Hallowax (Halloween): Waxing Toward Holiness —Sermon Series Prologue by Rev. Nicholas Sybrowsky

Note: This is a partial prologue. Full message will be added soon. Timestamp included for revision tracking.

Originally published:  Sunday, September 28, 2025.  This message is being refined in stages. Final version forthcoming. Last updated: [TBD].

Sermon Thesis:

God’s setting apart of His people.

Intro:

 In a culture that celebrates masks and momentary thrills, Hallowax (Halloween) invites us to consider what it means to be formed—not just disguised.  As wax responds to heat, so too are we shaped by the refining fire of holiness.  Like the moon in its phases, we are called to wax toward fullness—toward holiness—even as the world around us wanes in truth, identity, and sacred purpose.  This prologue sets the stage for a sermon journey where sanctification is not seasonal, but eternal.  Through symbolism, Scripture, and spiritual reflection, Rev. Nicholas Sybrowsky explores how we might wax toward holiness in a world that seems to be waning in truth, identity, and sacred purpose.  How might we reflect divine light in a darkening age? 

Sermon Reflection: Waxing Toward Holiness

In the Book of Life series, we explored what it means to be registered citizens of heaven—inscribed not by merit, but by surrender.  Yet as citizens of heaven, we must also be vigilant about the cultural currents that seek to erode our spiritual identity.

Take for example the Beetlejuice “Handbook for the Recently Deceased.” Marketed as a novelty, it’s often gifted during Halloween—a season that has drifted far from its harvest roots.  Beneath the humor and popular culture appeal lies a troubling fascination: the afterlife as entertainment, the dead as conversational partners, and the occult as kitsch (common).

📖 Scripture warns us clearly:

• “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” —Leviticus 19:31 (ESV) (KJV—"wizards” in place of mediums or necromancers).

• “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, or interpret omens, engages in witchcraft or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” —Deuteronomy 18:10–11

These are not vague cautions—they are spiritual boundaries.  As Origen taught, divine inscription marks transformation—not mere affiliation, reminding us that heavenly citizenship is not cultural but spiritual Origen on identity and transformation (Ref. 1).  And Augustine cautioned against conflating emotional fervor with assurance, urging us to anchor hope in God’s promises—not feelings Augustine on hope and assurance (Ref. 2).  These patristic voices echo Scripture’s call to honor spiritual boundaries, especially when culture trivializes the supernatural.  When we trivialize the supernatural, we risk normalizing what God calls abomination.  This rhetoric writing in Deuteronomy would not have been passed down by Moses to Joshua if it were not a problem in their environment.  

🎃 From Harvest to Halloween: A Cultural Drift

The original harvest festivals were about gratitude, provision, and community.  But Halloween, in many corners of American culture, has become a celebration of fear, darkness, and death.  Costumes mimic demons, décor glorifies graveyards, and the spiritual realm is reduced to party props.

May I propose “Hallo-wax”—a beautiful reimagining.  Waxing toward holiness, rather than waning from it.  What if we reclaimed this season not with judgment, but with joyful resistance?  What if we offered light during the fog?

✝️ Citizens of Heaven: Called to Discernment

As Paul writes in Ephesians 5:11:

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”

This doesn’t mean we condemn every costume or candy bowl.  But it does mean we ask deeper questions:

• Is this drawing me closer to God or numbing my spiritual sensitivity?

• Am I participating in something that trivializes the sacred?

• How can I model holiness in a culture that celebrates horror?

🕯️ Hallo-wax Series Prologue

Title: Waxing Toward Holiness in a Waning World Thesis: God’s setting apart of His people is the central thread of Scripture—from Eden to eternity.

📜 Visual Timeline of Sanctification Across the Bible

1. Genesis – The Call to Distinction

• God sets apart Abraham to birth a holy nation (Gen. 12:1–3).

• Sanctification begins with separation for divine purpose.

2. Exodus–Leviticus – Sanctification Through Covenant

• Israel is called to be a holy nation (Ex. 19:5–6).

• Rituals, priesthood, and worship mark the people as distinct.

3. Prophets & Kings – The Struggle to Remain Set Apart

• Prophets call Israel back to holiness amid compromise.

• God sanctifies through judgment, mercy, and promise (Eze. 36:26–27).

4. Gospels – Jesus, the Sanctifier

• Christ sanctifies Himself for our sake (Jn. 17:19).

• Holiness is no longer ritual—it’s relational and redemptive.

5. Acts–Epistles – The Spirit Sanctifies the Church

• The Holy Spirit sets apart the Church as a holy people (1 Th. 4:3).

• Sanctification becomes a daily walk, empowered by grace.

6. Revelation – Sanctuary of the Sanctified

• Only those written in the Book of Life enter the eternal sanctuary (Rev. 21:27).

• The journey of sanctification ends in eternal communion.

References:

1. Dawson, John David.  “Identity and Transformation: Origen.” Christian Figural Reading and the Fashioning of Identity, California Scholarship Online, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 194–206.  This chapter explores Origen’s theological framing of Christ’s identity through relational union with both God the Father and human believers.  Dawson highlights Origen’s use of Stoic logic to interpret John 13:31–32, offering dual conceptual pathways.  In convergence with Hans Frei, Origen affirms that Jesus’ death is singular and unshareable, underscoring figural reading as a transformative lens for spiritual identity formation.
2. Augustine of Hippo.  “Hope Means Stretching Our Hearts.” Tractates on the First Letter of John, excerpted in the Roman Office of Readings for Friday of the sixth week in Ordinary Time.  This reflection presents hope as a spiritual exercise that enlarges the soul’s capacity to receive God.  Using vivid metaphors—stretching vessels, scouring containers—Augustine teaches that longing for divine vision prepares us for transformation.  Drawing from Philippians, he emphasizes pressing forward in desire, purification, and expectation of being filled with God’s ineffable presence.