Good morning everyone!

I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.

The Scripture passage for today’s meditation is taken from the epistle of Paul to the
Ephesians.

Ephesians 5: 1-2

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved Children, and live in love as Christ

loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Let’s look to God in prayer: Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your word
and as we meditate on your word, open our hearts and minds to hear you. Amen.

I am sure every one of us seated here this morning, have always tried to be like
someone else or imitate them at some point of time. We have our own role models-
someone we could look up to, someone greater and more powerful. But, gradually
growing up as believers of God, we have been called to participate in making
discipleship. This participation involves receiving of instructions and living out our
faith for others to imitate. On one hand, believers who are mature in faith take the
responsibility to contribute in teaching and modeling other believers, while on the
other hand, to ensure that their Christ like character is being passed on to fellow
believers.

I’m grateful for this opportunity to speak on the topic “Learning to be led by Jesus:
Imitating God”

Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Church in Ephesus while he was imprisoned in
Rome. Ephesians is basically about the general instruction of God’s redemptive
work in Christ. Here, we see the Pauline churches making a transition into a new
generation. Paul encourages his converts to put off the old self because the Gentiles
have been hard-hearted and there was unwillingness to turn from sin. Besides, Paul
also exhorts the believers to put on the new self which is created anew in the likeness
of Christ.

Christian leadership does not demand or impose, rather it is the service towards
others that makes him/her a leader. But as leaders, it is crucial to be God-fearing and
have the qualities that God requires of us. So, in order to lead others and nurture
those whom a leader serves, he/she should possess Christ-like character. Today’s
meditation will emphasize on imitating God’s likeness to form an effective
leadership. . . My first point is_________

1. Be imitators of God

In this passage, the Greek word μιμητἡς “mimetes” which means an imitator is
referred to the use of a model for exemplary living. Imitation has always played a
major role in the training of an orator. The teachers of rhetoric declared that the
learning of oratory depended on three things - theory, imitation and practice. And
the main part of their training was the study and imitation of the masters who had
gone before. Paul says that if we are to train to be an orator, we would be told to
imitate the masters themselves. And in our context of training as Christians, we must
imitate the God of all good life.

We do not become children to our parents merely by obeying them, but by virtue of
our births. Likewise, we do not become God’s children by obedience, but by a new
birth. Here, Paul brings out the idea of a Christian, setting an example, which begins
at Chapter 4:32 - to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just
as God has forgiven us. Also, Paul strongly instructs us that if we are to be like
Christ, we must imitate Him and grow in godliness. In the light of this, we must
imitate Christ because he alone set the supreme example by imitating God.
When we look into the leadership aspect of imitation, Paul’s biblical concept of
imitation is apt for a true leadership today. In today’s context, we see the contrast
between worldly leadership and godly leadership. While there are those leaders who
are motivated to work and lead to satisfy their personal benefits: gaining all sort of
respect and priding over their status. There are also those leaders who sincerely
represents Jesus in his humility and actions. Jesus Christ lived an exemplary life
through his act of kindness, humility, hospitality and sacrifice which in fact is a
genuine discipleship. We cannot be contented ourselves comparing with people
around us, rather we need to compare with God which will certainly lead to spiritual
maturity and growth.

Despite our claims to be Christians and followers of Christ; we often project a very
negative image to people around us. It was in view of this that Mahatma Gandhi
cited, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike
your Christ.” This implies that we as Christians have failed to do our part and didn’t
live out our life in Christ-likeness. It seems obvious that the God we worship and the
religious activities we practice does not match our lifestyle. We have failed to set an
exemplary life as Christians. If we remove the word Christ from Christian; it will
hold no meaning in itself. Christ is the lone entity that gives us the identity of a
Christian. Therefore, Christ alone should hold the center place if we are to live as
true Christians. It is our responsibility to set exemplary lives like Jesus seeking no
personal benefits. As leaders, we are to orient our lives in imitating his likeness and
emulate the love Christ has shown to us. My second point is___________

2. Be imitators of God’s love

Here, the verb περιπατὲω (peripateo) “to walk” often translated as “to live” recalls
the call to no longer walk as the Gentiles do. It takes us back to the previous section,
Chapter 4:17 which talks about the Gentiles being darkened in their understanding
alienating themselves from the life of God. Paul exhorts the readers to imitate God’s
love and to make progress on the way of love. Walking in love is the way in which
one imitates God in thinking, talking, and in acting out this love.

Every father has a special love for his own children. No matter how much an earthly
father loves his children, it can never surpass the love of Christ for us. To walk in
love, we need to understand the biblical definition of love i.e., to look unto Christ,
who is both an atoning sacrifice and an ultimate example. Throughout His earthly
ministry, Jesus showed His love for others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick,
and the distressed. The love of Christ was so great that it transcended all boundaries
of caste, class, gender and race. And it was best exemplified in John 4 where Jesus’
attitude of acceptance of someone as lowly as a Samaritan woman is illustrated.
Having experienced the love of God, we are to rejoice in this love by imitating God
not merely in words but also in action. It is a call to practical action beyond our inner
life with God. Jesus’ love and self-sacrifice has enabled humans all over the world
to be reconciled to him and also with one another. This message of boundless love
of God is made available to all kinds of people in Christ which was fulfilled at the
cross.

Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the
world will know peace.” Leadership often grants us certain power and privileges and
as such we are at the danger of misusing these opportunities and privileges for our
personal gains. When this love of power is within us, it will automatically have a
negative impact on our roles as leaders. However, when the love of Christ takes
control over us, we can overcome this love of power and find our way into the peace
of God.

One of the best example of love in action can be drawn out from the life of Mother
Teresa. She dedicated her life in the service of the poor, the ailing and the destitute
through the Missionaries of Charities. She had once said, “Love cannot remain by
itself - it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
Mother Teresa lived among the poor, in the slums of Kolkata. She, along with a few
fellow nuns, went door to door, begging for food and financial help. They survived
on the bare minimum and used the excess to help people around them. She was a
“mother to the poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to
the thirsting love of God. Christian leaders are called to so love the Lord that they’d
be willing to do everything they could, by tending to the physical and emotional
thirst of the people. As a leader, we are to be like the light of the world setting an
exemplary life like Jesus who brought light to those in darkness. My third point is___
3. Be imitators of God’s forgiveness

The metaphor “fragrant” in verse 2 suggests that Jesus’ self-sacrifice was pleasing
to his Father and was thus accepted as a means of reconciliation. Jesus willingly
gave himself over to God as an offering and sacrifice. And it was a pleasant aroma
to God. In the Old Testament, the continual sacrifices of unblemished lambs were
required to satisfy God’s wrath and judgment. But here, the idea of sacrifice is
transferred to the spiritual and personal realm. God redeemed us from the tyranny of
sin, not with money, but with the precious blood of His own. We cannot escape from
sin on our own but only the life of Jesus can redeem us. This sacrificial death of
Jesus Christ has removed our sins and has forgiven us of our iniquities. Paul urges
the readers to imitate God’s forgiveness, which can be done so by loving human with
the same sacrificial love and by forgiving others.

Hebrews 9: 22 clearly tells us about the costly requirement for God’s forgiveness. It
asserts that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. However, Christ
died to take away all our sins - be it of the past, the present or the future. He became
the ultimate sacrifice for all our sins. Jesus paid the ransom of our sins by dying on
the cross for you and me. By Jesus’ loving act of grace, believers are eternally freed
from the penalty and guilt of sin. Once we’re covered by the blood of Christ, God
doesn’t keep a record of our sins. He does not retain his anger forever but he delights
in mercy. Our forgiveness is total and complete. So, it is our responsibility to live a
progressively more holy life as we grow closer to Christ.

It is impossible to live a Christian life in our own strength. We need God’s help,
which is why He has given us a comforter i.e., the Holy Spirit. Just as God has
forgiven us our sins, we also ought to forgive others with the same compassionate
love and a forgiving heart. Therefore, if we are to imitate Christ, we must first imitate
Him by showing the willingness to forgive others because this is exactly what we
learn from the life of Jesus Christ. God restores our lives as we forgive others. And
as leaders, we must always be ready to forgive others, however forgiveness does not
change the past but it surely does enlarge the future. And this is what the world needs
today.

To conclude, being a leader will definitely not be an easy task. Positioning ourselves
as a role model for people to imitate means doing things that will better improve
individuals, community or the world at large. In order to form an effective
leadership, we are to apply the knowledge that we have received and then, sacrifice
through our actions. Jesus’ story were not just mere imagery words of
encouragement, but Jesus himself had been born as a man enduring all sufferings
and sacrificing his life for our sins. This practical action of Christ is an inspiration
for all believers to imitate Jesus. Just as Jesus lived an exemplary life, likewise a
leader must take the lead in influencing others. So, you and I, as leaders ought to set
Jesus as our role model and start living exemplary lives by being imitators of God,
his love and his forgiveness. Amen.

Now I call upon my care group mentor to come and say the prayer and benediction.