About a week ago, I came down the stairs to the kitchen island, and everybody was getting ready for the school day and one of my kids said, “What’s that smell?” I knew it was me. I had just changed body wash. And I said, “Well, what do you think? Do you like it?” The answer was a resounding no. And I said, “That’s too bad because I’m too cheap to throw it away. So you’re going to be smelling it for a while. Get used to it.”

Smell is a powerful sense that we have. Researchers have spent years studying smell and how scent affects us physiologically and psychologically. Certain smells can trigger deep emotions almost instantly, memories that come flooding back because you smell something familiar. Some have done research on scent-based therapy trying to discover links that will help with things like anxiety, depression, and even nausea. Some studies show that smell forms powerful impressions that people make of us. Things like trustworthiness, professionalism, and attractiveness are associated with certain smells.

One study even explored the link between sight and smell. A researcher asked men to guess the age of a woman based on the smell that they had experienced. One fragrance made the women they were seeing seem, on average, five years younger. Does anybody want to guess what scent that was? Yeah, none of you got it. It’s grapefruit. It’s exactly what you were thinking, right? Grapefruit. So apparently, if you want to smell younger, you will carry around grapefruit. Especially if you’re a woman and especially if you’re around other men.

So all of this leads to a deeper truth, I promise. In today’s passage, the author actually says that Jesus is an aroma that we are supposed to carry with us. And in today’s passage, we’re going to see that the gospel isn’t something that we just believe. It’s actually something that people should experience when they encounter us, much like something that you might smell. And the question is, when people encounter you, what exactly are they smelling?

We’re going to be in Second Corinthians chapter two if you want to open up your Bible and join us. We’re going to have some fun. We’re continuing our Under Pressure sermon series talking about how do we hold on to hope when life is too much. Both Paul and the church in Corinth are experiencing conflict and disappointment. Last week, we talked about how God can meet us in hard things, and actually those hard things can shape us. They can mold us. They can deepen us. They can connect us with God and other people.

Today, we move into chapter two where Paul shifts the topic to relationships, conflict, and forgiveness, and ultimately the aroma that our lives hold for other people.

So, Second Corinthians chapter two starting in verse number one: “So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.”

We’re going to stop here because we need to get some context. What’s going on? What’s this “painful visit” thing?

Paul had planted the Corinthian church several years ago and he left after about eighteen months of being there. After he left, some problems developed. He wrote what we call First Corinthians to address some of those problems, and at some point Paul made a visit that went very poorly. So badly that he later called it a painful visit. Instead of returning, Paul chose to delay his visit and wrote them a very difficult letter.

We don’t know exactly what happened on that painful visit, but we do have some clues that Second Corinthians gives us. Some in Corinth had interpreted that Paul’s change of plans was a weakness or an inconsistency. He was flip-flopping. He was waffling. And how can you trust a leader that’s flip-flopping and waffling? Kind of sounds familiar today.

In addition to changing his plans, some traveling preachers had arrived in Corinth and had started to teach some new and different teachings than Paul, and they had questioned Paul’s teachings because Paul was not a very good orator. So if he couldn’t speak well, then clearly his message was not valid. And Paul had some other problems, including the fact that he didn’t look great either, and he didn’t look successful in particular. So why would you want to follow somebody who isn’t successful?

Whatever happened in that visit, Paul left that visit feeling depressed and defeated. And I think if we’re honest, we’ve all been there at some point in our lives. We feel misunderstood. We feel hurt that our motives are being questioned. And sometimes doing the loving thing still disappoints people in the short term. And that’s what Paul was experiencing as we head into Second Corinthians in the letter here.

The good news is that Paul does not give up on the Corinthians.

“Who is left to make me glad but you, whom I have grieved? I wrote you as I did, so that when I came, I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.”

Paul totally could’ve given up on the Corinthians. They were not very happy with him. They were questioning his authority. But his love for them was way too great. And so he wrote a letter.

Paul isn’t writing the letter or these letters as a detached authority figure. He’s writing like a grieving spiritual father. His corrections come through tears. He’s not happy to say these things. And I think that’s a good word for us today.

Most of us either avoid hard conversations or we attack the people that anger us. Paul shows another way: that we can be truthful in our love for people, but we can also refuse to give up on people and continue the relationship, which is exactly what he calls them to do with a member of their own church.

Starting in verse five, he says, “If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent, not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you therefore to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven, if there is anything to forgive, I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Now, some people think that Paul is referring to the case of incest that’s mentioned in First Corinthians five, and that’s definitely a possibility. Others think that he’s talking about some mysterious person who was possibly the leader who was leading sort of the rebellion against Paul when he made that painful visit.

Whether Paul is referring to the case in First Corinthians five or something else, we can see that Paul has a principle for us in terms of church discipline and restoration. How the church handles these things—discipline, sin, and restoration—matters deeply.

If a church emphasizes compassion without accountability, more people can get hurt. Some sins cannot be ignored. If you think about if we had somebody who was a registered sex offender working in our kids ministry, you would not be happy with us and I would not be happy with us. And so it is important that we point that out and we don’t ignore that.

But on the flip side, if we veer too far into punitive punishment, Paul says that not only will the person be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow, but Satan will outwit the church.

Well, what do we mean by that?

The good news is that God loves us enough to point out the sin in our lives. God will point out the things that we do wrong because God loves us and wants the best for us. God doesn’t want us to continue in our sin. But God also loves us enough that he is faithful to forgive us when we ask.

So healthy church discipline mirrors the heart of God. God loves us enough to confront what destroys us. God will say something, and we as the church are called to say something. And God loves us enough to forgive us and to restore the repentant person.

So church discipline does not allow for blatant sin to go on rampantly. There should be, and there is, justice for the offender. The church needs to protect the vulnerable and the people that are hurt. But the church is also called to forgive just as Jesus did.

These are difficult tensions to manage.

But biblical forgiveness is this: it tells the truth. Evil has been done. It doesn’t say, “Oh, that’s okay. We don’t have to worry about that. It didn’t really hurt.” Yeah, it did. Instead, it acknowledges the damage that has been done. But then it releases the right to revenge. And then when repentance takes place, when wisdom and healing make it possible, we seek to restore the broken relationship.

Now, we do need to be careful about that last one. A person who has been deeply hurt may need a lot of time before they’re able to reconcile with somebody, and that is okay. You can take that time. You should take that time. And if you have offended somebody, you don’t get to demand that somebody reconcile with you immediately. They get to choose the timeline.

But I also want to add that there may never be any reconciliation, particularly if the offender is unwilling to repent, because reconciliation requires repentance and the rebuilding of trust. And yet at the same time, forgiveness can be offered when reconciliation is unsafe or impossible.

Sadly, the church does not always handle discipline well. But when the church handles both truth and mercy of Jesus well, discipline can become a part of the healing, protection, and restoration of the people of God.

So as Paul continues in verse twelve, he says, “Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind because I did not find my brother Titus there.”

He’s anxious about this. They were planning that they were going to come together. He’s going to hear about this, but he doesn’t, and so he goes on to try to find him.

Then in verse fourteen: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 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. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”

There were a bunch of people that were peddling this good news. Some of the traveling preachers were speaking against Paul, so Paul’s careful about that.

And Paul’s drawing on an image here of a Roman triumphal procession. This would happen when a great victory was achieved by a general, when they had lost five thousand plus men and when they had taken land for the Roman Empire. The Roman government would throw this triumphal procession for the winning general.

The streets would be filled with soldiers and musicians and priests burning incense, cheering crowds, and defeated captives marched along in chains. And to the victors, the smell of incense that the priests were wafting back and forth meant celebration and life. We’ve won. But to the captives, who are in chains, who are awaiting execution, that very same smell was the smell of death.

And Paul uses this imagery to compare our life to Christ.

The first comparison that he makes is Christ as our general, marching triumphantly throughout the world. In my preparation for this message, I found a message about five different things that Christ has triumphed over, and I thought they were worth sharing with you.

The first is that Christ has conquered the power of sin. Romans seven talks about this. If you follow Christ, you no longer have to fight sin alone or without hope because Christ has already won the decisive victory, and now his Spirit empowers us to resist sin and temptation daily.

The second thing that Christ has overcome and had victory over is the power of death. This comes from First Corinthians chapter fifteen, the previous letter. And if you’re a follower of Jesus, you no longer have to fear death. You may die, yes. Your body may go away, but waiting on the other side of eternity is everlasting life with God and with the community of believers.

The third thing that Christ has overcome is the power of Satan. This comes from Colossians chapter two. If you follow Jesus, Satan no longer has any claim on your life. You are free to make your own decisions. You do not have to fall to temptations.

The fourth is the power of this world. In First John five, it talks about Jesus overcoming the power of this world, sort of this fleshy side of things as well. Think of this as the cultural forces that are coming against you, the environment that causes you sometimes to sin. Christ has overcome that too. You don’t have to worry about that.

And finally, I think this is the best one. Jesus’ victory on the cross gives us the power over anything and anyone who might try to separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing can separate you from God’s love. That comes from Romans eight.

And this victory parade is an image that Paul is using. Christ is the victor. He’s marching around the world as a victorious king.

The second piece is the aroma imagery. In this passage, if you’re one of the Roman statesmen or you’re one of the musicians, the general, the victorious army, then the aroma that the priests’ censers have smells sweet and good. But if you are one of the prisoners, the smell is the smell of death.

And for Paul, as the message of Christ’s victory over sin and death, our world, Satan, and anything that can keep us from God’s love is carried throughout the world, it is victory. It is joy, hope, peace, even in the midst of our present troubles. But to those who are against the gospel, against the rule of God’s peace and justice, it is the smell of death.

And so our task, like Paul’s, is to be the aroma of Christ in the world, to carry Christ’s victory wherever we go.

So what do you smell like?

Here’s the truth. Everyone smells like something. And the question is, what fragrance are you?

For people who follow the victorious Christ, our smell should be like Jesus. His grace, his truth, his holiness, his forgiveness, his courage, his compassion should overflow in our lives so other people smell that and experience that.

So what are some things that we can do to smell a little bit more like Jesus this week?

Well, you can tell the truth with love instead of avoiding the hard conversation. Love people enough to be honest. And then don’t confuse peacekeeping with peacemaking. Those are two different things. And don’t gossip. That’s not going to help. So be a truth teller. That’s going to take courage, one of our core values here at Community Covenant.

And then refuse to keep people chained to the worst moment in their life. Don’t fantasize about revenge, and release your bitterness to God.

And then ask yourself: What aroma do people smell from my life? When people encounter me at work, or at home, or online, or in conflict, or in disagreement, what lingers after I leave? Is it the smell of bitterness, pride, anger, self-righteousness, insecurity disguised as strength?

This is a good time to mention that we have prayer ministers over on the side after the message, during communion, during the worship time. If you need any prayer, they would love to pray with you and for you. They’ll have no judgment because we are all people who sometimes don’t smell like Christ. We need help. We need prayer.

So they will be available over there.

The world has enough outrage, enough revenge. The church should smell different.

Jesus never said the world would know us by winning arguments. He said the world would know us by our love.

Let’s pray.

God, thank you for your word. Thank you that you have reminded us of how to love others. We pray, Lord, that you would inspire us to love others with our lives, that our aroma would be pleasant to those around us. May the fragrance of Christ spread throughout the world as we live our lives and point people to you. Amen.