The fall season is probably my favorite time of the year. The cooling down of temperatures, the changing of the leaves, the wearing of sweatshirts, the eating of homemade donuts (and, of course, good coffee) and, also, on the negative side (for me); Halloween.
If the "celebration" of Halloween disappeared, I would not shed a tear. While we don't have the space to develop it here, Halloween is loosely connected to the earliest of pagan holidays and focuses on death, fear, and (in America) gore. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood here. I am not “anti-Halloween” completely as we celebrate it in the states either. My children have always gone “trick-or-treating” with an emphasis on fun and a kind of “scary ghost story around the fire” atmosphere. However, whatever one thinks of Halloween, it does highlight a few realities that many people would rather push out of their minds: death is real, fear often permeates our lives, and the Spirit-world...well...exists.
Not surprisingly, the Scriptures contain a story where all three of the above-mentioned realities come in to play. It is a scary witch story which God uses to teach a King (and us) some valuable lessons.
As you might remember from our recent sermon series in I Samuel this past Summer, King Saul was given the difficult task of being Israel's first King (the nation of Israel wanted a king “like the other nations”). Unfortunately, for the people, Saul was a lot like them. I Samuel 13 tells us that he was impatient with God's timing and felt that he needed to step in and help God out to make sure he didn't lose too many troops before an important battle. In I Samuel 15, Saul believes that when God says: “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey (NRSV) that it is just a general command that needed some “tweaking” so as to be more culturally relevant. I mean, hey, any smart king of that day would keep the best of the spoils of war (including the Amalekite King as a trophy), as this helps a king build up his treasury and gives him something more to give to God at worship...so if it is doing some good, it must be OK, right? I mean, God needs our help, doesn't he?
Interestingly, when Samuel rebukes Saul for his wickedness and self-idolatry in I Samuel 15:23, he likens his sin with...wait for it...divination. Divination is used by those who are separated from God and his Kingdom yet still wish to connect with the spirit-world and with those that have died. Instead of a relationship with the Lord, these persons, through witchcraft and “magic”, take short-cuts in the hopes that they will attain great success, power, and wealth.
In I Samuel 28 we find King Saul in a miserable place emotionally and spiritually. He no longer has the prophet Samuel in his life and is cut off from gleaning any wisdom or direction from the Lord. In his desperation and fear, King Saul decides that he will try to glean some insight from those who are connected to the dead and the demonic.
In going to the Witch at Endor in I Samuel 28, King Saul continues his pattern of “going his own way” as reflected in I Sam 13 and15. Saul is so desperate and full of fear that he goes to dark magic to try and communicate with Samuel for help. The witch is shocked when she does bring Samuel back from the dead, revealing that whatever her connections with the underworld, she has never seen something this graphic! On top of this, God allows Samuel to talk with Saul! Saul's attempt to contact Samuel works, but his fear and desperation do not dissipate.
Before we get too critical of Saul, we should take a hard look at ourselves and our own decision making as believers and as churches. The scary part of this story has little to do with the Witch at Endor. The most frightening part of this story is how easy it is for us to place our plans ahead of the Lord's plans; to rely on our wisdom and cultural assumptions, before relying on the lived-out gospel; to hold on to our own fear instead of embracing a courageous trust in him, his ways, and his outcomes. We too often look for this world’s “magic” as a replacement for the difficult “obedience” that even the Lord Jesus Christ had to “learn” in submitting and honoring his Father.
What might the Lord desire from us this year as we seek to "love him with all of our hearts" and "love others as we love ourselves"? Where might he already be working amongst people that he wants us to love with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Where might we be a support to people in our neighborhoods, a listening ear in our families, a touch of care to those who know little of true love? How might God use us to further build the Kingdom of God? I am not sure, but I know that he is the one who truly changes lives and converts hearts. He can be trusted, and he wants to use us as his hands, feet, and mouth.
Will you join me in praying and seeking to be a people who strive toward these Gospel ideals? The journey will often be hard and long, but as we focus on and listen to our Lord, it will be an adventure that we will never regret.
Father Tom