat!"

"Trick!"

"Treat!"

"Trick!"

"Well, trick or treat I am posting them," Martin insisted.

"Get off this stoop," insisted the superior.

"No!" said Martin. "Here I stand. I can do no other."

"Here. I'll give you this candy to take down your stupid theses and go away," offered the superior.

Just then the superior's iphone buzzed. The Pope was calling. He quickly shoved the candy into Martin's hands and slammed the door shut. Martin reached in the bag and took a bite of one of the candies. "Ach!!!" (German which ruffly translates to "dang") Martin bemoaned. "I wanted a Mallow Cup.".

And so Halloween was born.....or maybe not. I seem to have mixed the story of the Reformation with another story.

Sometimes stories collide and sound weird. However, after a time one story dominates and only elements of the other remain, and we get used to a story that once seemed weird.

I bring this up because our city departed from historical practice and did not see the need to move trick-or-treating back to Saturday . This move merely extends a growing trend of the Christian narrative being edged out of our daily cultural story.

Halloween goes back to ancient Celtic rituals.  On October 31, their new years eve, the division between the dead and the living thinned allowing dead spirits to roam the earth. People wore costumes to trick the dead and left treats out to pacify spirits or people with ill intent. This thinning of the division between the living and dead  is something satanists, witches and pagan practitioners of Wicca still recognize and celebrate today.

The medieval church, in an effort to convert pagans, instituted All Saints Day on November 1, to supplant a pagan practice but still provide a celebration. However, these Halloween practices, though  greatly diminished, did not disappear altogether.

In the last fifty years, the holiday has experienced a resurgence of popularity in our country. Marketers have made it the second biggest money making holiday behind Christmas. The primary products sold are candy for the youth and alcohol for the adults.

To most, the pagan connections are gone, and it's just a holiday of cuteness,  sentiment for families, and a reason for theme based adult parties. Despite the lack of pagan worship practices, many elements of ancient Celtic and modern pagan beliefs still abound. Stores are plastered with skeletons, ghosts, witches and other things from the world of the dead. Homes are adorned with dummies hanging from trees, tombstones, and other macabre adornments. Some  kids even dress as witches, zombies, and  vampires (though vampires have supposedly been redeemed by the Twilight books). For most it's all in fun and not taken seriously.

One usually unasked question though is, if we can look at evil things as fake and trivial and even cute, how much do we really believe in the entire spiritual realm? If I discount fake witches as harmless or funny, might this point to an inability to understand that there are real witches today who worship the earth and false spirits? Or even if I am uncomfortable with the evil parts but I participate in a non-evil manner, could an uncritical embracing of Halloween allow a godless or god dishonoring narrative to dominate our culture? When competing narratives collide, only one will prevail. I think in my town and most others a secular or pseudo-pagan narrative is winning.

If you haven't figured out yet, my family chooses not to participate in Halloween. Instead we celebrate Reformation Day, which is the day Martin Luther made public his 95 theses in the city of Wittenberg, Germany and launched the protestant reformation. We watch the movie Luther, talk about its significance, and go out to do something fun as a family.

We don't look down on people who trick-or-treat or think we are more spiritual. We don't egg trick-or-treaters. We aren't, as one co-worker labeled me, Halloween Nazis (an odd label in that Hitler's fascination with the occult would endear Nazis to Halloween). We have chosen to emphasize an important part of the Christian story instead. The monumental events that were set into motion on October 31 by Martin Luther were world changing. The world was freed from a destructive worldview that enslaved Christians in false views of God, the world, and themselves.

My intent is not to cause guilt, end trick-or-treating, or stamp out kids dressed as ladybugs. My intent is to reinvigorate our realization and observance of one of the most powerful world changing events of the last 2000 years. There is not space here to go into the enormous implications of Luther's courage. I recommend reading Abraham Kuyper's Stone Lectures for a introduction to the scope of the reformational biblical worldview.

Christ-followers must work hard, often against the broader culture, to assert the Christian story in the midst of lesser, or even evil and destructive stories whether we celebrate Halloween or not.

What about Christmas and its pagan elements like the Christmas tree and the great conditional giver Santa? I suppose you want to dump Christmas too? ( I've heard this too many times to count) Christmas, unlike Halloween, largely succeeded in establishing a decidedly Christian story. The pagan elements have been totally removed from their original story. Unfortunately, Christmas has been largely taken captive by the godless and increasingly anti-Christian story of consumerism and empty sentimentality and deserves a reformation of its own.  Each of the holidays has its own battle, but one should not assert that taking a pass on Halloween while still celebrating Christmas is inconsistent.

Consider what story you want to be most prominent. Make your choice.  95 theses or Reese's Pieces.

I'm with Luther. Here I stand. I can do no other.