Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 25-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts 21 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

• Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
• Christ the King – festival established only in 1925, first celebrated in 1926 – less than 100yr ago
• A response to growing secularism and atheism after WWI,
  & growth of fascism, all of which we see even more today
• During a time when secular national leadership was not functioning, it was helpful to remember that Christ is the ultimate King, over all nations. King of kings. Rev: “the ruler of the kings of the earth”
• In 1969, Pope Paul changed name to
  “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”
• We still call it ‘Christ the King’

• Jesus Christ is our personal Lord and saviour
  – our king, whose throne is in our hearts
• He is also creator of & King over the universe.
• He is King over both sacred and secular parts of the world
  – the church, and the world.
• We should not be too afraid to speak his kingliness – He is king!
• But while Jesus walked this earth, he kept his kingship hidden until the end of his life. He says to Pilate J18: “You say that I am a king”
• He came as a servant, not as a Royal, Monarch, President, Dictator.
• “I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth” > God
• 2 Sam 23:3-4 – God said to David: lead in righteousness
  = in right relationship with God and with people – a beautiful thing

• All too often, standing up for Jesus centres on morality – homosexuality, abortion, marriage, etc
• And Pope Pius’ original thinking for this festival was that individuals and states must submit to the rule of the Saviour –
  “the Empire of Our Lord”. He almost wanted a Theocracy.
• But what Jesus stood up for was the poor, the excluded,
  the marginalised, the vulnerable.
• His Good News was one of a social order in which power was flat, and people were cared for, reversal of fortunes.
• This is not what we typically think of as ‘kingship’.
  
• He sets for us a model for leadership and power
  • We lead through service – to work for the best for those whom we lead, even if by sacrifice
  • We exercise power to protect, not to dominate
  • Often link CtK to Christ as the Good Shepherd
• Servant leadership is the closest model to Jesus’ leadership
  • To ensure the wellbeing and flourishing
    of every person under our leadership
  • To remove obstacles and challenges,
    so people can move forward unencumbered
  • To set an example of what we want from them,
    rather than demanding but not living it
• Most Gracious God, who in Jesus of Nazareth showed us an alternative to the kings, queens and emperors of history, help us to revere and emulate Jesus’ leadership: To love, and to seek justice for all people. Help us to recognize the true grandeur and life-changing power based in loving you and all of our neighbors. In Christ Jesus, with you and the Holy Spirit, may we co-create a world ruled not through domination, but in that radical and all-powerful compassion and love. Amen.

Featured image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWVJqcFcISE