This sermon was preached on Sunday 6th April 2025.
Bible Reading: Philippians 3:4-14; John 12:1-8
If I were a Christian, I wouldn’t tell anyone… but there would be signs. Obviously, I am saying this in jest. You know I am a Christian, and I repeatedly tell you that I am a Christian, too. But this statement is based on a social media trend that has circled around the past few years. It’s called: ‘If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone…but there would be signs.’ These posts and videos cut from a regular scene to either an expensive house, an expensive car, or two dozen puppies. The idea is that you can point to changes you would make if you won the lottery, and obviously, the more over-the-top the change, the funnier the post is.
The trend is just a bit of fun, but it got me thinking about whether there are signs in my life that would point out that I am a Christian without telling anyone that I am a Christian. Just to clarify, I am not suggesting that you should stop telling people that you’re a Christian, but I do wonder if people would know if we were Christians if we didn’t tell them.
Growing up, I had a poster in my room. But it wasn’t on the walls, where most people put posters up in their rooms as kids. This poster was up in my wardrobe door. And on this poster, it read: ‘If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ Every day, as I got dressed to go to school, I would ask myself the question, would there be enough signs in my life to clearly show to those around me that I was a Christian? It’s an important question for us to think about, and I want us to think about it today.
So, since it is Lent, let’s do some inward reflection. What is the most ‘Christian-y’ thing you have ever done in your life? I know you are probably thinking, what do you mean by the most ‘Christian-y’ thing? Now, you’re just making things up, and you would be right. Let me rephrase it better. What has been the most overt sign in your life that identifies you as a Christian? Are there things you do or aspects of your character and personality that, when someone else sees them, they think, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a clear sign that they must be one of those Christians.’
I guess this also raises the question of what we mean by the word ‘Christian.’ We use the phrase, ‘Oh, that’s very Christian of you,’ but what do we actually mean when we say it? Well, the term ‘Christian’ goes all the way back to the early church in the New Testament. The word ‘Christian’ is related to the word ‘Christ,’ specifically meaning a follower of Christ. So, to call someone or something ‘Christian-y’ is to say that it is a clear indicator of being a follower of Christ. ‘That’s very Christian of you’ means that it seems like the sort of thing that a follower of Christ would do.
I want to expand a bit more on the term ‘follower’ because being a follower can be interpreted in various ways. For instance, you might be a follower of Liverpool Football Club, donning the red shirt and singing ‘You Never Walk Alone’ whenever you experience even the slightest hint of elation. However, following the Sat Nav or Google Maps is a different kind of following. Additionally, a retiring leader is followed by a new leader who comes along and takes their place. And what does it mean to follow the news? I think you get the gist.
We have many different concepts of what being a follower means. However, to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ, it is helpful to remember who Jesus was to his disciples. The term ‘disciples’ describes Jesus’ closest group of followers who travelled around with him. The term ‘disciples’ is used to refer to students who were being taught and disciplined under a teacher. Jesus was such a teacher. Just a quick side note: when our modern ears hear the word ‘discipline,’ we usually jump to thinking about punishment or getting a telling off. But that isn’t the primary meaning of the word ‘discipline.’ Discipline is all about being taught and instructed in a particular way.
Jesus is a Rabbi, a teacher who instructs his students. Now, Jesus’ teaching style was not like learning facts and figures by rote or mindlessly copying them out. But Jesus’ style of teaching is more like a master-apprentice relationship. An apprentice in a trade copies and practices what their teacher does as a master of the trade. Then, through this process, they eventually emulate the master’s skills and abilities. This is the kind of teaching Jesus does with his disciples, and this is what it means to be a follower of Christ. To be a follower of Christ means to become like Jesus and to do what he does.
I remember when I was learning to drive. My driving instructor was a man called Stuart Baker. He was a good man, liked to talk a lot, just a lovely guy. I always remember when Stuart taught me to drive; he told me to copy what he did. At first, I thought, well, that seems a bit simplistic and arrogant, but thankfully, he explained what he meant. Stuart told me to copy what he did because he was a good driver. He drove really well, and as my driving teacher, he wanted to mould and shape me into someone who was also a good driver like him. As disciples of Jesus, we, too, are to mould and shape ourselves after our teacher, Jesus. That is what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ.
So, as a Christian, a follower of Christ, are there signs that you are a Christian? Are there signs that show you follow Jesus? Can other people see Jesus in you? Do you do the things that he did? I know that as imperfect humans, none of us can be perfect like Jesus, but our lives can show signs that point to Jesus. Are there signs in your life that point to Jesus, that you are his disciple?
We could list countless ways in which Jesus might be reflected in our lives, but for today, I want to look at the signs in our Bible readings. In our reading from John’s gospel, Jesus is having dinner at the house of his friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. While Jesus is sitting at the table, Mary comes through with a pint of expensive perfume. She pours it out upon Jesus’ feet and then wipes his feet with her hair. What a crazy thing to do. First of all, a pint of perfume feels incredibly excessive. Second, we all know how much perfume costs, so we all can appreciate that pouring out a whole pint of perfume at once is an astonishingly expensive act. Judas valued it at three hundred silver coins, and it doesn’t matter what conversion rate you are using to know that three hundred silver coins of any kind are a lot of money. Third, Mary uses her hair as a towel to wipe the perfume onto Jesus’ feet. It just doesn’t make any sense why she would do this.
If I were a Christian, I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there would be signs. Mary doesn’t say anything, but her actions are a sign of her faith and belief in Jesus. Her actions show she believes Jesus is worthy of everything she could offer. She offered what was probably the most expensive thing she owned, pouring what would be thousands of pounds of perfume in today’s money. Mary’s actions show she wanted to pour a lavish abundance of love and affection upon Jesus. You don’t need much perfume to smell it. A couple of sprays would last all day on you, and everyone you meet would be able to smell it with no problem. But to pour a pint of perfume is over the top. Jesus’ feet would be so completely drenched in perfume that you would think the smell would never fade as the vapours burn into your nostrils with the powerful aroma of the perfume. Then, using her hair, Mary wipes Jesus’ feet. Mary lets down her hair in the presence of a man who is not her husband, which would have been a scandalous thing to do then. Hair is often considered a thing of beauty, and Mary offers the beauty of her hair to clean the dirty, dusty and sweaty feet of Jesus. This is a humbling, loving and sacrificial act.
If you were a Christian, there would be signs, and this was an incredible sign shown by Mary. You might look at this act and ask how Mary’s actions were a sign of being a follower of Jesus. But as we approach Easter, it is clear to see that Mary’s actions foreshadow what Jesus is about to do on the cross. Jesus will humble himself into the role of a slave. He will give of himself fully to die a scandalous death out of his lavish and overflowing love for us. Jesus’ offer will cost him everything for the sole aim of loving us and bringing us to be intimately close to him.
Mary’s actions spoke volumes of her Christian faith and her life as a disciple of Jesus. My question to us is, do our actions do the same? Does the way we love, give, share, speak, act, and serve act as a sign of our Christian faith? Do we do the things Jesus did? When people look at us, do they see someone like Mary who is willing to give fully of herself in such a costly way to love Jesus like he loved us?
In the passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we hear how Paul would happily give up all the riches and prized things of the world for the sake of Christ. He says, ‘I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ and be completely united with him.’[1]
Like Paul, would we be willing to throw away everything that the world pushes us toward in order to gain Christ and be completely united with him? Are you willing to give fully of yourself, no matter the cost, like Mary did to love, lavish and honour Jesus?
When you go shopping, you will always check the cost of things before you buy them to make sure it doesn’t cost too much. This is wise and sensible when it comes to doing our food shop. But when it comes to following Jesus, we are not called to hold something back just in case. We are to give everything to follow him, and when we do, it will cause a stir because it doesn’t make sense to the world around us. But it will stand as a sign that we love and follow Jesus. When we love the poor and marginalised in society, it is a sign we follow Jesus. When we give our money to those in need, and we ourselves struggle to make ends meet, it is a sign we follow Jesus. When we gather in a cold church on a freezing winter morning with no heating to worship and pray, it is a sign we follow Jesus because we are doing what Jesus does. It may be crazy, wild, and foolish, but in doing so, we find ourselves becoming intimately close to Jesus, like Mary let down her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet.
What are the signs in your life that indicate you are a follower of Jesus? If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Each of us has a different perfume to pour upon Jesus’ feet, and we must consider what it is we can offer to Jesus with our lives. And when we do offer ourselves fully to Jesus, when we excessively pour out our costly perfume upon Jesus’ feet, the sweet smell of perfume will fill the whole house, and without a single word, there will be an unquestionable sign that you are a follower of Jesus.
Amen.
[1] Philippians 3:8-9 [GNB].
Shakeel Nurmahi 