Performance Review
February 17, 2019*
By Pastor John Partridge
Jeremiah 17:5-10 Luke 6:17-26 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
When was the last time you had a performance review?
Both in secular jobs and in pastoral ministry, my job performance has been periodically evaluated. Theoretically, this is supposed to happen annually, but in reality, my supervisors and, to a lesser extent, my Staff Parish Relations Committees, have occasionally missed those deadlines. But regardless of how often they happen, most all of us have experienced them with some regularity. We sit in a room together with our boss, or with a committee, and we discuss how things have been going, what things are going well, what things need to be improved, and what things we might focus on in the months ahead. Although it is almost always stressful, sometimes the process is generally painless, and at other times, “painless” is clearly not a word that we would use to describe them.
But can you imagine what it would be like to be reviewed by God for your job performance as one of his followers or as a follower of Jesus Christ?
With that in mind, we begin this morning by reading Jeremiah 17:5-10, where we discover something that sounds very much like a performance review from God.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
There is some hard-hitting, close to home, preaching here that hits many of us right where we live.
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.”
Jeremiah wastes no time and does not fool with political correctness when he says that we should not ever put our trust in kings, or presidents, or human governments, or even in pastors, priests, popes, or churches led by humans. When we put too much trust in human beings, whether in governments or in the men and women who oversee our churches, that misplaced trust can cause our hearts to turn away from God and we become like a bush that grows in a wasteland, always wanting more, never having enough, and never being satisfied. But, if we put our whole trust and confidence in God, then we will be like a tree that is planted by a lake or a river, never in fear of drought or summer, or sunshine, and always being fruitful and giving to the world around it.
But the last line of this passage strikes us most of all.
“I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
That clearly sounds like a performance review.
And not just a performance review, but a merit-based performance review. God will examine our hearts and minds and reward each person based on our conduct, our behavior, and our actions.
This serious business. There is not a lot of “wiggle room” here. You either perform, or you don’t, and your reward will be based on your performance.
But there are some caveats, or qualifications, that need to be made to that sort of teaching. It needs to be explained because many of the people of Israel, or the Old Testament followers of God, read passages like that and began to believe that since rich people seemed to be blessed by God, then they must be good people, and since poor people seem to not be blessed by God, then the poor must be sinners and have somehow made God angry at them. That line of thinking is still heard today among those who preach what is referred to as the “prosperity gospel.” The prosperity gospel says, “If you truly believe, or if you only believe hard enough, if only your faith is strong enough, then God will make you healthy and rich.” But that isn’t at all what Jeremiah was saying. And, in truth, this understanding became so common that Jesus and the disciples spent a considerable time preaching against it. One of the most famous of these lessons in contained in Luke 6:17-26 where we hear this:
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Jesus us in the middle of healing a crowd of people from all over the region. Some had physical illnesses, others had spiritual problems, and some might have had mental illnesses (as we understand them) as well. Jesus was so filled with the spirit and the power of God that people were being healed simply by touching him. But in the midst of this, Jesus looks directly at his disciples and gives a speech. Clearly, this is something of vital importance that they needed to know, and which was illustrated in some way by the healing that was going on in front of them.
And Jesus’ message is that the kingdom of God belongs to poor people, that hungry people are blessed, that people who are experiencing great sadness, sorrow, and depression are not cursed, but will eventually rediscover laughter. Jesus wants this followers to remember that when life stinks, you are still blessed by God, and more than that, if your life stinks because you are a follower of Jesus, or because you are doing the work of Jesus Christ, then you are blessed precisely because you are hated, insulted, excluded, and rejected.
If your life stinks because you are a follower of Jesus Christ and because you are acting like a follower of Jesus Christ, then remember that God’s own prophets were similarly mistreated. God’s prophets were still loved, honored, and blessed by God even when the world treated them like crap.
And so are you.
If… you are mistreated because of Jesus.
If you live a life that honors God and does the work of Jesus Christ, even if that life stinks, you need to know that you are piling up blessings that may not ever be received until after you meet Jesus face-to-face.
At the same time, contrary to popular opinion, being rich might just mean that you are cursed by God, and not blessed. If you are rich, or comfortable, or well fed, or spend your days in joy and laughter, or if everyone speaks well of you and thinks that you’re great, if you live well because you say the things that people want to hear… and you have forgotten to live a life that honors God, and have forgotten to live a life that does the deeds and actions of a follower of Jesus, then the only blessing that you will ever get is the one that you have now.
And you will have all of eternity to regret the choices that you have made.
Once again, that clearly describes a merit based, performance review.
But don’t let the thought of a performance review fill you with anxiety or uncertainty. Instead, be reassured and remember the words of Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth where he reminds them of what is true and real (1 Corinthians 15:12-20).
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Paul says that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then nothing that we have done is worth anything. If Christ has not risen from the dead, then everyone is lost, and no one has anything in which to find hope. But Christ is real. And Christ really did rise from the dead. And if Jesus rose from the dead, then he is the first born from the dead, or as Paul said, the first fruits of the dead. And that means that everyone who has aligned themselves with Jesus, everyone who has become a follower of Jesus, carries with them the promise of resurrection from the dead.
Paul’s message is that resurrection is real. The Bible is real. The Gospel message is real. And in that reality, we have a future if we believe in Jesus Christ. But when we believe in Jesus, we must also live for Jesus by doing the things that he has called us, and commanded us, to do.
Rest in the knowledge that, if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ, then you will be see resurrection.
Be confident that we will live, with Jesus, in God’s eternal house.
But be – daily – spurred to action, be motivated, by remembering that there will be a performance review on the day of judgement.
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