A Sweet-Smelling Aroma
March 29th, 2011Is it wrong to just go through the motions?
Most days I enjoy what I do. I enjoy leading God’s people in praise. I enjoy directing the choir and the spirit we share. I enjoy teaming with other musicians to play and sing music. I enjoy listening to songs and searching for just the right pieces that will inspire praise. I enjoy planning and executing our times of worship.
But sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I’m too tired. Sometimes I have other things in my life that are crowding in to steal my joy, personal things, relational things, conflicts, crises, troubles, trials all fighting for my attention and making it difficult to praise. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it.
So I plow ahead as always. I put on my happy face and do my duty. I hunker down, man my post, keep on keepin’ on…
Why? Because it’s what’s expected. It’s what good soldiers do.
But is that wrong? Is it insincere? Am I being dishonest? Am I living a lie? And what if I were to be completely honest? “Ya know, folks, I’m just not feelin’ it today. I’m gonna sit this one out.” Would that be more acceptable? More authentic? More pleasing to God?

Sunday was one of those days. I know I shouldn’t admit such things, but it’s true. I’d had a long, hard week on top of some personal struggles that I’ve been dealing with, and to be quite honest, I needed a break. So when the weather man began predicting on Friday the possibility of snow on Sunday, I couldn’t help getting maybe a little bit hopeful.
It was kind of strange actually, seeing as how it’s spring and all, and we had just had a couple of days of seventy degree weather. The blooms were budding; the grass was growing. It’s not supposed to snow now. And yet, what if…
“Maybe we can sleep in on Sunday and have a nice, quiet day at home.” I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high because, number one, pastors aren’t supposed to feel that way about Sundays. And too, the weather man has pretty much missed the boat all winter long. Why should he get it right this time? Still I found myself only really going through the motions of my Saturday night preparations for Sunday. I’m getting ready because I have to, not because I want to.
And then it was Sunday, and as “luck” would have it, we barely got little more than a light dusting. “Looks like it’s business as usual,” I thought. And so we got ready and trudged on in, kind of like when we were kids the first day back to school after Christmas break. And there we were once again, manning our post, doing our duty.
Paul said, “God loves a cheerful giver.” But does that mean if we’re not feeling cheerful we shouldn’t give? That doesn’t seem right. There are plenty of times when we don’t feel married, but does that mean our love is insincere? Of course not, because love is more than just a feeling. Maybe cheerful giving is like that as well. We give not out of guilt or compulsion, but because we love God and because we love His people. Regardless of how we “feel” we give cheerfully because we know it gives pleasure to the One we love, to the One who loves us and gave Himself for us.
Paul told the Philippians that their giving was “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). True worship originates in the soul. It is an act by which we offer praise to God. This is the worship that is acceptable to God. When our giving reflects a heart of thanksgiving to God, this is our reasonable act of worship. It’s not a feeling or an emotion; it’s an act of love.
So I went through the motions, not because I was being in any way insincere, but because of love and humility. I determined to count others more significant than myself and look not only to my own interests, but to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). And somewhere in the middle of all that I found myself being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. Maybe it was the offertory special that moved me to close my eyes in worship. Maybe it was the sound of instrumentalists literally pouring themselves into a time of praise. Maybe it was the heart with which the choir sang to the glory of God. Even though I didn’t feel much like serving on Sunday, I did it anyway. And you know what? God used it in return to nourish my own thirsty soul. And before I knew it, I was “feeling” cheerful again. Go figure.

