‘Can you tell her to wear deodorant?’ Dart asked. ‘She’s smelling really bad.’ Comments that led the British tennis star to apologise to her French opponent the next day.
On this silent Saturday between the cross and the resurrection Paul introduces us to something very common to those who had witnessed Roman triumphal processions (see v14). During those parades incense was burned throughout the city and the beautiful fragrance was a symbol of the victory for Rome. But for those prisoners of war captured by the regime of Rome it signalled their impending doom.
“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.” (2 Corinthians 2 v 15-16)
The cross of Jesus Christ divides people into 2 responses: being saved and life; and perishing and death. The gospel isn’t neutral. It divides. Frees some but condemns others.
So how should we be?
- We acknowledge that our actions and words have influence, wherever we are.
- If we are rejected because of our message that doesn’t mean we have failed.
- The aroma is for God ultimately. Our audience is for One not the world.
Wherever you are today the prayer must be that people you meet experience the love of Christ and His grace. That when they are with you they are smelling something good.
Missions Paul 