The Fragrance of Life in the House of Mourning

One of the most astonishing descriptions of pastoral ministry in Holy Scripture focuses upon the sense of smell:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14–17, ESV) 

This olfactory metaphor is not trite or sentimental; it is a matter of life and death. Those who variously hear the sacred and imperishable word of the gospel of Jesus Christ with either faith or unbelief find in it either the pungent smell of death, or the sweet-smelling aroma of life. 

On a certain day of ministerial service I had a tangible reminder that “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” that through the means of grace, God uses ministers to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere as the aroma from life to life, (Eph 5.2). 

In the morning, I had the awesome and sacred privilege of administering the holy sacrament of baptism. After the service, I received a phone call and went to visit a newly bereaved family. When you administer baptism, the oil used to mark the sign of the cross upon the newly baptized is Sacred Chrism, a mixture of oil and sweet fragrances that linger on your fingers for some time after administering it, even after you wash your hands well afterwards. On that day, the aroma of life, from the chrism at this morning’s baptism, was there at the house of mourning.

Were I to try to describe what pastoral ministry is like, it is difficult to convey it in prose; that smell — baptismal chrism in the house of morning — is what pastoral ministry is like. Pastoral ministry requires a certain watchfulness. In Paul’s pastoral instructions to St. Timothy, the work of preparation is not merely antecedent to or prior to the work of actual ministry, but rather is itself part of the work of pastoral ministry:

[15] Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth… [1] I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3] For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4] and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. [5] But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 2:15, 4:1–5 ESV)

Very regularly, ministers of the gospel are called upon to shepherd souls and care for the flock of God amidst trying and heartbreaking circumstances for which there is little to no notice for everyone involved. Occasionally, one is asked to preach, administer the sacraments, or officiate other pastoral rites — especially the Anointing of the Sick or Ministry to the Dying — with little to no notice.

In the pastoral epistles, the preparation ministers must have is not less, but is far more, than the acquisition of pastoral techniques, credentials, or skillsets. Since “ministers” of the gospel do not principally give themselves, their own wisdom, life experiences, and charisma, but rather are appointed to administer the Word of God and the visible word of the sacraments, they must actually be following Christ themselves. 

We are not prepared to ministerially pronounce the words of absolution to others if we have not regularly and recently confessed our sins and heard the words of absolution ourselves. We are not prepared to invoke upon others the blessing of a thrice-holy God whom we do not adore, love, confess, and burn with zeal to know and be known by. We are not prepared to read and proclaim the Holy Scriptures to others if we have not attended to them ourselves with rapt attention. We are not prepared to lead others in prayer if we have not been faithful in our own devotions. We are not prepared to counsel backsliders if we are not sincerely intending to lead a new life by following the commandments of God and walking in his holy ways. 

Of course, even the greatest ministers remain sinners, and our sufficiency for ministry is not ourselves (2 Cor 2.16) but only the grace of God in Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15.10). Even so, we must actually follow Christ. Not only can the church’s public ministry be harmed by scandal when it is undermined by a minister’s private conduct (1 Cor 9.27). 

But further, if character is who we are when no one else is looking, then who we will be in public can either be greatly strengthened and emboldened or damaged and degraded by our private habits. The mortification of sin (Col 3.5; Gal 5.16; Rom 8.15) and the vivification of holiness (Col 3.12; Gal 5.22; Heb 12.14) are not merely antecedent to Christian ministry, nor ancillary, nor optional add-ons, nor adjunct to it; without them, the minister threatens to wreak havoc both for others and oneself. Hence, Paul charges Timothy, “keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim 4.16).