Message from the Pastor October 2025

The other day I was looking online at halloween costumes with Julie and Ryan. Halloween (and our annual Trunk or Treat!) is right around the corner, so it’s time to think about what we want to be. And the options are nearly limitless. Whatever catches your fancy, whatever inspires you to happiness or horror, the odds are good that there is an outfit, a wig, a hat, an accessory, or a mask to make it happen.

Halloween is a fun time to dress up. But the truth is that a lot of us wear masks every day. Sometimes we mask our insecurities, our fears, our hurts behind a made up confidence, as we try to present ourselves the way we think we should be. Sometimes we disguise our shame, our shortcoming, or our selfishness behind a mask and try to hide those things we fear might make others think differently of us. And in our increasingly online world, it is no secret that many feel comfortable unmasking our worst selves when we’re behind a screen, letting hatred, prejudice, and outrage have free reign while we don’t have to look our sibling in the eye.

The horrors we unleash on one another each day are far worse than any goblin or ghoul we might encounter on Halloween night. There is violence in our streets and violence in our speech. We let fear motivate us to terrorize each other. We become increasingly insular, looking out for me and mine while having less and less empathy for those around us who live, look, and love differently than us. We refuse to walk the way of the cross, choosing instead to crucify others who bear the image of our Christ in their vulnerability. And all too often, we do so while wearing the mask of religion while we forsake justice, the mask of scripture while we pick and choose which parts to apply, the mask of Christianity even as we behave more like the soldiers who mocked, beat, and killed Jesus. 

It’s time to think about what we want to be; about who we want to be. We cannot honor Christ with our lips if we will not also honor him with our lives. We cannot be the hands and feet of Christ to others if we will not see the face of Christ in others. We cannot be known as Christians if we define ourselves by anything other than love.

It’s time to think about what we want to be. Followers of Christ or followers of the world. To be a follower of the world is to choose to keep our masks on, to hide the things that don’t fit the narrative pushed on us and show ourselves to be acceptable to a world that values wealth, power, and fame. To be a follower of Christ is to remove our masks and be authentic about our brokenness and our blessedness, trusting that we have been clothed with Christ’s righteousness and called to be exactly who Christ has made us, just as we are. It’s a choice don’t make just once; as Luther reminds us, we are daily called to remember our baptism and reaffirm our commitment to Christ.

May we choose authenticity in a world that would have us wear a mask of conformity. May we choose love in a world that thrives on hate. May we choose community in a world that promotes selfishness. May we choose hope in a world that seems engulfed by despair. And may we remember that there is grace enough for all our hurts and hopes in Christ Jesus who loves us beyond measure.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Will Starkweather