This month, on the weekend of October 18–19, the Old Testament reading that’s been assigned is from the book of Genesis, chapter 32, verses 22–30.

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

The reason I bring this up is because this story, though it’s a little strange, is really, I think, a Halloween story.

In the story we hear that one of the ancestors of our faith, Jacob, is on his way to reconcile with his brother. And on the way, the night before the encounter with his brother (an encounter which he fears might end up poorly for him), the sun goes down. And when the sun goes down, a trick-or-treater comes out—a figure in the dark. Eventually it seems that this figure is actually God himself, but Jacob doesn’t know that—God seems to be wearing a costume.

And at first, after Jacob encounters this costumed figure on a dark night, it seems at first that he’s come to give him a trick—he puts Jacob’s hip out of joint. Yet Jacob doesn’t let go, refuses to let him go, until he gives Jacob a blessing—a treat, we could say. So there you go—it’s a Halloween story. Jacob encounters God, wearing a costume, come to trick or treat.

What does this story mean for us? It means that sometimes when God is working in our lives, it can feel a little more like a trick than a treat. Sometimes we don’t seem to be able to recognize how God is working in our lives, sometimes it feels like we are wrestling with him. Yet we hold onto God and we hold onto his promises by faith—and the story always ends with a treat: a blessing. For Jacob, that was the blessing of peace and protection as he went to meet his brother. And for us, that blessing we hold onto is the blessing of a resurrection, of eternal life, which is given to us through Jesus. May we ever hold onto him!

-Pastor Duncan