Reformation & Christian Halloween

*Be sure to check out the family activity you can do together at the end.

Halloween today can take many shapes and forms, your family may celebrate in a very different way than your neighbors do. While some people use the holiday as an opportunity for thrills and scares, others simply want to dress up their toddler and gather those full size chocolate bars. Maybe we should stop and ask, how did this all get started?

In the early church, Christians would celebrate the anniversary of a martyr’s death with an all-night vigil and celebration over their tomb or the place of the execution. The list, though, of those who had suffered and died for the love of their Savior was too long for individual days of remembrance. In A.D. 610, the church dedicated May 13 as All Saint’s Day. This holiday was added to the list of holy days already being celebrated, such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. May 13, also known as All Hallows, was celebrated for over one hundred years.

In A.D. 741, All Hallows, or All Saints’ Day, found a new home on the calendar. A pagan festival held on November 1 known as Samhain was causing great concern. Dating back to the Celts and Druids, this pagan festival was beginning to have an influence even within the Christian community.

To counteract this, the church turned to a previously successful strategy of claiming the date as their own. (The celebration of Jesus’ birth was assigned December 25 because that was the date pagans were celebrating the winter solstice.) This time, Samhain, the pagan festival of death, was replaced with All Saints’ Day.

Borrowing from the Jewish tradition of preparing for significant festivals, the Christian church reserved the day before the religious festival as a sacred time. October 31 was then set aside as an evening of preparation called “All Hallow’een” or “the eve of the holy ones.” This over time has become our modern day Halloween.

The question remains, is it ok to celebrate Halloween? 

The Bible does not tell us if we should or should not celebrate Halloween, however, Matthew 5:16 says “ 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Halloween is an opportunity for us to shine Christ’s light to others, in how we dress, the activities we choose to participate in and even how we decorate. If your family decides to stay home and have a family night away from the traditions of Halloween, explain why to your children and enjoy it! If your family decides to get dressed up and go trick or treating, enjoy it! Just leave the scary mask behind.

Activity Time:

Use the instructions below or Click on this link to enjoy a fun family activity to do together while carving your pumpkins!

Pumpkin Parable

Teaching Goal:  Teach the Gospel. All have sinned, but when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, He takes the sin away. Jesus then lives inside of us and shines out to others through our lives.

Scriptures:

• Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
• Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.
• John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
• Philippians 2:12 Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
• Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.
• 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
• John 5:25 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

Materials:

• Pumpkins
• Carving tools
• Paper
• Tape and markers
• Candle

• Words written in bold are when the parent or leader is speaking. Feel free to use your own words.

ACTIVITY: (Tell this story while holding and carving a pumpkin.) In the Bible, God tells us that every person except one has sinned. We have all done things to make Jesus sad such as saying bad words, hitting others, or disobeying. Every mommy, daddy, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandma, and grandpa has sinned; everyone you know has sinned. Jesus is the only one without sin. No lies, no hating others, no punching, no whining, no bad words. The Bible says that when we welcome Jesus into our lives, He will take our sin away.

Cut the top out of the pumpkin and let the kids see inside. What is inside the pumpkin? Seeds, pulp, sticky stuff. How does the stuff feel inside? Let each person feel the pumpkin’s insides. Yucky, icky. The pumpkin represents you or me. The hole we cut in the top represents our heart being open. In the Bible, Jesus says that He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. If we hear His knock and open the door, then He will come in. Our hand represents Jesus coming into our hearts to clean out the sin. The seeds and pulp represent the sin that Jesus removes.

Tell the rest of the story while you work together to clean out the pumpkin. When we believe in Jesus and commit our lives to Him, then He comes into our lives and starts to take out the yucky stuff in our lives – just like we are taking the yucky stuff out of this pumpkin.  When the sin has been removed from our lives, then others will begin to see Jesus in the way we live.

To take the yucky stuff out of our lives, Jesus had to die on the cross. He was crucified to take away our sins–yucky stuff–but remember; three days later He came back to life. Cut a cross into the pumpkin. You can add slits to represent rays coming from the center of the cross that will allow more light to shine through. Others will see Jesus in you! Place a candle in the pumpkin and light it. The candle represents Jesus inside our hearts, shining out for others to see. Let’s live so that others will see the light of Jesus in the things we do, the things we say and the way we treat each other.

Tips: It is recommended to have one adult per younger child. The adult needs to control the use of the carving knives. There are special pumpkin carving knives, which make it easier to cut out faces, words, etc. Draw on a piece of paper the symbol or words you want to put on the pumpkin. Tape the paper to the pumpkin, and punch holes along the lines of your drawing. When you remove the paper, you can cut out the symbol by connecting the punched holes with a knife.

Choose one of the above verses to memorize together.

Close in prayer together.

Jesus takes away our sin, help us to live so others see Him. Amen.