Foundations

I've been reading a book entitled "Fear No Evil" by American pastor Brady Boyd which was lent to me by a friend when returning a book I lent to them. In this book, pastors and others are encouraged to develop a better understanding of who they are and what they stand for, through writing down statements that then can become guiding principles for their decision-making and their responses to certain happenings. This is especially important for when you are put on the spot or find yourself suddenly out of your comfort zone. So here goes ... this is what I wrote down for myself as a foundational statement for my life and ministry: "The Jesus-following life necessarily means initiating and participating in causes and activities that make the world more reflective of the Kingdom of God as per Jesus' great prayer 'Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven'". 

A Fragrance on the Breeze

Here is the written form of the devotion shared at our Tarneit dinner together last Sunday evening. It is based on the biblical text 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 (emphasising vs.14-16). Here is the text of those three verses from the New Revised Standard Version, where the Apostle Paul writes: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life."

Verse 14 offers a picture of a Roman general leading his victorious troops in procession through the city before a crowd that is applauding and burning incense & spices and lavishly sprinkling perfume (in thanksgiving to the gods who gave them victory) ... bringing with them their captured prisoners (from the defeated army) facing public ridicule and enslavement or death. So, which part of the procession are we in? With the victors? With the captives? Either at different times? Who are more impressive – those victors in the way they handle their success, or those captive in the way they handle their suffering?

Verses 14-15 have the emphasis on the fragrance or aroma that is smelt publically by all in the city. This is a fragrance gained not from a bottle but rather from knowing God through Jesus. Perhaps we could also sense that it is the crowd that sets the fragrance going in response to an experience of joy ... or as a response to meeting Jesus in others. Yet, as we see, this fragrance doesn’t necessarily work for everyone; but it certainly is available to everyone!

On verses 15-16 Larry Richards writes: “The Gospel message stimulates conflicting reactions. Some who hear respond like a child who smells his mother’s chocolate chip cookies baking. Some who hear react with wrinkled noses and expressions of disgust, as though a skunk had just passed by.” Some people will remain in their experience of death, while others will be illuminated in their experience of life.

Are we bringing the aroma of Jesus everywhere we go? This remains a challenge both when things are going well and when things are not going well, and also every time in between!