Sunday November 23rd, 2025 Worship

While I don’t know any specific figures, it’s not hard to assume that leadership resources are a multi-million-dollar, if not a multi-billion-dollar, industry in the United States each year. We spend considerable amounts of money and countless hours developing leadership skills and looking at what other leaders can teach us. From CEOs to self-help guides, we look to others for their leadership advice, whether that be through training seminars, books, or conversations over coffee. We look to leaders in our own lives, but we also idolize celebrities and other figures who seem to have some unique qualities that make them more qualified to offer guidance. I’m not saying this is inherently a bad thing, but I also want us to spend a bit of time observing who it is that we look up to as leaders. What are the qualities that they embody which tell us they are a leader?
When we are talking about leaders today, there are often certain traits that people are looking for: are they able to run meetings smoothly and effectively? Are they charismatic, getting people to follow their advice or course of action? Sometimes, we even ask, consciously and unconsciously, if they look the part of who we expect a leader to be. We have world leaders and business leaders, community leaders and organizational leaders, but most of the stories that make headlines involve a very specific type of leadership centered on how someone looks and how much money or power they have to influence society.
In all of our conversations about leaders, does Jesus ever come up as an example of a true leader? It’s no surprise that for many of us, Jesus isn’t at the forefront of who we think of when we are asked to think about a leader. After all, this was the case in his time too. Compared to the rulers in their fortresses, adorned in flowing purple robes and surrounded by mighty teams of advisors and military leaders, this poor carpenter from Nazareth didn’t really compare. While he had people who followed him, his disciples certainly, and the others listening to his teachings, he didn’t always act in the way that people expected from a leader. And, this is precisely what makes his example of leadership so impactful. Jesus’ model of leadership is contrary to the models the world gives us. This is what we lift up on this Christ the King Sunday, as we recognize the ways that God’s kindom is different from earthly kingdoms.
The way Jesus practiced his leadership embodied the love that God has for all of creation, exemplified through Paul’s description of the fully human, fully divine Christ who was present at the beginning of creation and is reconciling the world to himself (Colossians 1: 11-20). This Christ, who reigns with God forever, grounds us in the reminder that God’s kindom will have no end, even as the worldly rulers war and our worldly realities are full of instability and fear, making it feel like this will anxiety-ridden state will be our eternal reality.
The title of Jesus as the Good Shepherd stands in stark contrast to the words of Jeremiah, who is criticizing the earthly kings for who have scattered their flocks instead of tending to them and caring for their needs (Jeremiah 23: 1-6). There is a longing for this promised leader who will rule with justice and righteousness, a hope of a people who had experienced so much oppression and political turmoil. This isn’t just some naïve hope of the people, but a radical trust in God’s promises, even when they feel difficult to believe given the reality.
This idea of shepherd automatically imbues a sense of humility within this position of power; the shepherd is a role that requires care and nurture, it is not one of domination and force. How much more do we learn and grow when we have someone who walks alongside of us, still giving us the agency to live and do what we need to do, but also helping us to care for ourselves, to find rest and nourishment, as opposed to being controlled by someone who piles on work that they feel is important and only communicates with us to scold us for not doing the work fast enough. This change in our understanding of leadership isn’t just transformative for the one in the leadership position, but it has the capacity to dramatically change the way the entire community lives and relates to one another. When the work is grounded in the well-being of all, not just a few.
I also want to talk about this story from Luke’s Gospel today too, this story of Jesus’ death on the cross. It may seem odd to get this story today, but it also tells us a lot about God’s way of relating to the world, as we prepare for Advent next week. As I’ve talked about before, crucifixion was a legal and common form of execution at this time in history. And, like other forms of public executions, they were meant to be an example to people; with the sacrifice of a few, the political leaders were able to tell those watching that this is what will happen if you act in a similar manner. By being nailed the cross, Jesus is made an example of what happens when you are a threat to those in power. Yet, the example he gives is not exactly what the authorities had in mind.
Instead, Luke’s Gospel picks up this profound example of Jesus’ leadership guided by his love for the world. When they are mocking him, telling him to save himself if he is really the Messiah, Jesus doesn’t (Luke 22: 35). It’s not that he wouldn’t welcome being able to come down from the cross and continue to live, but through his death, he is reconciling the world to himself. This is the part we always talk about, but I also want to note that this is such a poignant example of Christ entering into the suffering with us. He could have saved himself, and in doing so, left the two criminals hanging still, but he doesn’t abandon them. Coming down from the cross now wouldn’t have changed anything in the long run, in fact, it probably would have only made their punishments more prolonged and severe. But, in the shadow of the cross, Jesus shows us what it means to live and lead. To embrace the pain of living, walk alongside each other, and change the world in the process. He doesn’t abandon or sacrifice the others for the sake of making life easier on himself; he shoulders the burden too.
But, I also want to look at the reactions of the two men hanging at Jesus’ sides. Because they are prime examples of how we respond to the love and grace that is extended to us through Christ’s death and resurrection. There are parts of us that are scared, angry, and anxious, demanding that God do something to make our lives easier, to free us from the pains and experiences that we don’t want to go through. But, there is also a part of us that is able to rest in the promises that we have received, the promise that we will be with Jesus in Paradise (Luke 22: 39-43), even if we aren’t there right now. It is hard to accept these promises at times, to trust them and believe them to be true, whether that is because we feel unworthy or because life feels too difficult, but that does not make the promises any less true. It is through the action of Jesus, to stay on that cross, that we are welcomed into the arms of God, to receive comfort and a tending of our wounds. This creates space for the entire spectrum of our emotions, so we can lean into the hope, but also cry out to God.
As we sit in the shadow of the cross, we know that this is not the end of the story, that Jesus is not just an example for us to follow, but the one who invites us into this new way of being, through what he has already done for us. One that breaks down the old model of leadership, and ushers in a relationship of care, for the wellbeing of all, grounded in this lifegiving relationship we have with God. Jesus is breaking down the model which tells us that leadership can only come from someone else exercising their power over us, and instead he invites us into this new way of being centered in care, and I would argue, community. His story may not be the first one we reach for when we want to develop our leadership skills, or the first image that pops into our heads when we hear the word “king,” but it might be worth it for us to take a closer look. May we keep that in mind, as we prepare to go back to the beginning of his story, and see again the way his life and his actions are turning the world around, beginning with the birth of this king in a manger.