Jesus is talking with a broader group, including the disciples, and the subject of John the Baptist has come up and Jesus speaks very highly of John the Baptist, and yet he implies that John the Baptist is less than the people who will embrace his message and follow him.

One of the best episodes in the Bible is found in John 4. An official hears that Jesus has been healing people throughout his region so he travels to see Jesus because his son is sick and about to die. Jesus tells the man to go home, his son will be better. And then in John 50 the Bible has this simple statement. The man took Jesus at his word. A simple statement of faith. Before the man could get home his servants met him on the road to tell him his son had fully recovered.

We live in a day and an age where such simple faith in the ways of Jesus is scoffed at, we arrogantly see ourselves as the pinnacle of human endeavor. And first and foremost we trust in our own efforts, we trust in our own wisdom, we trust in our own knowledge. Which is not so bad, but we trust in them so much that if we believe in Jesus at all it's often only as a last resort. An act of desperation.

During my time away one particularly odd passage in the Bible has just time and again dominated my thinking. And when I realized that today was Christ the King Sunday I realized it was the passage I shared with you in Matthew 11. The contemporary way of saying Matthew 11 is to say that Jesus refused to dance to the people's tune. People are telling Jesus what is important to them. What they want to hear, yet instead he insists on teaching them God's values and God's commandments, which are not what they want to hear.

Today is a day of transition. In a couple hours I'm going to get in my car and drive out of town. But, that's not the most important transition that is going to happen today. There are two other transitions that are going to happen in the life of the church. Not this church, but the church - universal. At 11:00 this morning in Powell the congregation will meet and they will decide whether to begin the process of merging with the Methodist Church there in Powell. Their decision is just to begin that process. It does not mean that it will result in that merger. I have met with them three times since I've been here. And, I've encouraged them to stop thinking about the merger of two churches, and rather, think of what they have the opportunity to do, which is to blend two families. If you marry someone who brings a family with them and you and a family and you blended together. Sometimes that's not easy, but sometimes that works out really well. So, as we talked about them blending as a family I asked, 'How far back in time have you all been dating?' (I'm using that word today.) But, that's essentially what they were doing. They thought about it and said, 'About 20-25 years.' And so it made it easier for them to say we have been on a path that has led us to this moment. When I say we're all in transition - every one of us all of the time. That's one of my principals - that's the sort of thing I see. Twenty years ago when they did a project together, they weren't thinking about merging then, but they are today.
This afternoon at 3:00 in Worland there will be a worship service to celebrate that church's life as it ends. The church is closing, and why are they doing that? I can't answer that question. It was their choice and they came to the Presbytery and said this is what we want to do, and so we have been working with them. I will be there for that service to celebrate God's work in Worland through the Presbyterian Church there. Now, does that mean the church of Jesus Christ is no longer going to be in Worland? No, it just means that the institutional structure of the church will change. But the people structure of the church will remain. And, it's important to...

It's an interesting story because we see Jesus sitting around with this family, some of His disciples are there. This woman comes and...annoints him with something that she treasures. She paid money to buy this perfume, nard, and she annoints Him. She washes his feet puts it in His hair. We may feel like this is kind of an awkward kind of thing. But it is a statement of gratitude. And, not only is it a statement of gratitude but an act of generosity. I learned something about gratitude from a man in 1981 and Afghan refugee. Then a number of years later in 2008 I found myself in a contest. You may buy lottery tickets, that's kind of a contest. But how many of you're actually having to create something that becomes the test of the contest. Well, I found myself in a situation where that happened. A business writer named Daniel Pink that I had been using for my work at Universities as a leadership guide...

We're living in a time of transition and that transition is happening all over the place. One of the guiding principals that I operate by is that we're all in transition every one of us all of the time. And I bet most of your find that statement extrordinarily uncomfortable because you don't want to be in transition you want to stay the same. You want to find security in this life. And, I think what we see, if we're paying any attention at all, life is filled with challenge. Challenges that cause us to wonder where God is in the midst of this, and when we ask that question in many respects we're asking where am I in the midst of this. At the same time we're thinking God is present God is real...

Jesus is talking to the Jewish authorities, not directly to us, and he's going to say some words that are not very complimentary. But he's speaking the truth that is worthy of us to reflect upon. These are strong words and maybe they are irrelevant to some people in our time, but maybe not. We need to look behind these words to try and understand what Jesus is saying. When I started doing leadership work almost thirty years ago what I found I was doing was solving problems. My oldest son who at the time was ten, was asked, 'What does your father do?' And he said, 'Dad talks people into having problems and offers to fix them.' I realized that I was in a similar situation as Jesus. And, so much of being a person that is a consultant, someone who owns a business, someone who is selling their services to people and organizations is that you're having to testify to what you know you can do. And, you have to testify to that which has happened before. And, I found that very difficult. Especially when I was first starting as a consultant I had never been a consultant and never had run a business so what basis did I have for saying I had something to offer?

The ostrich, the peacock, and the sheepdog leaders... 
The ostrich is risk averse and not looking for opportunities to improve. These leaders are largely unteachable because they already know what they need to know. They just want to do what has already been done. They do not want to be confused by new ideas or questions.
The peacock walks around with his head in the clouds they strut around saying, "Here I am look at me, see how cool I am, I am your leader!" They present themselves to have an expert opinion on everything. If they are handsome or attractive they are asked to speak on a variety of subjects. They may not be trained in the field, but they are an expert on it. They trust in their own self-importance.
The sheepdog are like first responders that run toward burning buildings. They are constantly in touch with everything that is happening within their group. This is not out of insecurity, but rather a sign of care and protection of the group. They're watching. Eyes forward focused on the organization's circumstances. 
We become people that are the watchdogs that look out for what is harmful for others. The sheepdog does not serve alone, but there's a shepherd outside commanding the sheepdog. He responds to his master's voice sending him out to take care of the sheep. We are the...