This sermon originally preached October 26, 2014.

There were no parking places in front of the house of the needy family that the man was going to deliver a bag of food to. He had been volunteering to make those deliveries toward the end of each month for the church he went to. Not because he cared for needy people but he wanted to make himself look good in the eyes of people and help his business. On that particular night the closest he was able to get to the house just happened to be right in front of the entrance to the town cemetery. Instead of walking all around the block he decided to take a short cut through the cemetery.

As the man got half way there all of a sudden he let out a blood-curdling scream that nobody heard because it was carried away by the howling wind, and away from the direction in which the children were playing at the backyard Halloween party. He was unnoticed in the eerie darkness as he tripped over a gravestone and fell head first into a freshly dug grave. The only injury he sustained was to his pride. Here he was, a prominent community leader lying at the bottom of a cold damp grave, and all because some fool didn’t put up one of those stripped sawhorses with the flashing orange lights. “One way or another I’ll get that guy fired,” he said to himself. The man never had any patience with folks who made mistakes. However, the thought of getting someone fired didn’t make him feel good this time as it usually did.

“I’ve got to get myself out of here fast,” he thought, “or else I’m going to look stupid. It’s just as well no one heard me holler for help.” Then the man stood on his feet and faced the left side of the grave. With both arms stretched over his head, he quickly leaped up and clutched the ground above him, but the dirt gave way and he fell back down. He tried four times and failed each time. Standing again, he positioned himself so that his back was braced against the right wall of the grave. Next he placed one foot, followed by the other on the opposite side. He then tried to wiggle his way slowly up and out. But he was only able to get half way up before dropping down again. He tried a couple of times with the same results.

The man’s frustration changed to anger and finally turned into a fit of rage which was just like that of a little kid throwing a temper tantrum because he or she didn’t get their own way. “Oh how I would like to get my hands on that idiot grave digger” he thought. But that was a luxury he knew he couldn’t afford. Finally, he crouched down at one end of the grave and assumed the position of a sprinter about to begin a race. He figured he would run towards the other end of the grave and, at just the right moment leap as high as he could and hopefully get both hands and then his arms on firm ground. After three unsuccessful attempts, the almost out of breath chunky 56 year old man lay at the bottom of the grave wondering what he could possibly do. He decided to pray, “God, I know you can do all things. Please get me out of here!”

His prayer was followed by an eerie silence. The howling wind stopped blowing and there wasn’t a single leaf that fell to the ground. “The children must have gone inside,” he said to himself. Then he heard it, very, very faint at first, but the sound was unmistakable. Someone was walking slowly and very cautiously in the cemetery. The man listened intently to the approaching footsteps, all the while hoping they wouldn’t come close to where he was.

High up above in the evening sky was a huge, orange, full harvest moon lit up the entire cemetery. It was a clear night except for a few widely scattered clouds. The trees of various sizes and shapes, together with their branches made shadows that resembled ugly monsters. The footsteps grew louder and, would you believe, they were headed right in the man’s direction. He broke out into a cold sweat, and the hair on his arms stood up straight. He could hear his own heart beat as the footsteps came closer, and closer to the open grave he was trapped in.

Then he looked up high into the sky again and was gripped by fear as he saw a huge, dark cloud that appeared to come out of nowhere. It seemed to be racing towards the bright shining moon. The man prayed, “God, don’t let it block out the light from the moon. The cemetery will become pitch black.” But it did! At the exact moment it did so, the footsteps stopped. The man pleaded with God again. “God, please make whoever it is turn around and go back in the other direction.” But the footsteps changed into a slow shuffle and came closer and closer to the unprotected open grave. The howling wind picked up again. Crisp leaves seemed to dance and swirl, and fly around whatever object was in their way.

The man considered shouting a warning, but quickly changed his mind. “Whatever people might think of me, no one will be able to say I scared the life out of some fool.” He wondered about the owner of the footsteps. “What a looser this clown must be for being in the cemetery at night. Then all of a sudden the shuffling grew louder and louder and came closer and closer to the open grave. Suddenly, the shuffling was interrupted by a soft thump! It was quickly followed by a terrifying scream as the second person that memorable night tripped over the gravestone and fell into the opposite end of the grave.

At that exact same moment and seemingly on cue, the massive black cloud vanished into a soon to be unforgettable Halloween night. Once again the moon lit up the darkness in the cemetery and spotlighted the second victim. It turned out to be an 11-year-old boy whose face was as white as a ghost. He was dressed in a Mr. Bones costume, without the mask that was knocked off when he tripped and fell. As he sat motionless in the dark shadow at the other end of the grave, the terrified look on the boy’s face caused the man to question the wisdom of not hollering out a warning.

The man’s unseen eyes were riveted on those of the boy. All kinds of thoughts raced through his mind. “Hey, you clumsy kid, what are you waiting for? You’re a lot younger than I am. It should be a piece of cake for you to get yourself out of here.” It was almost as though the boy heard him because he quickly stood up, stretched both his arms above his head and jumped as high as he could. He managed to clutch the top of the grave, but the soft dirt gave way and he dropped back down. After four more tries the boy gave up.

The man prayed again, “God, help this kid get out of here before he spots me. He’ll be scared out of his wits. Then the man silently watched as the boy braced his back against one side of the grave and pressed one foot followed by the other against the opposite side. Slowly but surely, he wiggled up. He was almost at the top, but the weight of his body was too much and he fell back down. He tried five more times and each time he failed.

Then the boy started to cry. Horrible thoughts flooded his mind. This time he prayed out loud. Between sobs he pleaded,”Father help me! I’m sorry I disobeyed my parents and broke my promise to stay out of the cemetery. I was just trying to have some fun. All I wanted to do was sneak up on those little kids and surprise them by coming to the backyard Halloween party through the cemetery.” The man sneered to himself and thought, “Kid, you’re getting what you deserve. You could have done a number on those little kids. It serves you right.” The boy continued to pray, “Father, I don’t know what to do. Please help me to get out of here.”

“Stop wasting time,” the man thought to himself. “You’ve got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out.” O how he wished he could tell that to the boy but instead he silently prayed: “God, please help this kid. I know he’s getting what he deserves, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t deserve being in this predicament. I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole town when word gets out. Why is this happening to me God? Why?”

The boy’s sobbing suddenly stopped and he became very calm. The man noticed what appeared to be a grin on the boy’s face. “Good,” the man thought. “The kid finally figured a way to get himself out of here.”

The widening grin on the boy’s face confirmed what the man felt deep within himself. The boy also believed God had shown him the perfect way out. “Go for it kid,” the man thought to himself. His optimism quickly turned to shock as the boy, with all the assurance of a pro, assumed the familiar position of a sprinter about to start a race. The boy, grinning from ear to ear, was about to dash right into the unseen man sitting in the dark shadow at the other end of the grave.

The man had to do act quickly, but what could he do without scaring the life out of the boy? Once again the man broke out into a cold sweat and the hair on his arms stood up straight. “I could sure use another stiff drink right now,” the man thought to himself. All kinds of bad thoughts raced through the man’s mind as he silently watched the boy start to take a deep breath. Just in the nick of time, or so he thought, the man figured out a way he could gently stop the boy. He quickly cupped his hands to each side of his mouth and, in a soft, calm, deep monotone slowly whispered, “You’ll never make it.” And man was wrong!

Then, with adrenalin flowing faster than a speeding bullet, the boy leaped out of the grave in a single bound blurting out a series of horrific shrieks that were almost capable of waking the dead people who were buried in the cemetery.

Two police officers going off duty spotted the shadow of the boys screaming figure bolt out of the cemetery racing toward his home. One officer followed in quick pursuit while the other ran into the cemetery with his gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other. With the boy’s screams still echoing in his ears, the policeman cautiously headed in the direction of a man’s voice that kept repeating a single word, “Why?”