Sweet, Soothing Fragrance of God; Sermon on Philippians 4:10-23

Rev. George Miller
Sept 1, 2019
Philippians 4:10-23

Back in the 1990’s I had an experience that has always stayed with me.

Like most people in their 20’s I was still struggling to get by, still figuring out who I was meant to be.

A dear friend knew about my situation, so she reached out to an organization that gave out Christmas baskets to individuals in need.

I still remember that Christmas morning, sitting on the bare floor of my 3rd story walk-up studio apartment, opening up that brown box of items.

I don’t recall anything that was in there, but I will always remember that there was a beautiful blue button-down plaid shirt.

It was the good kind. It was not synthetic, or a blend, or a hand-me-down. It was a high-quality cotton shirt with all the tags still on, and it fit perfectly.

It was so clear that this shirt was purchased at a real department store and that the giver of the gift had taken time and thought into what they were buying.

For anyone who has ever received assistance, you can always tell when something is an after-thought, or cheap, or given with a “it’ll do” attitude.”

This was not one of those gifts; it was an intentional expression of compassion.

And I just remember sitting on the floor, crying…crying because someone who didn’t even know me loved me enough to give something that meant so much.

I wore that shirt with joy and pride until it wore out.

That single shirt was Christ to me on that Christmas day…

…This morning we come to our end of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, a letter he wrote in jail, under a foreign government’s rule.

In this letter Paul wrote about how to be the church, how to work out our own salvation, and to remind us that we are Citizens of Heaven.

As he ends his letter, Paul switches gears and he directs it towards his own experience of Christ.

He addresses relationships, he addresses attitudes, and he addresses something the Philippian church has done for him.

During Paul’s ministry he has been much of a leader and much of a loner, he has done things for other people, he has done things self-sufficiently.

He has turned down assistance from others, but there is something different about his interactions with those in Philippi- they have reached out to him and he has accepted their generosity, gifts they have sent him via a church member named Epaphroditus who has visited Paul while in jail.

What these gifts are, no one is really sure, but in verse 18 Paul refers to them as a fragrant offering, a sacrifice accepting and pleasing to the Lord.

There are at least two ways of understanding what Paul means.

The 1st way is metaphorically. There is a good chance that Paul is making references to the Old Testament when people made animal sacrifices to God.

As one theologian stated, it appears that God likes a good barbeque, so the smell of all that flavorful, fatty goodness would be pleasing to God.

We see this in Genesis when Abel makes an offering of his firstlings to God, and when Moses makes an offering after surviving The Flood.

We see this sense of God enjoying a fragrant offering throughout Numbers and Leviticus.

Different Bibles will use other words like, such as pleasing. The New American Standard Bible uses the word “soothing”, such as in Leviticus 6:14 in which an offering of frankincense and flour was called a “soothing aroma” to the Lord.

Fragrant, pleasing, soothing- we get the idea of how God enjoys these gifts.

Paul, always with a mind thinking so brilliantly, takes this notion and turns it on its head when he writes a letter to the Corinthian church and he states that thanks to Jesus, we become the recipients of that pleasing, soothing fragrance.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, Paul goes even further by stating that as followers of Christ, we are the ones who become the soothing aroma to those who are suffering, those who are going through dark times, and those who are experiencing death.

Isn’t that beautiful? The idea that as Citizens of Heaven, in which Christ is Lord, that it is we who get to be the fragrant aroma to others.

In Christ, we are fragrant.

In Christ, we get to be like balms of Gilead, roses in the garden. We get to be like scented candles in another’s darkness.

In other words, each and every time we open our Shepherd’s Pantry door, we are not just sharing the light of Christ, we are the aroma, the sweet, sweet fragrance of the Lord.

So, in verse 18 Paul could be writing in metaphor; but there is also a chance that he could be talking literally.

There’s a chance the gifts he received from the Philippian Church were along the lines of health and beauty items that would have had an actual fragrant aroma.

Perhaps Paul received a care package that was meant to brighten up his spirits, freshen up the stench of where he was, and restore his dignity with items such as healing oils and perfumes.

Use our modern imagination to think of what could have been placed in that Philippian gift box:

Soap, and not the cheap kind that crumbles away, but the likes of Dial, Dove or Neutrogena.

Maybe there was some really good Irish Spring or lavender scented body wash. Or shampoo like Garnier, Prell or Aveda.

Maybe they gave him some cocoa butter or Aveno body lotion to help prevent dry skin, and some shaving cream from Gillette or Edge.

Maybe they even threw in a bottle of Sean John cologne or Old Spice and a scented candle that smelled like fresh linen, spring rain or ocean breeze.

If that’s possible, imagine Paul, in prison. We’re not exactly sure, or when, or how long he was into his stay.

It could have been his 1st week, 1st month, 1st year, but to receive that care package from the folk in Philippi that they had lovingly, intentionally put together must have been inspiring.

Imagine Paul receiving this fragrant offering, and the joy and assurance it must have given him, if even for that moment.

Imagine how such a soothing array of aromatic gifts would have empowered him to hold onto hope, move forward in faith, and to keep on keeping on.

Perhaps their gift is the reason why he claimed to be content, to recall when he’s had plenty, when he’s been well fed, and how God strengthened him.

Regardless what the gift was, it’s clear that for Paul their generosity was not only a celebration of God, but their generosity was also pleasing to God.

Paul states that their gift to him was in essence an offering to God.

And that gift given to him while in prison did not just minister to Paul, but to those he was in prison with, it ministered beyond the walls of his captivity, into the household of Caesar.

The sweet aroma of that gift made it back to Philippi, and it has even made it across time and continents as it ministers to us today.

You know, so often in church we hear about what it is we can do for others.

How we can be a light, we can be a place of help, we can be a source of hope.

But as we close out today’s message, there is another part of our faith- that we can also be the recipients of hope, the recipients of help, and the recipients of light.

Being a Citizen of Heaven means that we also are open to receiving the Christ in others; that we will welcome those who will care for us, reach out to us, and love us.

As Paul’s letter comes to its joyful conclusion, there are some lessons we can learn:

When someone wants to give you love, it is Ok to accept it.

When someone wants to share love, it is OK to receive it.

When someone wants to show love, it is Ok to see it.

When you need love, it is Ok to request it.

Because when we do that, not only is God glorified, but God’s message is turned into a pleasing, fragrant offering.

The kind that sooths the world around us and can make even the darkest dungeon full of sweet aroma.

For that, we can say “Amen.”