There are certain aromas that immediately take you to a time and a place. Like the smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven...I'm brought back to childhood days of holiday meals and family gatherings. That time of year I always find myself looking for candles that bring the same spiciness and warmth to our home. Or like the salty coastal air, the briny sea breeze an echo of gathering under shade of palms, kicking a soccer ball around, lazing in hammocks, playing music and sipping on cheap beer. When I smell garlic roasting in a pan, I think of home...I think of learning to cook with and for my husband in these first few years of marriage, no kids yet, just trying our best to be adults and find a rhythm. When I smell pineapple and coconut I also think of my husband, soaking up the sun somewhere in the Keys, letting the days crawl by slowly, listening to The Eagles or Jack Johnson by the pool. The smell of coffee brewing reminds me of my dad, and early mornings driving me to school when I was a teenager.
Fragrance is a memory. I promise this is not a perfume ad...well, actually, there is perfume involved. But just go with me here.
The Bible tells us there are offerings which were particularly pleasing to God, "a fragrant offering." The fragrance refers to the smell of burnt sacrifices on the altar for the propitiation of sins in the Old Testament. A fragrant offering always required sacrifice.
This makes sense when you think about it...some of our favorite smells require a sacrifice of some kind to produce. The smell of meat on the grill requires a living thing to die. The smell of coffee brewing requires grinding and heat and pressure. And smell is irrevocably linked to our ability to taste. It brings another dimension to the experience of having a meal or a shot of espresso or a sip of wine. But that's a whole other blog post we'll get to later. ;)
Fragrant offerings have a cost. My favorite illustration of this is found in John 12, when Jesus is visiting with Lazarus, whom he had just raised from the dead, and Mary and Martha, who were hosting a dinner in his honor. Verse 3 says, "Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume" (John 12:3).
Mary receives criticism for such a lavish outpouring that equates to almost a year's wages, which could have been put to "better" use or given to the poor (verse 5). But Jesus replies, "Leave her alone; she intended to keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you will always have with you, but you do not always have me." Hinting of course at what was to come at the crucifixion, Jesus defends her generous offering, for he knows the sacrifice it was and the sacrifice that was to come...an act which would later qualify the life of Jesus as the most fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).
This story is often referred to as "The Anointing of Jesus at Bethany." Anointing with oil has historically been used for healing and as a symbol of hospitality. In Judaism specifically, it is associated with the consecration of a new priest or High Priest, a prophet, or a king (Easton's Bible Dictionary). But this is not the first time expensive fragrance was poured out to honor Jesus. It also happened at his birth (see Matthew 2:11). Frankincense and myrrh are two expensive resins used for perfume, incense and healing. From his birth, it's as if his kingship, his perfect priesthood, was already being established and anointed. In the days just before his death, Mary's outpouring does it again. The aromas poured out filled the room with the knowledge of who he truly was, though the disciples did not yet fully know: the better Prophet, our great High Priest, the King of kings.
I love this image because John is so intentional in describing how the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Mary's offering was an act of worship. It cost her something great, but it said to everyone in the room, Jesus is worthy of all this and so much more. I want our worship to be like that...a sacrificial offering to God that fills the room with a fragrance pleasing to Him. I want our worship to look overly-generous, outrageous in the eyes of the world, an outpouring that brings honor to the Lord and healing to the world. When we enter our sanctuaries, how much are we laying down, offering up, pouring out that truly costs us something? If our worship is easy, then what are we really doing?
Fragrant offerings are reminders of God's covenantal promises to us. When God smells Noah's burnt offering after the flood, He promises never again to flood the earth (Genesis 8:20-22). The same is true in our worship today. We gather to sing and pray and read scripture to remember what He's done, to echo those stories and truths back to one another again. We need that desperately, especially in these days where "gathering" for worship is no longer possible in the usual sense. I can assure you, even if we're spread out all over the city, if we are lifting up a song of praise together, to remember and to proclaim truth, especially when we don't feel like it's worth it...that is an aroma pleasing to God, filling our city with the fragrance of our worship.
So what is considered a fragrant offering to the Lord? I think the simple answer is: worship. Whatever costs us something to honor His name and proclaim who He is. This can look a few different ways:
- Our prayers: speaking directly to God, in private or in community (Revelation 5:8)
- Our songs: being filled with the Holy Spirit & singing (Ephesians 5:18-20)
- Our abilities: offering our lives & God-given talents as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-8)
- Our generous giving: not just to the church, but to those in need (Phil. 4:18, Heb. 13:16)
- Our walk: living a life of sacrifice and Christ-like love (Ephesians 5:1-2)
- Our mission: sharing the Gospel (2 Corinthians 2)
There's something about fragrance that gives us a hint of the true life that Jesus offers. In Him, we don't just breath in a plain, odorless life. We breathe in a fragrant life, a kind of joy like opening a fresh bag of whole-bean coffee, or receiving a bouquet of flowers, or feasting your eyes on a decadent meal set before you. In His death, resurrection, and ascension, we are given the Holy Spirit, by which we are now baptized, anointed. This Spirit breathes new life into us - an abundant life, as we're told in scripture (Psalm 16:11, John 10:10, 1 Timothy 6:18-19). The Holy Spirit is the resource to a new way of breathing, living. It's abundant and lavish and fills the rooms of our soul (and the world) with something aromatic and sweet.
So open up His Word and breathe it in again. Go back to that place and remember His promises. Then as a response, exhale a sacrifice of praise in prayers, songs, and walking in love.
For God's glory,
Kayla
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