The Smell Of Christ

A couple of years ago, I took my first sabbatical after many years in ministry. It was such a powerful experience for me. I got the chance to rest, read, travel, and experience different corners of the world. I visited Christianity’s historical path, and that journey took me to Zurich and Geneva.

The morning after I arrived in Geneva, I went for a walk and grabbed breakfast. The moment I stepped out of the hotel, a sweet, beautiful smell enveloped me. I couldn’t believe the aroma that was surrounding me. I was so heavenly surprised that when I walked into a shop, I couldn’t help but share my thoughts with the shopkeeper.

I then asked him this silly question: “Do they intentionally spray some perfume in the city every morning? This place smells so, so good. What makes this place so pleasantly good?  

The fact is, when we can distinguish the pleasantness of a smell, we are automatically alerted that a particular smell isn’t like what we are used to. We notice a difference.

One of our acts of worship to our own bodies as the temple of God is to treat it right, to make sure that we smell good by using sweet-smelling shower gels, deodorants, perfume, and cologne. In fact, some of us have different perfumes and colognes for different occasions and days. The point is to carry that sweet aroma with us, one that fills every space with what we wear.

The smell of Christ is like a perfume or cologne you wear. The smell is a personality that you embody. Unlike expensive cologne or perfume you wear, you don't have to talk about this smell or speak about it; it is easily noticeable because it is our lived experience.

In the gospels, Mark, Luke, and John tell stories about women who poured expensive perfume on Jesus. In the Mark story, Jesus was in the house of Simon the Leper; a woman came with a jar of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ head. In the Lukan story, a woman who had a reputation of being a sinner heard that Jesus was in the home of a Pharisee; she went to the house uninvited, wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped his feet with her hair, and poured perfume on them. John’s gospel names the woman: Mary. She also poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

The similarity is the woman's faithful act of pouring perfume on Jesus. The striking difference is that the Lukan story identifies the woman as a sinner. Her reputation was one of being a local sinner. But whatever her station in life was, she was inspired to defy the sinner she was. This was a woman who had her salvation to gain and material stuff (perfume) to lose. She could taste her own redemption, and if it cost her a jar of sweet, scented perfume, so be it. For her, there was more to gain than the perfume she lost. 

It is interesting that the Pharisees who observed this act of defiance were quick to castigate Jesus for allowing the sinful woman to touch him. But Jesus didn’t buy into their diatribe; he told them a parable that supported the woman's act of defiance. She, who carried as much sin, deserves as much forgiveness as those who thought that they carried less.

Jesus seems to say that those who recognize the enormity of their sins and make a conscious effort toward redemption have greater value than those who think they have none.

From the story of the three women, I am inclined to believe that what we give, sweet-scented costly perfume or our treasure, talent, and time, may not always return in the exact same way. But I have no doubt that what we give is always who we are; what we give the world is our character. As someone rightly said, only our character can go to heaven.

And so, when Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:15, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing,” Paul is essentially hitting home the importance of the gift of sweet aroma, which we may possess and which must be pleasing to those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

The smell of Christ we carry should be pleasing, inviting, enticing, and captivating. It should be the kind of smell that rescues people from life's abyss because they can sense something more pleasing. It should be that kind of smell that leads people to the redemption that they seek. It should be that kind of smell that inspires people to follow us to the very place where we were showered with that sweet smell.

Jimmy Osborne has this beautiful poem: Take Me To Church (maybe church isn’t always a building):

Take me to church,

And I don’t mean a cathedral.

Or a place with a steeple

Surrounded by people

Take me to church,

But away from the pews

Away from the preachers

And away from the news

Take me to church,

Where the green grasses grow

Where the rabbits run free

By the rivers that flow.

In a place where the birds sing

But there’s no church bell to ring

Just a beautiful chorus

To meet the morning.

Yes, church isn’t always a building, but I have come to appreciate the sacred sanctuary of a church as the place where the sweet fragrance of the smell of Christ is always present and impactful. It is the place where Mary can pour her perfume on Christ, the sinful woman can pour her perfume on Christ, and the unnamed woman can also pour her perfume on Christ and still receive more than the perfume that they lost.

Believe me, the sacred sanctuary is the one place where we can focus on improving and not proving. For if we focus on improving, we assure each other of the presence of the sweet smell of Christ, which is always available and never wears out on any of us.

I invite you to come wear that sweet fragrance of Christ.

Blessings,

Manny+