Introduction: (BLACK SLIDE on screen Votive Candles with chocolate chip cookie Smell lit in sanctuary giving off pleasant aroma throughout Jerry enters auditorium from back with tray of cookies) Good Morning my name is Jerry O’Sullivan I am one of the pastors here at Shelter Rock Church and I am hoping that some of you who walked in the auditorium today noticed something. What was it? It smells in here; it smells good, it smells like cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies. The amazing thing about our sense of smell is that for most of us, even this morning, smelling the scent of fresh baked cookies caused us to recall people, places and events from our past that we associate with that smell. Research shows us that it is our sense of smell that is best at bringing back memories.
• When I smell the ink from a newspaper the memory I recall is the faces and houses of the people on my route in Port Washington when I was a paper boy delivering Newsday door to door.
• Whenever I smell moth balls I think of my Grandmother and I am transported back to the apartment she lived in the Bronx and the happy times we spent there on various holidays watching movies like March of the wooden soldiers and mighty Joe Young.
I think all of us would agree smell has a strong power to vividly bring back memories, and images of people and places it is definitely more important than we realize. Today I want to talk about what you and I smell like. What we smell like as a church to the world around us. What we smell like to our families and our neighbors. We definitely have a smell, in fact, why don’t you lean over and just smell the person next to you (Pause). Only kidding you don’t have to do that. All the visitors are like okay I am out of here. Today we are going to look at a section of scripture where the apostle Paul will teach us how to be the aroma, the fragrance, the smell of Christ to those around us. Today I want to answer this question from the scriptures: What does it mean to live our lives as the aroma of Christ?
Transition: Opening prayer
Trouble in Troas 2:12-13: Turn in your Bibles to 2 Cor Chapter 2 we are going to be reading from verse 14 and following on page 817. Let me give you some of the background to this passage so you know what is going on. BACK GROUND MAP ON SCREEN) Paul is on a trip from Ephesus to Philippi and had planned to rendezvous with a trusted companion named Titus at Troas who would brief him of the status of the troubled church at Corinth.
But Titus failed to appear. Thus Paul was very concerned about Titus and troubled by what was going on in Corinth because he had written them several difficult letters rebuking them and he did not know how they were taking his rebuke.
Paul left Troas and made his way to Philippi. At Philippi he found Titus and received the good news that many of the problems at the church in Corinth had been rectified and the majority of the church was behind Paul, and things were looking better. This so rejoiced Paul that he broke into a song of praise.
Transition: Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 (SCRIPTURE ON SCREEN)
(Transition – I believe in this section of scripture we find 4 images that Paul wants us to remember and associate with the Aroma of Christ. Let’s look at the first image)
Read 2:14a But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ
- We are the Aroma of Christ when our lives smell of Success: (IMAGE OF SUCCESS ON SCREEN)
Roman triumphal procession: The first image I want you to remember is that of a victory celebration. Corinth being part of the vast Roman Empire the Corinthians would be familiar with a Roman Triumphal Procession. Behind me on the screen you will see a few scenes from the movie Gladiator of what this would look like. (Show Clip one from Gladiator THEN BLACK) Whenever a victorious general returned home from battle, Rome gave him a public parade, not unlike our modern ticker-tape parades.
“…thanks be to God, who always leads us” In the metaphorical parade Paul is describing Jesus is the leader, the hero that leads others in his processional who have asked him to be the Lord of their lives. In this “Christian parade” Paul describes, Jesus Christ as the Victor. Through His ressurection, He has conquered every foe including the greatest foe known to man, death. Christians ride in that procession with Him, sharing His victory (SCRIPTURE 1 Cor. 15:54-57 ON SCREEN THEN BLACK).
“…in a triumphal procession in Christ” One of the things that characterized the Roman Triumphal procession was incense. (ShowClip 2 from Gladiator) Here again is a clip where you see what this might have looked like. Incenses was burning every where as part of the celebration. The Christian is to be like that incense our lives should smell of the success of the victory we have IN CHRIST.
Clarification: (IMAGE OF SUCCESS ON SCREEN) Now I want to be clear about what type of success Paul is talking about. The success he is referring to is an attitude of success not social standing. In America we associate success and God’s blessing with material wealth. Paul is NOT teaching us that we need to be Christians who are a financially and materially successful to be the Aroma of Christ. Whether we have a lot of a little, whether we are sick or we are well, whether we are old or we are young, married or single he wants us to be the aroma of Christ by having an attitude of victory and success with everything we do.
Picture of this: (Success Image on Screen) One of the people I imagine marching in this ticker tape parade is a man I have known for more then a decade. He was diagnosed with an incurable disease years ago that has caused him to be on disability for as long as I can remember. He has never worked a steady job or had a career to speak of. He has never owned a home in fact he raised a large family in a two bedroom apartment that he still lives in. He was unable to pay for college, weddings or any of those things that father’s are supposed to do for their kids. He is one of the funniest, fun loving, positive people I know. He has lived his life with an attitude of success and victory as long as I have known him because he has a relationship with Jesus. His relationship with Jesus has given him victory over the everyday struggles of life. He lives each day as a celebration with his wife, his children and all those who cross his path. Most would look at this man’s life as a failure but to me he smells of success, of the victory we have in Christ. Whenever I am around him I smell the Aroma of Christ and he causes me to remember Jesus.
Application: What is your attitude toward life today? Sitting in your chair right here right now. When you think about everything that makes up your life: your health, your relationships, your family, your occupation do you have an attitude of success OR do you have at attitude of failure. The way you answer that question is dependent on who is in control of your life. If Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives, if he is truly leading us then wherever He takes us; good or bad, easy or difficult we can have confidence that that is where we are supposed to be. No matter what difficulty, stress, sickness or heartbreak is in our life we can still have an attitude of success, here and now, because we believe in a soverign God who loves us. When people have an attitude of success and victory no matter what life throws at them people can’t help but notice. We are the Aroma of Christ when we demonstrate an attitude of success, in the midst of hardships, because we know what Christ has done for us and will do for us in the future.
(Transition: The first image that Paul wants us to remember as the aroma of Christ is Success, that Christ followers would live victoriously because of what Christ has done. (GO TO BLACK SLIDE) Let’s look to the next image Paul wants us to remember as the Aroma of Christ)
Read 2:14b and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
– We are the Aroma of Christ when our lives smell of Service: (IMAGE OF SERVICE ON SCREEN)
To Love is to Serve: (Scripture Eph 5:2 on screen) says “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” God has chosen us, his church to spread the knowledge of him, the good news of Jesus Christ. I believe that the most effective way we spread our knowledge of Jesus, is not by our words but by our actions. We are the aroma of Christ when our lives smell of service. To love is to serve.
Picture of this: (Service Image on Screen) The image I want you to remember is a towel and basin. An image taken from John 13 where Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. Foot washing was a common occurrence during the time of Jesus. People wore opened toed leather sandals, I don’t believe socks were invented yet and the most common mode of transportation was walking or riding animals. On their feet they would have dirt, sweat, dung and other filth. The way that they would eat a meal would not be at a table but reclining on the floor with your feet next to or very close to other people’s faces and food. So clean feet was something very important for a meal. A servant was not present at the last supper to wash their feet and none of the disciples were willing to do this lowly task. So Jesus takes on the role of what the lowliest servant or slave would do washing the feces, mud and stink off of 24 feet to give us an example of how his followers are to live. (SCRIPTURE John 13:12-17 ON SCREEN). It is no longer necessary to practice foot washing, we have socks now, older eaters, we sit at tables and but we still need to be the Aroma of Christ by serving others in love.
Application: (IMAGE OF SERVICE ON SCREEN)When people hear your name, when they think of who you are how would they describe you, as one who serves or who is served? (Pause) Christ followers are not called to be busy, or over-committed, but they are called to be the aroma of Christ by being servants. We are the aroma of Christ when we watch a friend’s kids for the afternoon. We are the Aroma of Christ when we help shovel a neighbors drive way. We are the Aroma of Christ when we give joyfully to a friend in need. We are the aroma of Christ when we really listen to our spouse. We are the aroma of Christ when we give someone a ride to the airport or to church on Sunday. We are the aroma of Christ when we are just there for someone who has just lost a loved one. We are the Aroma of Christ when we volunteer our time and energy through serving in the local church. We are the aroma of Christ when we volunteer to stay up all night on a Jr. high all nighter. We need to serve people till they ask us why we are doing this and then we need to be able to share with them the knowledge and hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Illustration Missions: I believe that the best way to spread our knowledge of Christ is to do what he did serve others in love. This summer Shelter Rock Church will send out more then 80 short term missionaries who God willing will build a school in the DR for kids that don’t have one and a home for a Widow in Kenya who has lost a husband to HIV and is living in a shanty with her children. We will go and spend time with these families and serve them by meeting a physical need but our prayer is that they would want to know why we are doing this and that we might have an opportunity to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ.
(Transition: We are the aroma of Christ when our life causes people to remember the image of service (Jesus coming as a servant) but there are still more images that the aroma of Christ will cause people to remember) (BLACK SLIDE ON SCREEN)
Read 2 Cor 2:15-16 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
We are the Aroma of Christ when our lives smell of Sacrifice: (IMAGE OF SACRIFICE ON SCREEN) Back to our Roman Processional, this parade was filled with pomp and glory, and a great deal of incense was burned in honor of the hero. In the parade soldiers and officers would enjoy glory and praise, but slaves and captives also present would end up in the arena to die fighting the wild beasts as gladiators. (Show Clip #3 from Gladiator THEN TO BLACK SLIDE). As the victors smelled the incense, they inhaled an aroma of life and joy; but to the captives, the incense was a reminder of their coming death.
Aroma Pleasing to God: The words fragrance or aroma are common through out the OT but they are almost always associated with a sacrifice to God. But what does this mean for us we no longer worship God through a sacrificial worship system. We no longer bring up animals to the altar. We no longer lay our hands on the head of that animal to transfer our sin. We no longer worship God that way because of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh came to earth to live a perfect life following the law and sacrifice himself on a cross to be a perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. But, God still wants us to be a pleasing aroma only instead of an animal dying for us He wants our very lives to be that sacrifice to that pleasing aroma to him. (Romans 12:1 ON SCREEN) tells us that our very lives are to be living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God that this is to be our spiritual act of worship. Our very lives are to be holy and pleasing to God.
Picture of this: (Image of Sacrifice on Screen) The image we have for sacrifice is a person with arms outstretched and it represents this idea of being a living sacrifice. What does someone who is a living sacrifice look like what do they have to do to be the Aroma of Christ? The key to understanding Romans 12:1 is the first word “Therefore” the 11 chapters of Romans that came before it are the key to understanding what Paul means. I just want to highlight a few things Paul tells us in those 11 chapters: (ROMAN ROAD ON SCREEN)
• 3:23 tells us that all fall short of the glory of God, all of us sin.
• 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
• 5:8 tells us that God demonstrated his love for us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• 10:9 says that if you confess with your moth “Jesus is Lord.” And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(DEF OF LIVING SACRIFICE ON SCREEN) I would define living sacrifice as one who points people to the cross of Christ by the way they live there life. We are the Aroma of Christ when we are willing to acknowledge how messed up and imperfect we are but because of a perfect savior we can have a relationship with God. We are the Aroma of Christ when we point people to the Cross by sharing with those around us what it means to saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Cross Illustration: Have you ever thought about the imagery of the cross. (BIG CROSS ON SCREEN) For most of us when we feel the cross around our neck or see it in church on Sunday it brings a sense of comfort and hope. We tend to forget that the cross was a tool to carry out judgment and execution for hundreds of years. (CRUCIFIED JESUS ON SCREEN) Many see life and hope in the cross but others see it as an instrument of judgment and death. The only image I know of that gives both the smell of death to some and the fragrance of life to others is the cross. To be a living sacrifice means that when you point people to Jesus some will know they are saved others will know they are doomed.
Application: (IMAGE OF SACRIFICE ON SCREEN) We are a living sacrifice and the aroma of Christ when point people to the cross by sharing our faith story? We are the aroma of Christ when we invite someone to church, or our Community Group. We are the Aroma of Christ when we share God’s story his plan of salvation with our co-workers, neighbors or the kids in our Sunday School Class. When you tell people about the cross of Christ some will be annoyed or offended by what you say but others will believe and their lives transformed forever.
(Transition: We are the aroma of Christ when our life causes people to remember the images the image of sacrifice (the cross of Christ) but there are still one more image that the aroma of Christ will cause people to remember) (GO TO BLACK SLIDE)
Read 2 Cor 2:16b-17 “Who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.”
We are the Aroma of Christ when our lives smell of Sincerity: (IMAGE OF SINCERITY ON SCREEN) Paul says in the last part of 2:16 “who is equal to such a task” “Who is it that God can use to be the Aroma of Christ to those around us. People whose lives smell of sincerity.
Picture of this: The final image I want you to remember is a heart with a cross in it. Because of what Christ the Holy Spirit is able to reside in us, live in us when we ask God to come into our life and make Jesus the Lord of our lives. Here is the thing he wants to be in the center of our heart, the center of our lives not the periphery. We are the Aroma of Christ when we worship God with, our whole heart, when we worship him with sincerity.
Many years ago a band named DC talk put out an Album called Jesus Freak. On that Album their was a quote that has stuck with me for more then a decade. (DC TALK Quote ON SCRREN): “Greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” This last Image is what binds everything together into the Aroma of Christ.
Application: (IMAGE OF SINCERITY ON SCREEN) Would your spouse, your accountant, your neighbors, your friends, your kids the people closest to you in life describe you as sincere or hypocritical? Friends nothing creates a greater stink then someone who says one thing and does another. To be the Aroma of Christ we need to be like him we need to practice what we preach in humility and sincerity.
(Big Idea on Screen) What does it mean to live our lives as the aroma of Christ? We are the Aroma of Christ when our life smells of IMAGES Of success, service, sacrifice and sincerity on screen so that it causes people to remember Jesus (Last Slide on Screen) .
Close in prayer (Black Slide on Screen)
Benediction/Conclusion:
My prayer for all of you is that whenever you smell a pleasing aroma such as fresh baked cookies, spring flowers, Popcorn, a pleasing perfume that you would be reminded of the four images that we are to demonstrate to be The Aroma of Christ to the world around us. If you know you are not following Jesus right now or need someone to pray with you because of a hardship or difficulty that is making it hard to live with an attitude of success and victory please come down to the front after the service and someone will be here to pray with you.
Now Go and be The Aroma of Christ a pleasing Aroma to God and the world around you. Go now and live your life in such a way that people remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus because of you.
