tagged 
aroma, experience, fragrance
aroma, experience, fragrance Monday's Meditation: The Aroma of Christ
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 12:05AM 
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? (2 Corinthians 2: 14-16)
Perhaps it’s the smell of donuts and tea, all yeasty and sweet. Or roses: nuanced and subtle, filling the room. Or the smell of baking bread where there should be the stench of burning flesh.
This week’s meditation is an invitation to breathe deep and discover the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ. Of course, the Apostle Paul was only using a metaphor, right? The intellectual colossus of Christianity would have never intended we could actually smell the presence of Jesus, would he?
I was away on a business trip last week. My 8 year-old daughter used my Cheerios Tee as a nightshirt, but not before smelling all the T-shirts in the closet because they reminded her of Daddy. We could never remember Jesus like that. Never? Widows tell of opening a dresser drawer and catching the fragrance of their husband long departed. Our brain recalls the decades past by the faintest whiff of a meal we ate as children. We smell the beach before we see the ocean.
Check the commentaries and you’ll find the musty smell of books and study. The commentators will remind you of Roman processions and temples filled with incense. The learned professors will explain these words were the stuff of Paul’s creative metaphor.
But there is another way: you can check the history of the people of God, common folk who have experienced uncommon things:
John the Apostle had a disciple named Polycarp. In 155 A.D. he was arrested and threatened with fire because he loved John’s Master, Jesus. “You threaten fire which burns for an hour and is soon quenched.” he said. “Why do you wait? Come, do what you will!” When the authorities tied him to a stake and set him ablaze, his skin turned golden brown and witnesses smelled the smell of baking bread. Since the witnesses were not theologians they reported their experience and not a metaphor: the aroma of the bread of life.
But who can trust witnesses dead for 18 centuries? Something like that could never happen today.
That’s what I thought until a gnarly old musician, a 60’s throwback who sang worship songs to Jesus came to our little town. Barely 40 people gathered to hear him sing and minister. Yet when he prayed one-on-one for those who stayed until the end, the room swelled with rose-scent, a bouquet of God’s presence right before my very nose. It happened again the next day as I drove him to the airport. Our car filled with perfume as if an alabaster jar had been broken before me.
Still, it’s hard to believe, I grant you. And who could possibly expect it to happen again:
Until one Sunday morning when two rows of worshipers in our church encountered the smell of donuts and tea while they sang and raised their hands, each one sure they were the only ones until one looked at another and said, “This is weird, but do you smell tea?”
Of course, the commentators are right: Paul's words are allusions to the practices of the day. He was merely drawing on the common understanding of his times. But what if Paul also wrote his experiences down? What if there is also a spiritual reality long lost, and the Spirit is trying to whet our appetite for his presence again today?
How about you? Do you have a story to tell? Has his fragrance ever settled on you?
Reader Comments (12)
This is a wonderful post, evocative, thrilling even. I wish I could say I had a similar story to share, but so far I do not. However, I will never read that passage the same way again and that is remarkable. Here's to keeping our noses 'tuned' to the movement of the Spirit. Thanks so much for this.
Thanks for dropping by, Diana, and for your kind words. I was a little tough on the commentators in this piece: truth is, Paul was almost certainty referring to both the phenomenon *and* the common practices of the era. In fact, the higher (more liturgical) churches have always incorporated incense into their service, both as a way to engage our senses and also as an image of intercession. Peace to you!
wow. thought provoking for sure. especially since today I've been smelling pillows with my almost-lover's smell
Last year I told my housemate that I kept smelling flowers when there were none around. A few weeks after I started smelling them, the trees in town started blooming, so I'm thinking it was a natural occurrence, but the smell of it made me think of Him and His good gifts every time so I think it counts :)
Thanks for dropping by. I'm so pleased to have provoked you to a new line of thought!
Anything that draws our thoughts to Jesus and his good gifts is pretty good! I've heard of people having a "foretaste," perhaps you had a "fore-smell?" :-)
I really like this Aroma of Christ concept. I think in addition to fragrances filling the air when He is near, there are certain fragrances that bring us to Him, as you hinted at when you mentioned smells that trigger memories.
Earlier this year, some friends of ours, Messianic Jews who have spent almost two decades in Israel, came and prayed for several members of our church congregation. They had brought some oil with them. It really had such a heavenly smell, that I felt as if I could reach out and touch heaven, touch Jesus right then and there. I asked them afterwards what oil they were using. It was frankincense.
When the gospels describe how Mary covered Jesus' feet with ointment, John's gospel observes, "the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume." Fragrant oil is great to use in worship--even better is when God provides it himself! :-)
I always have liked the references of our prayers rising as incense. I am not sure I have ever encountered anything like you describe here, but it doesn't seem out of tune with the character of God. Amazing, miraculous and always pointing to Him, not us.
Me too. I grew up Catholic and was fascinated when the priest would swing the censer as he came down the aisle. The reason for the post is I suspect that those things which we think are only symbols are actually pointing to a greater reality. In this particular case I just happen to have some personal experience with that greater reality!
But I like your yardstick: does it seem in tune with the character of God?
Amazing description of "taste and see"! Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, Rene: thanks for dropping by. You're always welcome here!