Fragrance (Pentecost - Day 11)

(Based on 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17)

My non-smoking endeavor lasted sixty-three hours. I had a cigarette at work, and eight hours later bought a pack. It would be stupid of me not to share a few thoughts concerning the matter. Maybe in the future I can look back at this and be reminded of what it was like. 

First of all, money was not enough to make me quit. No matter how much money I have or don't have, it's not powerful enough to create the willingness to give up smoking.

Second, God is not going to stand in my way when I am determined to do something. I got in my car, with my mind set to go buy cigarettes. I threw out a last-effort prayer that went something like, "God, if you don't want me to do this, then stop me." My car started, and I didn't get in a wreck on the way to the store. 

Third, if I'm not willing to give up something but am forcing myself to do so, I will be miserable. I don't think it's impossible to give up something that I'm not willing to give up, but I think it's going to be miserable. If I want to be less miserable, then I have to be way more willing. 

With that said, I enter into today's passage in second Corinthians. There is a man in the church of Corinth who has evidently stirred up a hornet's nest of problems. There has been a majority vote in the church on the adequate punishment for this man, but we're not told of what he did nor the punishment received. Paul writes the people to tell them that it's time to stop laying on the guilt, and start forgiving and helping the man back on his feet. He says it's the responsibility of the people to take care of the health of the church. 

Paul is saying that if they want the church to be healthy, then punishment is not the solution. Love and forgiveness leads to a healthy church, not excommunication or guilt trips. Paul then goes on to say, using the man in question, that because of Christ, we give off a pleasant aroma to God. In essence, we smell like roses to God. It's the human senses that are all out of whack. Paul says that those who are on the way to salvation notice the fragrant aroma, but those who are on their way to destruction smell nothing but a rotting corpse. 

This means a lot to me, because most of the time when I fail at something, I smell my own decaying, rotting, flesh. I don't smell the sweetness of Christ. I don't smell what God smells. 

Perhaps some people around me also smell rotting flesh. They smell my failures, my falls, and my trip-ups. It perhaps turns them away or causes them to lay guilt trips on me. Then there are other people who still smell the fragrance of life, of love and forgiveness. 

It also goes the other way. When people around me mess up or fail, do I smell death and decay? Or, do I continue to smell the fragrance of Christ, the love and mercy that are still present in spite of failure? 

How do our communities smell? At work? At church? With friends?

Are we smelling the fragrance of forgiveness, love, and mercy when people around us fall down? Or, are we smelling decay?

In order for our communities to be healthy, love and forgiveness and helping the fallen back on their feet must be the final word. Excluding the "sinners," the people who annoy us, and the people who aren't following our rules or faiths actually degrades the health of our communities. Although punishment and correction may be part of the process, they should not be the last, defining, stand. The ultimate fragrance of a community is defined by how well we pick up the pieces and work together to help the fallen back on their feet. 

Paul tells us that God doesn't smell our mistakes, but smells the fragrance of Christ. His senses are filtered through the love of Jesus, not the wishy-washiness of our own decisions and beliefs. He loves us more than we could ever imagine, more than the pictures we paint of ourselves, and more than the pictures others paint of us. Do we dare believe this? In spite of everything we tell ourselves, and everything we're told by the people around us, do we dare believe this? 

Today's Action: Throughout the day, we're inevitably going to hear a complaint about somebody. Instead of turning the conversation into backstabbing gossip, maybe we can try to figure out how we can love the person in question and help them back to their feet. Turn a conversation that could easily turn sour into a conversation that can lead to preserving a healthy community. May we remember how God smells us compared to how we smell ourselves and the people around us.