Fall Fun and Frights

How many of you like to do fall activities? You know, things like bonfires, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, drinking hot chocolate, or one of my favorites: making s’mores.
How many of you like to go to pumpkin patches and pick out giant pumpkins to carve into jack-o’-lanterns?
How many of you are thrill seekers? You know, you like going on ghost tours, visiting haunted houses, or running through haunted trails?

Well, you’re my people! Believe it or not, I just love haunted houses! Maybe it’s the adrenaline rush we get when we are being frightened or surprised. Or perhaps it’s seeing people laughing and having a good time. I’m not sure why I like to go to scary activities, but I always walk away feeling content and fulfilled.

A Lesson in Courage and Compassion

Many years ago, my sister and I decided to take our children to a local farm hosting a haunted trail. It was supposed to be a fun family night. Fog machines billowed and added an eerie feeling to the scene. Costumed actors jumped from behind hay bales, and spooky music filled the air.

I remember my oldest daughter was eight years old at the time. She was so excited all week long because she got to hang out with her older cousins and do a “grown-up” thing.

Once we got to the haunted trail, we waited in line for what felt like an hour, listening to the spooky music and other people scream. When we reached the gate and it was our time to go into the trail, the sound of chainsaws and rattling chains made my daughter freeze. Her hands grabbed my leg, and she started to cry, whispering, “I don’t want to do this, Mommy. Please don’t make me go.”

We stepped aside and allowed the people behind us to go into the trail. I tried to convince my daughter that it was all for fun, but she wasn’t having it. She screamed, “NO! I’m not going to do it.” So, we left the line, went to the snack bar, and waited for my sister and her two boys.

Friends, my daughter was inconsolable. She was sobbing, embarrassed, and her heart was pounding with fear. I kept reassuring her, telling her it was going to be okay, that the monsters were just people in Halloween costumes, but to no avail.

Suddenly, a total stranger came over, knelt beside my daughter, and said softly, “It’s ok, sweetie. I get scared too sometimes. You’re really brave for saying you didn’t want to go on the trail. You did the right thing.” And friends, that simple moment of kindness changed everything. My daughter took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and smiled at the lady. She said, “Thank you.”

She didn’t go on the trail that night, but she did learn a valuable lesson — one she still carries with her today. She learned that love, compassion, and understanding are far more powerful than fear, especially when they are shown to us by a perfect stranger.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

Haunted trails may be staged fears, but real life gives us plenty of things that bring out the fear in us — things like illness, job loss, grief, uncertainty, division, war, and the fragile state of our planet. And today’s scripture tells us something profound when it comes to fear: John states, “Perfect love casts out fear.”

When John wrote these words near the end of the first century, followers of Jesus were living in a time of political tension and social anxiety. The Roman Empire was the global superpower at the time, demanding allegiance to Caesar as lord and god. Christians, knowing that Jesus was the Son of God, refused to bow to that claim. They were ostracized, misunderstood, and persecuted.

Communities were fractured. False teachers were spreading confusion about who Jesus really was. Some argued Jesus was just a spirit, that he wasn’t human at all. Others said he was both fully human and fully divine. The result of these false teachings was fear — fear of being wrong, fear of being punished, fear of being left out or left behind.

It’s in this unstable climate that John — the beloved disciple who had walked with Jesus — writes to remind the early church of one central truth. He wants the followers of Christ to know without a doubt that “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). Then he goes on to say, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”

What a radical message for fearful people! Amen? Amen!

The Power of God’s Love

John isn’t dismissing their fears; he is simply reframing them. Fear does not have the final word — love does. The people who received this message found comfort in knowing that God’s love is not a feeling, it’s a force. God’s love is the steady assurance that nothing — no empire, no sickness, no failure — can separate anyone from God’s presence.

Fear says, “You’re on your own.” Love says, “You’re never alone.”
Fear says, “You’re not enough.” Love says, “You are enough — and so much more!”
And God says, “You are my beloved child. I love you, and you have sacred worth.”

When we know and believe the love God has for us, that love takes root deep in our hearts. It steadies us when the world feels unstable. It empowers us to act with courage even when we are afraid. It lets us know we don’t have to walk through life’s difficulties helpless, hopeless, and all alone — because Jesus is walking with us through it all. And who is Jesus? Jesus is perfect love.

“Perfect love” doesn’t mean flawless love. It means the love Jesus shows to us — complete, mature, fully formed, self-giving love. It’s the kind of love that understands what someone else is going through because we have walked through a similar situation, felt fear, and come out on the other side. Perfect love transforms us into the hope others need to see so that they, too, can rest in God’s peace.

Love in Action

C.S. Lewis once said, “Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear. But so do several other things — ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity. It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we fear no longer, but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that stage, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out our fear.”

Friends, this is why we need one another. As followers of Christ, we are called to lift one another out of the muckiness of life. We are created to be the vessels God works through to cast out fear.

It’s like the message in the classic song Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel:

“When you’re weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes,
I will dry them all. I’m on your side.
When times get rough and friends just can’t be found.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.”

This song is a metaphor for someone who will sacrifice and be there for a friend in need, using their strength to help them get through life’s struggles. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Real-World Haunted Trails

Our haunted trails aren’t just fall festivals. We walk these fearful paths every single day. A medical diagnosis that changes our lives. A stack of bills that seems impossible to pay. A strained relationship filled with misunderstandings. The world news that ties our stomachs in knots. Climate disasters make us wonder what kind of earth we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.

And like my daughter trembling outside the haunted trail, we all face moments that make us want to stay in bed, throw the covers over our heads, and take a day off from life. Yet God’s love meets us right where we are.

Sometimes, that looks like a stranger who offers us kindness. Sometimes it’s a friend who listens without offering advice. Sometimes it’s the beauty of the earth itself speaking peace into our hearts. These are God moments — the thin places between the here and now, the moments when God reveals God’s presence to us.

Sacred Love, Sacred Creation

It’s our United Methodist faith that teaches us that love and creation are inseparable. The same God who spoke love into human hearts also spoke life into the soil, the sea, and the sky. Out of our love for God the Creator, we are called to love all people and all of creation — the sacred creations that hold the fingerprints of God. Because of our love for God, we affirm that all people have sacred worth and need to receive perfect love.

But fear distorts both. Fear makes us hoard instead of share, pollute instead of protect, divide instead of embrace. Fear is a liar that leads to inward focus and self-preservation. But John reminds us that “perfect love casts out fear.” This isn’t just about personal peace — it’s about communal healing.

The love of Christ calls us to live differently from the rest of the world — to choose compassion over competition, to honor the earth as our shared home, to see the divine image in our neighbor. When we live out that love, the world itself becomes less fearful and a lot more like the kingdom of God.

Embodying Perfect Love

Jesus himself gave us a glimpse of what heaven might look like because Jesus was and still is the embodiment of perfect love. He faced hatred with forgiveness. He met violence with peace. He walked straight into fear and death itself and conquered it with amazing love. When we place our trust in Jesus, that same love begins to take root in us. It strengthens us to stand firm during hard times, to forgive those who have hurt us, to care for the wounded world, and to speak peace into fearful hearts — until they too feel the incredible peace of God.

So, friends, what do you say? Let’s embody the perfect love of Christ Jesus. Let’s be the person who kneels beside the frightened child at the haunted trail. Let’s be the neighbor who shows up with a hot meal and words of encouragement for someone struggling with illness. Let’s be the friend who offers hope to someone feeling lost. Together, we will make the invisible love of Christ visible through us.

Come, Holy Spirit, I pray it may be so. Amen.