Joy in Action
Text: Phil 4:10-23
Theme: Joy in action gives a fragrant sacrifice to God
Doctrine: deeds of service come out of a joyful life
Image: fragrant sacrifice
Need: Joy in giving
Message: Rejoice in your circumstances and use them to bless others.
Joy in Action
Phil 4:10-23
What is the first thing that pops into your head when I mention 'pleasing aroma'? The first thing that I think about is food. Now, I love food, all kinds of food, but one of the best smells for me, is the smell of a roast cooking in the oven after coming home from working at the feedlot in the middle of winter. The smell not only indicated a delicious, hearty, and satisfying meal, but it also indicated that the work was done for the day. It indicated that I could now take off my warm boots and roam about in my stocking feet. I could take off the many, many, layers of smelly, manure encrusted clothes. I could sit back, enjoy the meal, and then relax in a nice hot shower. The fragrant smell of a roast in the oven meant more than just the food. It signalled a time to relax, to kick back and enjoy some time with family.
Another smell that I absolutely adore is the fresh smell of rain on dry land. Growing up, as I did, on the dry and dusty prairies I did not have this privilege all that often. The days when a storm came rolling down from the mountains came as a sign of blessing. The fresh, clean sent of the air after the storm had passed and the sun came back out always gave me the sense of new life, of new beginnings, of new hope. As many of you know farmers often live from rain to rain, and the blessing of a well timed rain is refreshing in more ways than one. The rain refreshes the soul just as its scent refreshes the senses.
You may have other smells that mean a lot to you. You may think about a garden in full bloom, a dozen freshly cut roses, the smell of grease and oil that issue from a well used garage, the distinctive smell of your favourite vehicle, the scent of a loved one. All of these things are pleasant not only in their aroma, but also because of all the things that we associate with them. The smell of the garden gives a sense of satisfaction after hard work. The scent of the roses remind us of the loved one who gave them to us. The smell of the garage gives us pride in the projects we have worked on. The smell of a favourite vehicle reminds us of all the good times we had in it. The scent of a loved one reminds us that there are people who love us simply for who we are.
Smells are powerful things. It is no wonder, then, that the sense of smell is referred to by Paul in v 18. He says, “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” A fragrant offering. This little phrase is used often throughout the scriptures. For us to truly understand what this means for Paul, we should take a look at how it is used in the Old Testament.
The first place this phrase is used is in Genesis 8. This takes place after God has delivered Noah from the punishment he dealt to the whole earth in the flood. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat and Noah and the animals wait until the waters recede fully from the earth. When the earth was dry God told Noah to come out of the ark, and then Noah did something amazing. Listen to this from Gen 8.
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Gen 8:20-21)
Imagine what Noah did here. He was not giving out of his abundance. He was giving his very lifeline. He was giving some of the clean animals, of which he only had seven or maybe seven pairs. He was giving over his milk, his cheese, his wool, his clothing, his food, his future. He showed his appreciation to God's care, and expressed his trust in God by giving to God out of his joy. “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.'” This pleasing aroma came not just from the meat, from the burning flesh of the animals on the altar, but the pleasant aroma came from the devotion of Noah. It came from the association of new life, of a new beginning, of a new relationship between God and humankind. It was immediately after this offering that God made his first explicit covenant with humankind.
In Genesis 9:9 God said to Noah and his sons “'I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.'” (Gen 9:9-11)
All throughout the OT we read time and time again that the offerings and sacrifices God proscribes his people to give are fragrant offerings with pleasing aromas. In Exodus 29 the procedure for consecrating the priests to God's service calls for numerous sacrifices to be given as “a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire.” (Ex 29:41). Through these sacrifices God says, “'So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.'” (Ex 29:44-46)
In the book of Leviticus offerings and sacrifices are outlined as ways to atone for sins, and these are burned “on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Lev 2:12; 4:31; 6:14; 8:21; 17:4; 23:18) Earlier this evening we looked at how incense was used along with sacrifices, specifically how it was offered every morning and evening and we lit some here. With the fragrance filling the room we get a sense of the manner in which the offerings were fragrant to God.
But it was not just the ritual itself which made the sacrifice pleasing to God. It was not simply the act of taking an animal and burning it on the altar that gave a pleasant aroma to God, for God was not satisfied with those kinds of sacrifices. Often the prophets condemned the Israelites for giving their offerings to God without the proper motivation. They did not love God and give to him in joy, but followed the ordinances in a superstitious manner.
In Isaiah 1 God rails against Israel saying, ““What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.” (Is 1:11) He says this because they are not coming with the proper attitude. They are not living lives God requires. He says a little later in the same chapter. “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Is 1:16-17)
In Jeremiah 6 God again expresses anger over the conduct of Israel. “Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.” (Jer 6:19-20)
God does the same in Amos 5. He says, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (Amos 5:21-24)
God reacts in anger to the people of Israel in these times because they did not have the proper motivation. In Ps 51 David says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Ps 51:17) As it says in Proverbs 15:8 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.” (Prov 15:8)
With all this in mind, Paul calls the gifts of the Philippians “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Remember, Paul writes this letter to the Philippians from prison and sends it back with Epaphroditus. In this letter Paul thanks God for the Philippians, and he prays for them. It is obvious that Paul has much love for this congregation, it was founded by him and they have supported him well throughout his journeys. The main purpose of this letter is to encourage the Philippians to continue growing in their faith and to stand firm against opposition. Throughout Paul urges the Philippians to rejoice in their faith and in the Lord.
As we have walked through this book we have taken a close look at the manner in which Paul's love for this church has been manifested in joy. Right at the beginning of the letter Paul says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:4-6) He is filled with joy because of what God is doing in and through the church in Philippi. He sees the fruits of their own joy in the way that they have supported him, and cared for him. He rejoices greatly that they have renewed their concern for him. If he had any doubts as to how the church was doing, he is now certain. He now realises that they were always concerned, but just lacked the opportunity.
In the passage that we read Paul praises them for their actions. He works hard to make it clear to them that he is praising them not because he really needed supplies, which is why he talks about being content in everything. He is not simply happy because he now has more things, he is happy because of what this shows about the church. He also makes it very clear that he is not trying to get more out of them. He is not stroking their ego hoping that they would give him a bit more. He is simply, and honestly, looking for what may be credited to their account; trying to show them how they are storing up treasures in heaven through their actions.
Paul rejoices in the fact that this church was willing to make a sacrifice for the kingdom. They were willing to give some of what they had to help a person who they cherished, and who was suffering. He rejoices in the offerings they have made. He rejoices in the way that they have lived out their faith. He rejoices in their action because it gives evidence of their joy in the faith. Their gifts were “fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” (Phil 4:18)
These gifts were pleasing to God because the Philippians were doing just what those in the OT did when they offered sacrifices to God. They were giving of themselves. They were living lives of love. They were going what Jesus did for us. In Eph 5 Paul tells the believers, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:1-2) The offerings and sacrifices that we give to God are pleasing to God because they participate in the giving of Jesus for others. We, the church, are the Body of Christ. When we give of ourselves for the relief of suffering, or for the spread of the gospel, or for the help of the powerless, we are participating in that sacrifice that Jesus gave when he gave himself; when he laid down his life for us.
It is not only our monetary gifts that we give that are fragrant offerings to God. In Revelation 5 the prayers of the saints are likened to incense. In this chapter we are given a glimpse into the throne room of God. We see Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, in the midst of the throne. We see the elders surrounding the throne praising God and the Lamb. We see these elders holding harps in one hand and golden bowls full of incense in the other. This incense which is offered to God, we are told, are the prayers of the saints.
Our prayers are fragrant offerings to God. When we pray for the conversion of others, when we praise God for who he is, when we confess our sins before him, when we thank God for what he has done for us, when we call out to God in our pain and weakness, when we spend time listening to, wrestling with, and talking to our God and Father we spread the fragrance of God's love around the world; much like the fragrance of the incense has been spread around this room this evening.
In view of all of this, let us live our lives as fragrant offerings to Christ Jesus our Lord, as Peter says in 1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” (1 Pt 1:13-16)
Amen