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

  Revision Update: 10/19/2025

Originally published:  Sunday, September 28, 2025.  This message is being refined in stages. Final version forthcoming.

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.

Website Accessed 10/19/2025

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? (See Note 2).

✝️ 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.

NOTE:  This visual outline will likely be referred to throughout each homily in the message series.

Message Series Outline:

✨ Homily 1: The Will to Be Holy 

Key Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:3

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality,’” 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (MEV)

Contemporary Geography in relation to Thessalonica church.

 

Theme: Introduce the concept of Hallo-wax—waxing toward holiness.  This message establishes sanctification as God’s will, not merely a suggestion.
Contrast: Human Will vs. God's Will.  (Preserved for another date TBD: Cultural darkness vs. divine light.  There was too much to unpack.  Bottom line as Christians' is that we celebrate life and the resurrection that follows death. Death has been overcome by Jesus the Christ.  See Note 1 below).
Supporting Scriptures:

• John 17:17 – Sanctify them by truth… 
• Exodus 13:2 – Consecrate the firstborn… 
• Ephesians 5:26 – Sanctified by the Word…

✨ Homily 2: Set Apart for Glory

Key Texts: Exodus 19:14; Leviticus 10:3; Numbers 8:17

“Be ready against the third day: for the Lord will come down…” (Ex. 19:14)

Theme: Explore sanctification in the Old Testament—ritual purity, consecration, and preparation for divine encounter.
Contrast: Ritual preparation vs. casual spiritual neglect.
Supporting Scriptures:

• 2 Chronicles 2:4 – Temple sanctification
• Romans 15:16 – Sanctified by the Spirit
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 – Washed, sanctified, justified

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✨ Homily 3: The One Who Sanctifies

Key Texts: Ezekiel 20:12; Matthew 23:17; Hebrews 9:13

“Moreover I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” (Eze. 20:12)

Theme: God alone sanctifies. This message centers on divine agency in holiness—not human effort.
Contrast: Self-help spirituality vs. Spirit-led sanctification.
Supporting Scriptures:

• John 10:36 – Sent and sanctified by the Father
• Hebrews 2:11 – The sanctifier and the sanctified are one

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✨ Homily 4: Sanctify Christ in Your Heart

Key Texts: Jeremiah 17:24; 1 Peter 3:15

“Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…” (1 Pe 3:15)

Theme: Personal holiness and internal sanctification. This sermon focuses on the heart as the sanctuary of devotion.
Contrast: External religious performance vs. inward transformation.
Supporting Scriptures:

• John 17:17 – Sanctify by truth
• Exodus 13:2 – Consecration of what is first
• Ephesians 5:26 – Cleansing by the Word

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✨ Homily 5: Sanctuary of the Sanctified

Key Texts: Exodus 25:8; Hebrews 9:1

“Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” (Ex. 25:8)

Theme: The culmination of sanctification is dwelling with God. This final message ties into Revelation 21:27—only the sanctified enter the eternal sanctuary.
Contrast: Temporary earthly temples vs. the eternal sanctuary of heaven.
Supporting Scriptures:

• Hebrews 9:1 – Earthly sanctuary as a shadow
• Revelation 21:27 – Only those in the Book of Life enter

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.
3. More references coming soon.

Note:

1. In development (Fermenting in the Ink Barrel) is further contrast in the cultural celebrations that glorify death and darkness vs. God’s call to life and light.  Additionally, I am preparing cultural drift summary regarding Sacred Harvest to Secular Spectacle.  Angie Mosteller, Christian Origins of Halloween, (Torrance, CA: Bristol Works, Inc. Rose Publishing Inc. 2012), has provided some excellent insights from research in the holidays.  The "Origins..." hyperlink above will take you to an archive with this specific pamphlet or visit Amazon for a pamphlet HERE.  More ideas available at www.celebratingholidays.com.  

   Angie Mosteller’s Online Footprint (more about her HERE)

   – Celebrating Holidays website (celebratingholidays.com) offers blog posts, teaching guides, and resources that expand on the Christian history of major celebrations (including Halloween). – Podcast appearance on Stand to Reason (str.org) discussing the origins of Halloween (Oct 22, 2014), hosted by Greg Koukl (👈about Greg).

2. Critical reflection and critical thinking in some regard seem to be taking on a form of taboo in some cultures of society.  Let us guard I minds from activities that lead us away from the narrow path of imputed righteousness.  Can I get an amen?

Soli Deo Gloria | “Glory to God Alone”