A fragrant note.

Intro

September is a time of beginnings as school starts and although the Vine started in a spring this time of year is the time as a church we always think about our year starting. it coincides with a return from the summer break, I missed that, AND the return from OneEvent, that was not quite the same, And is the time that Jen and I stepped into the position of leading this wonderful place.

September is also a time of year I associate with Farm machinery as the harvest is brought in and the fields ploughed and and smells.

If you have lived in cherry for any time you will have noticed that at times of the year this place, stinks as the farmers spread whatever it is the spread on the land.

Of all of our senses the sense of smell to me is one that appears to be connected most directly to our memory, our emotions and in the case of the smells the farmers spread around my stomach. Smells can evoke memories, feelings, emotions and reactions.

Think it is for that reason Paul writes in Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 2:14–16 CSB

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things?

My intention this morning is to challenge you at this time of year to make The right sort of smell – in school, at work, in relationships in the community, the church despite the challenges of Covid

Fragrance only smells when you take it out of the bottle.

Paul was a citizen of the Roman empire and lived in an occupied are . When Roman armies conquered a nation, it was their custom to take some of the people who had been captured and lead them through the city in procession. The purpose of this was to display to the public that Rome was now in power and these captured people were subject to Rome. They were displayed as the trophies of victory. As part of this procession, the Romans would burn Processional incense (to Jupiter).

It is this imagery that would have been familiar to Paul and it is that picture which is behind the phrase, “God...always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” God took us captive when we yielded to Him by faith in Jesus.

Unlike the Romans that forced the trophies to parade Paul asks us to parade , to be on show, declare the story of God’s victory. We are the evidence of the power of God which is able to take a person and redeem them from the grip of sin and death and free them to be a person who belongs to God.

In this world, we are the evidence, the display of the redeeming, grace giving power of God. One writer puts it this way, “from justification to glorification the redeemed sinner is on exhibition as a trophy of divine grace.”  God has left us in the world to show the world His gracious and amazing handiwork.

This is the fragrance that we are to release to the world.

Why the word Fragrance in this passage, the word used doesn’t just mean smell, it means an agreeable smell.

In the new testament world, filled with animals, heat, a lack of modern plumbing smells would have been very familiar to the people both the nice and the more organic.

The choice of the the word fragrance is helpful to us to understand the impact we have when we walk spreading the aroma of Christ

Fragrances last.

If you have ever cooked spicy food at home, or fried bacon. you will know that you can come back to the house and the smell still be there. The smell of incense lingered in this building for days.

When we live out our beliefs, when we speak of our Hope, when we demonstrate the love of God that releases and odour.

We may have a a fleeting encounter with something but that odour lingers - it can have an impact on people for long after we depart. The significance of our encounters and actions should not be underestimated

A change in fragrance is noticeable

Have you ever noticed that you become immune to a smell?

Pig farm

Air fresheners that change their smell.

When we Make a smell in the world people will notice.

A fragrance evokes memory

The sense of smell is closely linked with memory, probably more so than any of our other senses.  Those with full olfactory function may be able to think of smells that evoke particular memories; the scent of an orchard in blossom conjuring up recollections of a childhood picnic, for example.  This can often happen spontaneously, with a smell acting as a trigger in recalling a long-forgotten event or experience.  Marcel Proust, in his ‘Remembrance of all Things Past’, wrote that a bite of a madeleine vividly recalled childhood memories of his aunt giving him the very same cake before going to mass on a Sunday.

It may be the memory that brings the prodigal home.

1 Corinthians 3:6–9 NIV

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

What if we smell bad what does that do?

Sometimes We Stink!

     Not every odour is a pleasant one.

     As Christians, who are the aroma of Christ, we don’t always smell beautiful, frankly, sometimes we stink. Paul accuses the Jews in Romans 2:24, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” It is sad that sometimes the name of Jesus is blasphemed because Christians stink.

 We stink when we lack integrity in our dealings in the community. I deal with a company at work that will not pay a bill until someone phones and complains it has not been paid. That sets a bad smell, I have an opnion of that company, how do we deal with people.

Non of us are perfect, but we do need to make sure we smell good and fortunately, there are many examples when Christians smell good.

 When we demonstrate love to others, a love that is not discriminating, but is demonstrated in action for enemies and friends alike, a love that sacrifices and is concerned for the other, then we smell like Jesus. Then the aroma of Christ emanates clearly from us.

Like a beautiful scent, we, by our lives and our words, spread the knowledge of the power of God for salvation to everyone we meet in every place we go. This is not a command, but a reflection of truth. We have not changed ourselves or redeemed ourselves, but God has done all of this and we are the evidence of what He has done wherever we go and the witness of what He has done in the world.

When we walk in holiness without self righteousness, then we are the aroma of Christ in the world. Jesus walked in holiness and Paul says to us in Romans 6:13, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, ...offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” People who are holy like Jesus was holy represent a pleasant smell, as long as they are not self righteous when they do it.

A fragrance causes a reaction

A fragrance changes that atmosphere.

     The scent of flowers and the scent of perfume is intended to be attractive and to draw us. For many people, that is exactly what it does do, but there are some people who are allergic to this scent. It causes them to have allergic reactions like sneezing, stuffy noses or headaches. To them, it is not the pleasant experience it is intended to be.

   As we go around in this world being the aroma of Christ, it does not invoke the same reaction in everyone. We consider the knowledge of the gospel to be lifegiving and a word of peace and hope. For some people it is and they are attracted to the scent of Jesus and are saved, but for many it is quite the opposite. This is what the text says in verses 15, 16. “read”

2 Corinthians 2:15–16 CSB

15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things?

In addition to being the sense most closely linked to memory, smell is also highly emotive.  The perfume industry is built around this connection, with perfumers developing fragrances that seek to convey a vast array of emotions and feelings; from desire to power, vitality to relaxation. The aroma of Jesus is possibly one of the most emotive scents there is...

What we are, what we say, what we believe, the way we live, has an impact on those around us. We know that some people will hate what we represent and hate what we say about the gospel, we sometimes become shy about speaking about and representing Jesus. We want to hide the aroma of Christ.

If we have a friend coming around who is allergic to Flowers, we wouldn’t leave a bouquet in the lounge, we would remove the scent.

When it comes to the gospel, we can’t do that. We mustn’t do that. We can’t back off from being the aroma of Christ just because people are offended by the gospel; just because, as Paul says, it is the aroma of death to them.

It is hard to recognise us as Christians by our outward appearance because we look like everyone else. I do not advocate that we try to look different outwardly, and yet in our lifestyle and our values, people should be able to smell the aroma of Christ on us. We must not hide the aroma of Christ. Every aspect of our lifestyle – our values, our deeds and our attitudes must clearly smell like Jesus Christ. No matter how people treat us because we belong to Christ, I want to challenge us to be open and to allow the fragrance of Christ to spread from us at all times in our lifestyle.

 Sometimes, we hide the aroma of Christ by failing to speak about Jesus because we don’t want to get people angry or offend them by the words of the gospel. I know that I have had this fear many times.

I am not saying that we are not sympathetic to thers beliefs, I hate bible bashers, but even though i may choose not to speak about the gospel in regards to them, I should never hide the impact on me.

Why did you do that - - it was a nice thing to do or because I prayed and felt God encouraged me to do that.

You got better quickly. yes good medicine - the church prayed for me and...

we must allow the fragrance of Christ to come from us by the words of witness we speak and by the way we walk. with beautiful words that proclaim the power and grace of what God has done for His people and a life that demonstrates it.

 As God’s people, we are the fragrance of Christ in this community. We have a tremendous opportunity. We are known as believers, me and you are the aroma of Christ. I want to challenge you not to hide that aroma, but to allow it to emanate from you as the beautiful scent of the life giving gospel. I want to encourage and even urge you to not allow the fact that people may reject the gospel to hinder you from proclaiming Jesus. Let people smell Jesus on you!

Who Is Equal To Such A Task?

     As we read on, we read a very relevant and challenging question when Paul asks, “who is equal to such a task?”

Simply you and me are, Paul goes on a few verses later when in II Corinthians 3:5 he says,

2 Corinthians 3:5 CSB

5 It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.

“our competence comes from God.” How gladI am that the answer to the question, “who is equal to such a task” does not come from me alone.

God has taken the stench of death which is on every one of us and replaced it with the beautiful smell of Life. Because He has done this, He makes us able to be the powerful and beautiful smell of Christ!

The choice though of what smell we make is ours.

Conclusion

 Have you ever seen the Mr. Bean video in which he is to meet the queen and he tests his breath to make sure that it smells good? Mr. Bean is funny because he exaggerates what all of us do.

Let’s be honest, we all find ways of testing to make sure we smell good.

Face masks seem to be a great way there has been more than once I have put mine on and then taken it off to go and find my tooth brus. I didn’t want to be caught smelling bad.

If you were to do a self test on your life as a Christian, what would it reveal? Does the aroma of Christ emanate from you or do you stink? If you stink, what steps will you take to smell nice? or do yo not smell at all?

In these challenging times I believe that the world around us needs some air freshener, my challenge to you is this: Do not hide the fragrance of Christ, but allow it to be experienced by all you meet.

Allow the wonderful fragrance of the gospel to emanate from you by your words and your deeds.

In summary, my challenge to you is to smell nice!