My cousin Joanie is working on a master's degree in organizational management. Even though she is in a business administration program, her thesis is on women in ministry, particularly the "servant leader" model. She sent me a questionnaire as part of her thesis research. So it was that I spent an afternoon at the beach thinking about servant leaders. Are you familiar with the term, "servant leader"? For the last twenty years or so, experts have been describing a style of church leadership which is collegial, dedicated to the notion that leaders motivate by example and manage by humility, servants of both their people and particularly of their God. It is Jesus' leadership style, and the lack of this practice is what Jesus is talking about regarding the Pharisees. Joanie's questionnaire was a perfect preparation for this week's texts, and the sermon series we'll be doing in the month of November: leadership in the church.

Today's leadership subtitle is "How to tell a good one." Boy, Jesus comes on pretty strong about how to tell a not good one. That means NOT saying, "Do as I say, not as I do." Did your mother ever say this? In my mother's case, it wasn't that she was doing something bad that she didn't want us to do, it was just that in her mind, there was a difference between what kids can do and what grownups can do. It was about roles. This was not the case with the Pharisees. The Pharisees have leadership credentials, but they are in it for the glory. The people in their care were a messy detail they need in order to have an audience for their honor. The Pharisees like their reputations more than they like the work of looking out for or sticking up for the people. Think of how popular culture portrays televangelists: big cars, big jewels, big hair, big smiles-and big concern for the checks their viewers send in.

Joshua's situation is different. He's at the beginning of his career as Israel's top dog. After 40 years under Moses, Israel is in the midst of a leadership transition, Joshua needs credibility. God's set up for Israel's entry into the Promised Land is déjà vu Moses and the Red Sea. You remember-the waters part, the Israelites cross over. As a servant leader, Joshua gives credit where credit is due. But what's the deal with the priests and the twelve other guys? The priests must carry the ark-the throne of the Lord-right into the river before the waters pile up. This reminds me of Springwater risk takers. Last summer, we took the risk of doing our own Vacation Church School. Our friends at Bethany, who had helped us the last two years, said that they couldn't help us again this year. What could we do? We'd already promoted the week, recruited adult leaders, sent for materials. Could we do our own Vacation Church School? You know the rest of the story. We had fabulous week, one of the best weeks in the lives of our kids. But it was a big undertaking and a big risk. It called for trust. Good leaders know which risks to take. And trust God for the results.

But what was with the twelve other guys standing in the middle of the river with the priests? Since it is twelve people, you've gotta know this means one person from each tribe. They weren't standing there as Israel's Secret Service, guarding the throne of God. Later on we find out they each carried one stone out of the riverbed. These stones are piled up as a monument to God's miraculous plan for their entry into the land that fulfilled God's promise to Abraham and Sarah. They weren't just rock pickers, though. They were Israel's designated rememberers. Stones are durable, but stories last better. One per tribe, these were the guys who went back to their families and neighbors and helped people remember all that God had done. They passed on their memory to other story-tellers, who in turn helped God's people continue remember God's redeeming work.

Story-tellers are trust builders, because they point to what has gone before. When I first came to interview with Springwater's PNC, I was given was the book written for Springwater's 100th anniversary. We give a copy of this wonderful book to people looking into membership here, because the stories tell them who we are. Good leaders pass on the important stories, not just for the sake of memory, but as a means of testing new directions for the community, building trust in God's care. Remember a couple of years ago when we were considering a separate Sunday School hour? We had children's Sunday School, but it was during the worship service, and there was no adult Sunday School. Our story said that Sunday School was important to us. We started as a Sunday School. We were a Sunday School before we were organized as a church in 1889. There were long periods in Springwater's history when there were more people in Sunday School than there were in worship. Our two-year-old "new deal" on Christian Education-for both children and adults-is really a continuation of our old story.

But not all story-tellers are God's kind of leaders. A current example is political campaigns. I don't know about you, but I am offended when a candidate tries to gain my vote by making his or her story sound like the stories of revered leaders-claiming parallels between him or herself and Lincoln or Kennedy. Or in Oregon, when they claim to be Tom McCall's or Mark Hatfield's story continued. This is what we called in high school debate, a "cheap trick."

At Springwater we are preparing to nominate next year's church officers. These leadership qualifications-trust in God, risk taking, story integrity-these qualifications are important in the church, but in light of the election this week, as Christians we need to apply gospel values as we prepare to vote. Take seriously your responsibility to vote. Turn in your ballots. But just because we are Christians doesn't mean a blind acceptance of every person who attains office. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees. Because we are Christians, we have a different set of standards that we apply to persons in authority. I don't think any of us who participated in last month's adult Sunday School will be able to say the Lord's Prayer again in quite the same way. "Thy kingdom come." How do we go about voting, when we believe that God's will is to be working for the reign of God? And that we promise to help.

For those of you who missed the classes, James Mulholland, in the book Praying Like Jesus, makes the point that Jesus purposely put "thy kingdom come" before "thy will be done." He did this because it is easier to know God's will when we are dedicated to being part of God's bringing about the kingdom. Mulholland says Jesus has already told us what to do for God's kingdom: to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, release the captive, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned. He also makes the point that we aren't just asking God for help, we are making a promise to work for God' reign. This applies to the mission of our church -how we contemplate the budget for next year, the use of volunteer resources, who we elect as officers, our building plans. "Thy kingdom come" applies to our mission as much as it does to our voting in civil elections. We're not talking "faith based initiative" here. We are talking the reign of God. Have you ever wondered why the back of our bulletin says, "Ministers: the whole congregation!" It is because we pray "thy kingdom come" as if we are making a promise. Because we believe God has called us to be part of bringing about the kingdom. Thy kingdom come, they will be done-through us, in us. And all God's people say, Amen.