High Performers

“What do you mean you were invited to the High Performers Celebration?” his wife asked incredulously. Earlier in the week, they argued over their most recent family financial crisis. The fact that he was considered a high performer made no sense to her, nor to him. While his sales had been respectable, they were nothing remarkable.

Arriving at the event, he was interested to find others who were equally confused by being invited. Still, no mistakes were made. All high performers were there, and the company wanted to celebrate their work.

As I listened to him describe the event, and his bewilderment over being invited, I couldn’t help but compare it to the way Jesus made people feel in his day. Like today, he lived at a time when people strove to achieve much and be seen as leaders in their communities. As a result, when he spoke of a banquet to which people were invited, a job for which people were hired, or a gate through which people were to enter, many listeners assumed they would likely to make the invitation list. So, too, others felt as if they were in the social bleachers, looking on at the impressive lives of others.

What fascinates me most about Jesus is who is on his invitation list. Like so many, I measure people by who they are and what they have achieved, which I am embarrassed to admit is usually determined by the financial success they have enjoyed. These “high performers” would clearly receive invitations to any celebration, but this is where Jesus surprises us all. Instead of the leader of the synagogue, or members of the most prominent families, Jesus invites people not even recognized by society. Like my friend who found himself at the High Performers Celebration, I believe many invited to Christ’s celebration will have no idea why they were invited. 

“I didn’t sell all that many houses this year, but I remember waving my fee for the widow who couldn’t afford the cost.”

“I left prominent position at the church to start a camp for kids which struggles to make ends meet.”

“I lost my job and have simply volunteered at the food pantry until I find another one.”

These are today’s widows with two copper coins. These are the men and women who beat their chests while confessing their shortcomings rather than touting their worthiness. These are the ones who stopped to help the one in the gutter. In other words, these are the unlikely ones who perform highly.

To look at it another way, what if Jesus came and threw a party for today's high performers? I have no doubt such news would cause some of our local pastors and rabbis to hurry home and shine their shoes and iron their vestments. Those on the wealthiest-among-us list would clear their calendars. And yet, invitations to such an event arrive in unlikely mailboxes. My hope is that we will one day look around the room and give thanks that someone greater than we was in charge of the invitation list.