A Fragrant Offering by Maxie Dunnam

In my last article I reflected on Paul’s emotional struggle as he wrote his letter to the Ephesians.

He was filled with emotion as he thought of these new Christians, and in his mind, probably rehearsing his own Damascus Road experience. How could he say what he was feeling and thinking? What did he need to say? All he had was words and words are never enough. He sounded his deep prayerful desires for them: So may you attain to fullness of being, the fullness of God himself.

The Call to Walk in Love

That struggle continues as he continues his letter to these new Christians. Paul calls them and us to our Christian walk in an unforgettable way: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Going on to salvation means living a life of love that was expressed in its ultimate meaning in Christ’s giving of himself for us. Paul called that “a fragrant offering.”

Living in Christ Means Living in Love

We need to keep reminding ourselves of the overarching gospel principle for our Christian Walk: we are persons in Christ. If we are in Christ, we exist in love. God is love and manifested his love to us in that he sent Jesus into the world, “that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). And what is the sign that we live through him? “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11 ESV). And then there’s that remarkable message, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12).

Love that Hangs Tough

To walk in love as Christians, to be that fragrant offering to others that Christ would have us be, is to practice a love that hangs tough.

Two scripture passages related to love standing strong are, first, John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s tough, demanding, serious business. God’s love is deep enough that God is willing to die for us. It is described in Paul’s marvelous hymn of love: “Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1Cor: 13:7). That’s tough love, demanding an almost slavish perseverance.

Love hangs tough because it wills the well-being and the wholeness of the person loved.

When Love Must Do the Painful Thing

Because love hangs tough, sometimes it has to do the painful thing. It may have to speak the painful truth in order to save a person from living a lie and betraying himself or herself.

We also need to remember this: when love doesn’t hang tough, all sorts of destructive things happen:

• Marriage vows are trivialized and made the brunt of humor.
• Respect for individual worth and strength of character that Jesus honored are quickly traded for the limelight or the next pleasure.
• Many persons who have great promise are never called to maturity and fulfillment because they are betrayed by a love that has no demanding edge to it.

The Fragrance of Understanding

But not only does Christian love hang tough, it expresses itself in understanding. Is there a more fragrant offering of ourselves than to make the effort to understand others?

Martin Buber, the renowned Jewish philosopher, talked about the I and Thou relationship to express the meaning of being human and the meaning of human relationships. He says that secretly and bashfully, we watch for a yes which allows us to be, and which can come to us only from one person to another: To understand another is to say yes to the other, confirming that person in their very being.

I don’t know why it is so, but our being and living as full human beings depends upon our being accepted by others. That acceptance requires understanding and trust.

Isn’t it true that one of the surest experiences of God’s presence is the love of another person? We become a fragrant offering to another when we love them enough to accept them nonjudgmentally and seek to understand them.