Calvary Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Debra May Cerra
August 9, 2009

Ephesians 4:25-5: 2 (NRSV)
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Lingering Fragrance

Do you know someone who always wears the same perfume or cologne? What I mean is, when you get a whiff of a particular fragrance does a certain someone come to mind? I have a friend, Jean, who lives in Florida now. I always knew when she was around or had been around by the scent that was left in the room. Wherever Jean went, she left a faint lingering fragrance behind.
            Though this morning’s passage gives strong guidelines on how we should act as Christians, I believe that a formidable message is found in the last verse: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
            Christ is called “…a fragrant offering.” Jesus is more than someone who the people watched and listened to and touched. Jesus Christ has a unique aroma – something that lingers around: something that can be identified without being seen; something that tantalizes our senses.
            Realtors tell us that an empty house is more difficult to sell. Homeowners are encouraged to ‘stage’ the house: unclutter the rooms, have a fire going in the fireplace, turn on lamps, have soft music playing, and add an aroma of fresh baked bread or a pie in the oven. Regardless of the physical appearance of the house, the senses will be challenged and the person will remember the experience. The lingering fragrance is recalled long after the house tour is over.
            In our passage this morning, Paul is assuring the Ephesians (and us) that the death of Jesus had a grand purpose. He writes: “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” (2) Jesus died to overcome all the annoying elements of humanity and to reconcile each of us with God and with the rest of God’s children.
            Therefore, belonging to the Christian Church is not merely saying yes to a membership in some organization. When a person makes a commitment to Christ and to His body, the church, he or she becomes part of a special arrangement which bears the mark of its designer. To those who have committed to Him, Jesus says: "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."
.”A reporter tells the story of his visit to a community in northern California. This place takes in and cares for babies who are dying of aids. Seeing a woman who was holding a pathetically small baby girl who was obviously very ill, the reporter asked about the baby. The woman said, "Her mother was a prostitute, a heroin addict, and she didn't want a baby. The baby was born addicted to heroin and infected with AIDS." Then she added, "The baby will probably die soon."
"Then why do you do this?" asked the reporter. "I mean why did you bring her up here to your community if she is going to die very shortly?" The woman responded without hesitation, "So she will know life in all its fullness."
The reporter was obviously taken aback by this. He thought it incredulous. With a tone of cynicism in his voice, he said, "How can this pitiful baby know life in its fullness?"
And the caring shepherd of this baby said, "She will know that there are people in this world who love her."
This story says it all – a person holding a little baby and loving her into death. That's really enough of a sermon. That's what Paul is saying in his letter. All those who are on the Christian walk bear the mark of the designer – Jesus Christ.  And those on the Christian walk must learn to walk and work together in Christian love. To walk in love as Christians -- to be that fragrant offering to others -- is to practice a love that takes us from our old self to the new creation that God gives.
This fundamental repentance, which is the dying to self, and renewal, which is our new life in Christ, comes at our baptism. Whether baptized as an adult or an infant, in the sacrament of baptism the old self is killed off, and our new self is raised. We become part of God’s kingdom. The church’s baptismal liturgy expresses it this way: “We thank you, loving God, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in the resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.”
So how do we love as Christ loves? Not easily. To help us, Paul gives a mixture of rules. Some parallel Old Testament passages; others have close parallels elsewhere in the New Testament. Several focus on the harm that malicious words can have while others spurn wrongful actions. What makes this passage stand out is the way that each rule is followed by a principal that underlies it and motivates its fulfillment. Listen to Eugene Peterson’s translation of Paul’s words:
“Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry – but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge.” (26)
“Did you used to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can't work.” (28)
“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.” (29)
“Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.” (30)
“Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” (31,32)
In 1997, Mark Harden wrote a column about a visit with a terminally ill patient in the hospital. Listen to this portion of it: “When Frank Senger pushed himself into an upright position in the hospital bed, the heart monitor’s cursive line disintegrated into an erratic scribble. His wife, Mary, returned to the room and drew a chair to his bedside ‘I'm thirsty,’ Frank said. Mary lifted the straw to his lips as he pulled the oxygen mask aside. The medicine was making him sick. She fetched the basin, wrapped a firm arm around his spasm racked shoulders and mopped the sweat from his forehead.
"Mark wrote. ’So, in the end, love comes down to this. Not some Clark Gable appraisal of Vivian Leigh or some sex symbol's seductive pose, but help me sit up. In the end, love is not a smoldering glance across the dance floor, the clink of crystal, a leisurely picnic spread upon a summer's clover. It is the squeeze of the hand. I'm here. I'll be here no matter how long the struggle. Water? You need water? Here, drink. Let me straighten your pillow."
Friends, isn’t that the fragrance of love? Remember, through our love, Christ’s love is perfected. The writer of this text to the Ephesians was not concerned with being nice. The concern was to give a clear focus on the call to Christian living. The fragrance that emanates from the lives of Christians as they live and work together, as they care for each other, as they serve together in the church is as pleasing to God as the aroma of praise that rise heavenward in our worship.
Remember the woman who held a sickly infant and loved her into death. Through that woman a tiny baby knew that there were people in the world who loved her. Remember the wife who helped her husband. Her actions were not glorious gestures but an offer of a sip of water and the wipe of a sweaty brow.
Christianity shows better when the people are compassionate towards one another – when the lingering fragrance of love fills the church – inside and out. Sisters and brothers, how we relate to one another is a powerful way to present Jesus Christ to the world. As Paul said: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (1,2)