We Are the Aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:12-17)

We Are the Aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:12-17)

1. A Monk with an Angel
A certain monk and an angel are traveling together along a road. When they come across a dead horse, the monk quickly passes by it covering his nose. The angel asks him the reason. The monk answers: "I cannot bear with the rotten smell of the dead horse." They keep walking. Five minutes later, they encounter with a beautiful lady who powdered her face heavily. At this time, the angel covers his nose. Thinking it strange, the monk asks the angel the reason. The angel answers: "I cannot bear with the woman's smell of lewdness." As the 1 Enoch, one of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, tells that a group of angels were fallen to the earth when they were so fascinated by the beauty of women(cf. Gen 6), it is quite reasonable for the angel to cover his nose. The angel should have covered his eyes, too.

2. My Experience of A Skunk
Twenty years ago, when I came to the United States for study, I lived on campus (SUNY at Binghamton). One day, while I was walking around the campus after dinner, I found a wild animal of a cat-size. It had a white stripe on its back. I thought that it was a badger or a wildcat. As I never met any wild animal on campus in Korea, I was enjoying this rare chance of chasing the wild animal. It looked very cute to me.
Intimidated by my active chase of it, the animal was running away. However, finally, I could grasp it. Then, the animal bit my hand. At the same time, it emitted strong noxious gases from its bottom. I could not bear with the stinky poisonous smell. The smell was spread the whole campus.
It was a skunk!
I did not know what a skunk looked like. The bad smell was soaked into my clothes and into my room, and it did not go away for a month. Since then, I never approached closer to this smelly animal. Sometimes, while driving a car, I have a chance to smell a dead skunk. It's hard for me to bear with this sickening smell, as I was hurt so badly by this.

3. A Flower with No Smell
Flowers usually give out sweet fragrance. Because of the sweet fragrance, bees and butterflies fly onto them. More than a thousand years ago, there was a wise lady named Duk-Mann in Shila dynasty of Korea, who became a queen later. While she was a princess in her teens, her wisdom was widely known. Her father, King Jin-Pyong, received a picture of a peony tree with its seeds from Tang, an old Chinese dynasty. The king showed the picture to his daughter, Duk-Mann. After she examined the peony tree and its flowers in the picture, she said to the king about this: "The peony flower is beautiful but it does not have fragrance." The king asked her: "How do you know that?"
She explained: "When a woman is beautiful, men gather around her to earn her mind. When a flower spreads fragrance, bees and butterflies come onto it. But as there are no bees and butterflies in this picture of peony, it must have no fragrance" The king had someone sow the seeds, and years later the tree blossomed flowers. But indeed, there was no aroma coming out from the flowers. Naturally, no bees and butterflies flew onto them.

4. A Flower with Thick Smell
On the other hand, there are flowers which spread thick fragrance. When you smell lilac, it is so fragrant. But, as time goes on, you may become dizzy, especially in a blocked space.
There is a 'Manchanil' tree in the West Indies. The tree looks very attractive and its timber is beautiful. Its fruit looks very tasty. And its oily fluid which flows out from the cut of the tree emits very fragrant smell. But if you eat the fluid, you will die immediately. If the fluid drops on your skin, you will get blisters and suffer from serious pain. Thus, the natives soak arrowheads into this fluid so that they surely kill their enemies. The fluid is poisonous because its smell is too much thick.

5. Christians with Different Smells
There are several kinds of Christians who spread different smells or no smell at all:
Some Christians spread a bad smell of this world. They deceive and lie to other people. They pursue all the worldly things without doing any good Christian conduct. Because of them, non-believers refuse to come to Church and to become Christians.
Some other Christians look nice, and their behaviors are quite okay. Yet, they do not emit any smell. There is no smell of the knowledge of Christ in them. They do not speak about Jesus Christ at all (inside and outside of the Church).
There are some other Christians who emit thick smell of Christ. As a matter of fact, their fragrance of Christ is too dense to be with them for a long time. At first, it is quite amazing to see their apparent strong faith, but later you may disappoint at their fanatic faith life. They press you too hard with their beliefs what they think that they are the only right stuffs. They tell you that what they are doing are entirely controlled by God. But, they seem not to be quite right.
I often meet some unexpected visitors at the door of my apartment. They ask me whether I believe in Christ. I say to them: "Yes, I believe in Christ. I am a pastor of a church." But, they want to continue their conversation: "Are you sure that you are saved? When were you saved? ......"
There are some other Christians who change their smells from time to time. In the Church, they give out a sweet fragrance, in their businesses they emit a rotten smell, and to their neighbors no smell at all.
Yet, there are healthy and sweet fragrant Christians. They want to imitate the life of Christ. They acknowledge that Jesus is their Savior. They want to wear the clothes of Christ. They want to walk with the Spirit of Christ. They want to witness Jesus Christ in season or out of season. Yet, they confess that they cannot do anything by themselves. They humble themselves before God (and before people). They ask God for help every day. They spread the soft yet sweet smell of Christ.

6. Paul's Ministry to Spread the Gospel (vs. 12-13)

vs. 12-13: "When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord; but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia."

When Paul met Christ who appeared to him in the midst of light on the way to Damascus, his whole life changed. Once he was a persecutor of Christians, but now he is a persecutee for Christ. He knows what is the most important thing for a Christian to do. "Spread the gospel of Christ." But, even Paul, a great apostle, gave up his chance to spread the gospel in Troas when he was worried about his friend, Titus, who went to Corinth and did not come back to him yet. As he could not wait for him at Troas, a city in Asia Minor, he went to Macedonia to get more information about Titus' whereabouts.

7. The Fragrance of the Knowledge of Christ (v. 14)

v. 14: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."

Although Paul does not know what happened to Titus, Paul gives thanks to God.
Paul's thanksgiving is not because he is under good circumstances and he got good results in his spreading the gospel.
His thanksgiving is because God is the source of his faith and Christian life.

To explain the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ, Paul refers to the triumphal processions of the Roman soldiers returning to Rome. The fragrance is the odor of incense in connection with such processions or with sacrifice. Smelling the odor of incense, the Roman citizens know that their soldiers won the victory.
For Christians, spreading the gospel is a kind of war.
In Ephesians 6:12-13 Paul says: "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
In this spiritual war, God makes believers always win the victory in Christ.
When Christians spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ, people know that they won the victory in this spiritual war. When Christians win the victory, the bad smell will go away, and the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ will permeate everywhere.

8. We are the Aroma of Christ (vs. 15-16)

vs. 15-16: "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?"

The aroma of Christ is not like the smell of an expensive lotion or a perfume. The fragrance of a lotion or a perfume is external, but the aroma of Christ is internal.
It comes out deep inside of us.
To spread the aroma of Christ, we abide in Christ. It is because we cannot produce and give out the fragrance of Christ by ourselves.
The Spirit of Christ in us is the source of the aroma.

When the Israelites turned away from God, they spread the bad rotten smell of idols.
God speaks to Israel through Hosea: "Return to Jehovah your God!" When they return to Jehovah their God, they may be able to give out the fragrance of God.
God says in Hosea 14:6-7: "His(=Israel's) shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like (a cedar of) Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom as the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon."

You give out the same aroma of Christ to everybody. You don't have to change your inner smell even if somebody does not like it, if you believe that is the aroma of Christ. Some people may like it, and some others may not. Those who like it will be saved, and those who don't will perish.
John 3:36 says: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.

"Who is sufficient for these things?"
In other words, "Who is adequate for giving out the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing?"
Any Christian who is in Christ is sufficient for these things.
Any Christian who is willing to accept God's commission is adequate for such a task as this.
Some people may say that I cannot be the aroma of Christ, because I committed so many wrongdoings. But, hear what Paul says to us: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come!"(2 Corinthians 5:17)
When you decide to be in Christ today, again, you will become a new creation, and you can start a new Christian life, and now, you are the aroma of Christ.
Yea, this is the promise in the Bible.

9. As Men of Sincerity, As Commissioned by God We Speak in Christ (v. 17)
v. 17: "For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."

Peddlers--false teachers or false apostles--are those who confuse the Word of God and make use of it for their worldly benefit and desire. Some may use the Word of God for wrong purpose. But, Paul and those Christians after him, as men of sincerity, commissioned by God, speak in Christ of the gospel of God, as it gives life and they are the aroma of Christ.

10. Epilogue
What smell are you spreading? Are you not giving out any smell?
What fragrance do wish to spread?
As sincere Christians, you are not giving out rotten nauseating smell.
Rather, all of us hope to spread the aroma of Christ.

How can you spread the aroma of Christ?
First of all, you should abide in Christ. You should have His Spirit in you.
Second, open your mouths to witness Christ. Show others your life which is with Christ.

Third, give your thanks and praise to God, instead of complaints and resentments.

Instead of sending out impure and confusing smell, you send out the soft, consistent and faithful smell of Christ.
Not only throughout your mouth but also throughout your life, you will show that you are the aroma of Christ.