THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PUMPKIN ROLLS
VARIOUS PASSAGES
INTRODUCTION
This time of year when Thanksgiving and Christmas are upon us, many traditions seem to be kept by different families. Some families have a tradition of saying what they are thankful for around the dinner table. Other families do a shared act of service on one of these holidays. Some families read the Christmas story together on Christmas Eve. Churches have traditions to that come out at this time of year. At our church, we always seem to kick-off the Holidays with Elaine’s Concert and the Hanging of the Greens Service.
I have to say that it is another tradition that I think we should keep up in future years. I am unsure of how long we have done it, but the making of pumpkin rolls (or ‘punkin’ rolls for some of you) is a tradition that I absolutely love. The pumpkin rolls certainly are scrumptious, but also it gathers us together and is a great time of fellowship. Many of us here helped one or more days in making the 400 odd pumpkins rolls or had a relative or spouse who was here. I have been thinking just a little about pumpkin rolls as I have enjoyed mine at home and remarked at the similarity between the Gospel of Jesus and pumpkin rolls. And so I present to you today, the Gospel According to Pumpkin Rolls.
You may have read or seen other examples like this. I believe there is a "Gospel According to Peanuts" in which the author uses the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy to explain the Gospel Message. I have also seen the Gospel According to Popeye and the Gospel According to Disney. The author attempts to use these examples to show the truths of the Message about Jesus Christ. Today, we will look at the Gospel as it relates to Pumpkin Rolls.
I. THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS
As it is with any good recipe, you have to use the right ingredients. These ingredients are gathered far and wide at the best prices to create the lovely pumpkin rolls we have at home today. What are the ingredients for pumpkin rolls? I realize that most of you are just now recovered from making these little delights, but can you recall the ingredients? Pumpkin rolls (at least the ones we make) require: flour, sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, baking soda, and eggs. All of these are combined to make the delectable mix that is baked into the roll. I will not even mention the cream cheese filling... I will not mention it because it probably is sinful to talk about something so delicious. You need all of these ingredients for the roll to come out correctly. What happens if an ingredient is left out? What happens if there is no pumpkin? What happens if there is no baking soda? Your pumpkin roll is a flop. It does not come out. It was a wasted effort.
The Gospel is like these pumpkin rolls. Did you know that there are "ingredients" in the Gospel Message that must be present for it to be correct? I don’t have to tell you that there are many groups out there that claim to have a Christian message, but certainly do not. What is needed in the message of the Gospel to make it correct? I want to use John 3:16 as our "recipe card" for the message of the Gospel. What does John 3:16 say about the gospel message and what does it tell us?
READ JOHN 3:16
* "For God": Whose idea was this? We know from these first few Words where this whole idea came from. God is the one who originated the plan to save human beings. It was God who decided to create us and save us after we turned away from Him. God our Heavenly Father is the One that desires a relationship with us and so set the plan for Jesus into motion.
* "so loved the world": Why did God even care about us? What was God’s motivation? John 3:16 tells us so clearly that it was because of His love for us that God planned what He planned and did what He did. The Bible tells us that God loved us while we were His enemies (Romans 5:8). The Bible tells us that it is His desire that all people choose Him (Titus 3:4). God loves each person more than we could ever imagine.
* "that he gave his one and only Son": What did God do exactly? Who was this Son? We cannot talk about the Gospel Message and not talk about Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6). All that God planned rests on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. It was Jesus Christ who lived a sinless life (Hebrews 5:9) and offered Himself as a sacrifice for all on the cross. This was part of God’s plan (Acts 2:23-24). Jesus rose from the dead and now offers life to everyone who believes. God allowed His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and for mine.
* "that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life": What is the result of what God did? The result of Jesus on the cross is that our sin penalty is paid. And the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). However, God offers us a gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The result of believing in Jesus Christ is being in Heaven with God forever.
The Gospel message must include our sinfulness, the love of God, Jesus Christ, and the promise of Salvation. Without any of these ingredients, it is sort of like a pumpkin roll without any pumpkin. What’s the point, right?
II. PERSEVERANCE
Those that commit themselves to making pumpkin rolls each year do so knowing that this is not just a morning that they are giving up. This is not just an afternoon. In fact, it is not even one day that they are offering. The making of so many pumpkin rolls requires time for three days from 730am until about 300pm in the afternoon. There are little or no breaks. Making 400 or so pumpkin rolls in this short amount of time requires perseverance. Believe it or not... so does the Christian life.
* Luke 8:15 (explaining the Parable of the Sower) = "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
* 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5 = "Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering."
* 1 Timothy 4:16 = "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
* Hebrews 10:36 = "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
* Hebrews 12:1 = "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
I don’t know if you realize this or not, but the baptistry is not the end of the Christian life. Baptism is not the end of our quest to be more like Jesus. It is merely the beginning. It is merely the birth. After we accept Jesus Christ, there is a life of faithfulness and discipleship and perseverance that is expected of us. The Christian life and the Gospel Message is much like pumpkin rolls in this respect. Those who come and make pumpkin rolls need to have perseverance to get it all done. The morning is usually baking and then in the afternoon there is filling and wrapping. It is an all day all week event. Only through perseverance does it all get done. God calls us to faithfulness and perseverance in our spiritual lives as well. The Scriptures that I read to you clearly instruct us to persevere in our faith and to not give it up if we want the reward at the end. The reward is a wonderful pumpkin roll... err... eternal life with God.
ILLUSTRATION... From the Diary of John Wesley (http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1094)
Sunday, A.M., May 5: Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, P.M., May 5: Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said "Get out and stay out."
Sunday, A.M., May 12: Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either.
Sunday, A.M., May 19: Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday, P.M., May 19: Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday, A.M., May 26: Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, A.M., June 2: Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, P.M., June 2: Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.
III. SHARING
There is one more aspect to pumpkin roll making that I want to reflect on this morning. We made over 400 pumpkin rolls this year. Barring those that bought more than one for themselves (like me), what are all the orders for? I submit to you that the pumpkin rolls were either shared or you offered the opportunity to buy these holiday goodies to others that you know. You shared. You shared your pumpkin rolls with family and friends and neighbors and co-workers. They are yummy and deserved to be shared with others.
It is the same with the Gospel Message. It begs to be shared. Jesus commanded His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). The Gospel Message is definitely good news that needs to be shared with the people around you. You cannot keep it to yourself! The pumpkin rolls are so good that you just cannot keep them to yourself! You have to share.
ILLUSTRATION... A Plea for Fishing (Darrell W. Robinson, People Sharing Jesus, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), pp. 21-23)
Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in
the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry. Week after week, month after month, and year after year, these who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be a primary task of fishermen.
Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further they said, "The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning." They loved slogans such as "Fishing is the task of every fisherman." They sponsored special meetings called "Fishermen’s Campaigns" and "The Month for Fishermen to Fish." They sponsored costly nationwide and world-wide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and hear about all the ways of fishing such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and whether any new bait had been discovered.
These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called "Fishing Headquarters." The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however: They didn’t fish.
In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. The board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.
Large, elaborate, and expensive training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years courses were offered on the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licenses. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with fish.
Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But like the fishermen back home, they never fished. Like the fishermen back home, they engaged in all kinds of other occupations. They built power plants to pump water for fish and tractors to plow new waterways. They made all kinds of equipment to travel here and there to look at fish hatcheries. Some also said that they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment. Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, land-loving neighbors and how loving and kind they were was enough.
After one stirring meeting on "The Necessity for Fishing" one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to the other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fishermen’s Board as a person having considerable experience.
Now it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen yet never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?"
Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never catches a fish? Is one following if he isn’t fishing?
CONCLUSION
