TRICK-OR-TRADE

Last night our small group got together for a game night. We normally would have taken in another chapter of the study we are in, but knowing it was Halloween and our doorbell would be ringing incessantly with trick-or-treaters, we decided to back off the study. And yet, this night turned out to hold a few great lessons in spirituality.

It started when Heather, one of our members, vocalized her desire for a Baby Ruth candy bar. Our pot of candy for the kiddies held a good variety of treats, but no Baby Ruth's. So, we got an idea. When the next trick-or-treater came to our door, we would make them a trade offer... 1 Baby Ruth in exchange for 2 of whatever we had to offer.

Soon after, a swarm of treat-or-treaters arrived. Throwing open the door I said, "Does anyone have a Baby Ruth?" Without pause the girls at the door began searching through their bags for Baby Ruths. I then told them the offer: 2 of our candies, for each Baby Ruth they could give me. They each had one and willingly handed them over.

As they ran back toward the street, I heard them yelling to other trick-or-treaters, "They're giving 2-for-1 for Baby Ruth's!" We got a good laugh out of their enthusiasm and went on with our night. Later, our guests left and we turned off our porch light, calling an end to Halloween. But, to our surprise, about 30 minutes later someone knocked on our door. When we opened it, we were greeted by the 3 girls that had made the original swap. In their hands - 3 more Baby Ruths. We didn't have anymore candy, so we offered them some individual-sized Dorito packs. They made the trade and headed out again.

I thought about that night. Then I told Selina, "You know there's real spiritual application here [the the widows offering in Mark 12, the story of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25]. I'm going to preach a sermon series someday about this evening. And I'm going to call it: Everything I know about Jesus I learned from Halloween!"