Intro: For Christmas, a dear friend gave me an essential oil defuser. When heated, the oils release a delicate and pleasant fragrance that fills the room. When I walk into the house, a beautiful fragrance is there to greet me. It makes me breathe deeply and smile.
Scripture teaches when the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached or lived out in human lives, it releases a beautiful fragrance. Honestly, not everyone likes the odor that follows the gospel; in fact, some find the truth repulsive. But, for believers, the gospel is the life-giving fragrance of our Savior and we find it so sweet!
In our passage today, the Apostle Paul reminds Christ’s followers they are servants who are to spread the fragrance of Christ everywhere they go. Like incense or oils, we leave a fragrance behind with our lives. That fragrance should be pleasant as it lingers; it should encourage people to join as we follow the Source. Christ has made us all ministers of the gospel message, so may we release a beautiful fragrance by how we live, because this allows Christ to draw others to himself.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 NLT Ministers of the New Covenant
14 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. 15 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. 16 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. And who is adequate for such a task as this?
17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters [like merchants] who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the power of the gospel message. When people allow the truth to live in their hearts, they produce the fragrance of life. If people refuse the truth, Christ’s fragrance reminds them of death and they are repulsed. Please keep us mindful of this, but help us choose to proclaim your message and be the fragrance of life, anyway. In Jesus’ name. Amen.