Christian Catch 22

Learning to give God the glory in everything

03/02/2022

Mt 6:1-6 Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

As Christians we are often caught in a “catch 22.” What does that mean? Well, a catch 22 is a scenario in which you are darned if you do and darned if you don’t. For example, we know we should not enjoy the pleasures of this world to excess –that is what Lent is all about. We say, “Darn it!” But we also cannot yet have all the glories of heaven just yet – that’s what Easter is merely a foretaste of. Again, we say, “Darn it!” Christianity is constantly a catch 22, darned if we do and darned if we don’t.

In the gospel today Jesus throws yet another catch 22 conundrum at us. Did you catch it? He says very clearly in the gospel today, taken from the Sermon on the Mount: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from you heavenly Father.” Obviously, Jesus tells us not to flaunt our faith and good works, but be humble. And yet what do we do every Ash Wednesday? We parade around all day with these huge, gray crosses smeared on our foreheads made of ashes, so that everyone can see them. So, that is one end of the dilemma: where we see to disobey Jesus. Darn it!

But a little earlier – in Mt 5:16 and still from the same sermon – Jesus sounds like he is saying the opposite. He encourages us: “Your light must shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” In other words, at first Jesus says don’t do good deeds for people to see, but then he turns around and says do good deeds for people to see. Well, which is it, Jesus? This sounds exactly like a catch 22: darned if we do and darned if we don’t.

I think one way to resolve this dilemma is to make sure God gets the glory for all we do, whether people see our works or not. He deserves it, after all, because his grace working in us makes possible every good thing we ever accomplish. I cannot lift my pinky finger on my hand without his help. Many years ago in 2000, an unknown quarterback named Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl and they won.

A reporter asked him after the game, “Kurt, how does it feel to win the Super Bowl?” But Kurt Warner did not hesitate to answer: “First things first, all the glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” Kurt Warner did not grab the glory for himself but gave it all to God. His good works were seen by the whole world, but he gave the glory to God.

At other times, however, we should keep our good deeds hidden. One day at another church where I was pastor, a parishioner came to the church office and gave me a check for $250,000 and asked that I remain anonymous. On another occasion someone gave me $500,000 and asked that no one know where it came from. And one time, unbelievably, someone actually gave me a $2.5 million donation and asked me to keep it between us – “entre nous” as they say in French. Those generous Catholics did not want their reward on earth but rather in heaven. They kept their good deeds quiet, so that God could have the glory.

As we go through the forty days of Lent, some things we do will be seen by other people, like our ashes. When that happens, do your best to give the glory to God. He is the One who deserves it. But there will also be things you do that remain hidden, secret and known only to your heavenly Father. And that is good, too, for your reward will be great in heaven.

Christianity is full of catch 22 dilemmas. But if we probe the depths of that dilemma with the eyes of faith, we discover God’s great love for us, the mysterious working of his grace in us, and ultimately why he alone deserves all the glory. Then we no longer have to say, “Darn it!” but we will say, “Praised be Jesus Christ!”