Fragrant Sacrifices and Offerings Ephesians 5:2
As you may have
noticed in the worship folder for today, the theme of the Lutheran Women’s
Missionary League for this year is “Fragrant Offerings and Sacrifices.” As we celebrate with the LWML this weekend
and recognize their service to the church, may this theme text help us to see how
we all by faith in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and enabled to be
fragrant sacrifices and offerings to the Lord in His Kingdom.
The letter the
Ephesians is one of those letters that was written when Paul was in prison in Rome . In spite of his own dire circumstances, he
writes a word of joyful encouragement to the saints. Paul was certainly one who could appreciate
the difficulties that could be part of a life of faith. Since his conversion on the road to Damascus , his life had
changed dramatically. In the Epistle
lesson a couple of weeks ago, Paul described himself before his conversion. Recall that he said, “circumcised on the
eighth day; of the people of Israel ,
of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee, as to
zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law,
blameless.”
But Paul had come
to the realization that all the faithful in Christ have come to understand
through the power of the Holy Spirit, namely that none of our labor is
acceptable to God. We understand that
none of our earthly work is acceptable in God’s sight. All our works are as filthy rags before God
contrary to what many people think about their great achievements. On our own, of our effort, none of our works
rise to the Lord as fragrant offerings or are acceptable to our Father in
heaven as pleasing sacrifices. Our God
sees all our work as filthy rags, not one worthy of earning any attention from
Him.
In a sermon on
this text by Martin Luther, he said, “This expression Paul takes from the Old
Testament. There the temporal sacrifices
are described as being a ‘sweet-smelling savor’ unto God: that is, they are
acceptable and well-pleasing to him; but not, as the Jews imagined, because of
the value of the work or of the sacrifices in themselves. For such thought they were chastised by the
prophets often enough. They were
acceptable on the ground of the true sacrifice which they foreshadowed and
encircled.” Dr. Luther had a good
understanding that none of our works reach God as fragrant sacrifices and
offerings. Those kinds of offerings
never did reach the Lord even in the Old Testament.
He does continue
though, “They (Israel ’s
sacrifices) were acceptable on the ground of the true sacrifice which they
foreshowed and encircled. Paul’s thought
is this: The sacrifices of the Old Testament have passed. Now all sacrifices are powerless but that of
Christ himself.; he is the sweet-smelling savor. This sacrifice is pleasing to God. He gladly accepts it and would have us be
confident it is an acceptable offering in our stead.”
That means that
you are faced with the reality of your fallen condition. You reminded that you are at the same time
righteous and a sinner. You have the
terrible stain of sin on you and at the same time have the wonderful promise of
resurrection glory on you through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This
wonderful fragrant and gracious sacrifice on your behalf is the one that God
receives as a fragrant offering and sacrifice.
This is the ultimate sacrificial offering but there are many others
worked by our Lord Jesus in obedience to the Father.
For example, in
the beginning the Holy Spirit came to a virgin named Mary and a Son was born to
her and Joseph who is named Jesus.
Prophecy had proclaimed the birth of this Child and angels sang about
the birth of this child. The shepherds
and wise men rejoiced at the birth of the Child and our Father received this
miraculous birth as a fragrant sacrifice and offering. This Jesus at eight days old was dedicated
back to His Father in the rite of circumcision, a fragrant offering to the
Lord. There was a wedding that was
running short of wine and Jesus turned water into the best wine and the Father
catches a scent of a fragrant offering.
Do you see what was happening?
Blind people see,
deaf people hear, lame people have the limbs restored, sick people are healed,
lepers are cleansed, demons are cast out, mute people speak, the hungry are
fed, demon possessed are delivered,
captives are set free, severed ears restored, and if that were not enough,
resurrection and life become the new normal.
Our Father receives all these acts as fragrant sacrifices and offerings.
All of this led up to the final sacrifice when Jesus’ blood was shed. The perfect offering is so sweet and fragrant
that it has the power to cover and remove the sin of the whole world for all
time.
That is the plan
and design of God. Jesus Christ, the
perfect fragrant offering and sacrifice, the Lamb of God, was slain for
all. Not only are their names written in
the book of the Lamb and in the heart of the Father but their works of faith,
good works prepared beforehand that they would do, rise to throne of our Father
as fragrant sacrifices and offerings.
It is important
that you understand that when you, in obedience to the Great Commission in
Matthew 28, “in your going, make disciples,” in other words, share the Gospel
with someone in need of encouragement, the Father receives that as a fragrant
sacrifice and offering. When you,
baptized, redeemed, Spirit-filled, consecrated brothers and sisters in Christ,
particularly those who contribute your pennies, nickels, dimes quarters and
dollars in the interest of missions, Our Father receives every single
sacrificial mite as a fragrant sacrifice and offering. When we all in faithful obedience, study the
Word of God to show ourselves approved, when we dwell together in unity, when
we faithfully hold the confession of the church in this perverse generation,
when we speak faith, when we love one another, fragrant sacrifices and
offerings rise up to our merciful, holy and gracious God and Father.
Every act of
obedience, every work of the saints of God, every act of faith, every word
spoken in faith rises up to the Father as a sweet-smelling, sacrificial
offering. We have the awesome privilege
of bringing joy to the heart of our heavenly Father by those acts of
sacrificial love. But that’s not
all. St. Paul says in Romans 12, “I appeal to you
therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” It’s not just the things that you do in faith
that are that fragrant sacrifice and offering.
St. Paul
talks about your body. In other words,
your whole self is that fragrant sacrifice and offering to God. All that you are, all that you say, all that
you do in faith in response to God’s great love rises to God as a sweet
smelling offering of love. This gives
new meaning to our life in the Lord. It
eliminates the idea that I can switch on my religious life one day and switch
it off when it is not convenient. It
also makes clear to me that what I do in my everyday life can also be a
fragrant sacrifice and offering when it is done in faith and gives glory to
God. When I am serving the good of
others in my job, taking care of the needs of my family and friends, or serving
in the church, I am offering my whole self to the Lord as a fragrant sacrifice
and offering.
With that
understanding, as saints of God, let us strive with all our Spirit-filled faith
to infuse the heavens with fragrant sacrifices and offerings by not simply
doing, but by being those sacrifices and offerings that rise up to our loving
God and Father. Amen.
Rev. Gerald Matzke
Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
Adapted from the Sermon for LWML Sunday
October 19, 2014
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