A Fragrant Offering

Pentecost 12 – August 11, 2024

1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

Incense has been used in religious services throughout history and in almost every culture. There was an altar of incense in the temple in Jerusalem that was always burning.  This was understood as an actual offering to God and a symbol of their worship. Psalm 141:2 sums it up; “Let my prayers be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Here it is a reminder that our prayers are to be pleasing to God. Paul takes this one more step in our text from Ephesians, it is not just our prayers, but our everyday life that should be as incense before God. Paul calls us to make sure that what we say and do is pleasing to God.

Although Paul does not say this directly in Ephesians. Instead, he tells us that it is Jesus who, because of his love for us, gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. We are included in this fragrant offering because Paul calls us to be imitators of Jesus. While I am not a big fan of catch phrases, the question “What would Jesus do?” comes to mind here. There is no better example of how we are to live our lives than Jesus. Jesus who gave up what it meant to be God, emptied himself and took on our form, and humbled himself to death on the cross for us (Philippians 2:5-8). That was the pleasing sacrifice Paul is talking about. Jesus who lived his life looking out for, helping, and saving others and doing so not for power and prestige but out of love.

We now turn to Paul’s list of how we imitate Christ. He began with speaking the truth. This, of course, is not just the opposite of lying but also speaking about Jesus – remember Jesus told us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The reason why we speak the truth is because we are of the one body of Christ. Paul then brings up anger. Anger does present a problem. We all get angry. Jesus got angry. Remember his turning the tables over in the temple and driving the money lenders out? Paul is so concerned about our anger he mentions it twice. It is not your anger that is the problem, it is what you do with it that might be. If you hurt others it is wrong. If it motivates you to do right it is good. But anger can stew. That is why Paul tells you to deal with it quickly – before sundown. If you are angry, use your anger to build up the body of Christ not to destroy it. Better yet, do not get angry at all. 

This list that Paul gives us is not the list that the world judges as important. But it is a list of how one lives out the call of Jesus to love others as God first loved us. We do not always do this. We confessed that at the beginning of our service. We, like Paul, are caught between doing what we do not want to do and not doing what we want. We have not lived our lives up to the standard of Jesus and our lives have not been a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But, while we may abandon God, God does not abandon us.

Elijah is an example of that. You know the story of Elijah. He challenged the priests of Baal to a duel. They both built altars and placed their sacrifice upon them and then prayed for the god to come down and consume the sacrifice. They went first. After many days when their god did not answer Elijah had his altar doused with water. God answered his prayer and set the altar on fire consuming the sacrifice and altar. In the excitement of his winning the challenge he slew the priests of Baal. He then had cold feet and fled the scene in fear of his life, into the desert. There, tired and afraid, he is awakened by an angel who God sent to provide for his needs. Food and drink that sustained him forty days and nights. God continues that gift with us – providing us our needs. More importantly, God has provided the food of eternal life. Not only did God provide for us the sacrifice that heals us of our sin but here, at this table, God sustains us with the gift of the Holy Spirit. So do not grieve the Holy Spirit, instead pray that you will always be imitators of Jesus and your lives a fragrant offering to God.