Something Smells To High Heaven

When I first heard this quaint little idiom, I think my mom was referring to 1) the room I shared with three other brothers, 2) my sock drawer, or 3) a carry out order I had forgotten about in the trunk of my dad’s ’58 Pontiac. Regardless, I sensed immediately it was not a compliment! That’s the thing about odors and fragrances…they don’t keep a secret very well. They tend to make whatever causes them to go public very quickly.

Throughout God’s word, fragrance is used to signify an offering or outpouring of worship to God, either through a sacrificial act of obedience or an expression of deep devotion. King David knew this when he wrote, “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2). Here the image of prayer as a fragrance is used metaphorically to describe something sweet that rises to God from our hearts when we draw near to Him.

A more literal example of the aroma of worship is found in the New Testament in the gospel of John. It is the familiar story of Mary anointing Jesus as a PDA, one which elicited responses of praise and disgust from those in attendance.

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some
for himself.

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
{ John 12:1-8 NLT }

To the object of her affection, Mary’s gift was a sweet smelling aroma which filled the room and publically announced that this Man’s life and love were worthy of costly adoration. To the hypocritical onlookers, it was a stench which reeked of wastefulness and self-indulgence. Surely there were more worthy beneficiaries (the poor, perhaps their own coffers) than this commoner from Nazareth. Isn’t it interesting how quickly we move to judgment of others’ expressions of devotion when they seem to surpass or even call into question our own? (I recall Pastor Bill’s comments on Sunday about the maniacs and idiots we encounter on the highway.)

Then there are the application passages which speak of our very lives being a fragrance to God, much like the life of Jesus himself, whose obedience was received by His father as a kind of incense. Paul writes to the Ephesian Christians: “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. “ (Ephesians 5:2 NLT)

And like most fragrances, we can expect different reactions from different recipients. To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote: “But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NLT)

As we enter our third week of the Advent Conspiracy, we have been challenged to worship fully, spend less, and to give lavishly during this prep time for Christmas. I pray that we could free each other to follow God’s leading in how that looks for each of us. Let’s not, as the Pharisees did, second guess the motives or amounts of anyone’s offering to God. What we choose to give to others must always spill out of us as an overflow of the amazing gift poured into us by God, through His very own Son. What comes from that can only smell to high heaven. Sweet!!!

-tad