Do not be like the hypocrites

"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

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"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

- Matthew 6:1-6; Matthew 6:16-18

In the course of the past week, we have been reading Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew's Gospel. We began with the Beatitudes, teaching the blessed life of discipleship. Then Jesus taught You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world - the value of discipleship to the world. Next, He taught about fulfillment of the Law: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." In "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,'" Jesus taught His understanding of the law against murder. In "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery,'" He deepened our understanding of the inner life of discipleship. On Saturday, we read "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Jesus expands on concepts of justice and vengeance, deepening our understanding of what it is to be His disciple, and minding the state of our heart in right-relatedness to others. In all of His teachings, Jesus has deepened our understanding of faith in God, and our inner life of relatedness that leads to conduct in discipleship. He ended this reading with the teaching, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven." Over the past several readings, we have read Jesus' teachings on our conduct and how it relates to the state of the inner life. Discipleship takes in what is in the heart and not merely conduct by outward appearances. Here, Jesus embarks on a deeper understanding of what it is to be His disciple. We don't do good deeds for outward appearances. And it all comes back to the state of our relationship with "our Father in heaven."

"Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." Hypocrite in the Greek originally meant "actor." Over and over again in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been teaching a kind of discipleship that really involves our "heart and soul and mind." As in what Jesus has called the greatest commandment, in which a relationship of love of God takes its great depth in us, until it incorporates "all our heart and soul and mind," so discipleship covers within us a deepening growth to include all of who we are in the inner life and all that it means to be a person. Hypocrisy, therefore, is a kind of condemnation for practices which never do anything to touch the inner life at all. It is the act of showing for others only, and never using religious or spiritual practice to deepen the faith of the inner life in real sincerity and truth.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." In His teachings on prayer, Jesus comes even more closely to the understanding that relationship with God must involve the inner life, in the secret place, where our Father who sees in secret knows us and seeks to be known. In His teachings on the statutes regarding murder, adultery, and revenge, Jesus has given us the sense in which the inner life plays a role in discipleship and in loving God -- and right-relatedness to neighbor. Here, He makes it abundantly clear that the power of the first great commandment, a commitment of our whole selves to relationship with Our Father, is what He truly asks of disciples. Prayer is not for all the world to see, but for the working of this relationship deep within us, penetrating where it may not have been before, so that we may "cut out" those things that get in the way of its growth in us (as He has taught earlier). In both teachings here against hypocrisy, there is the promise of the fulfillment of the inner relationship in outward form, in the world. In this way, we get yet another teaching on the power of relationship to God and relationship to the world. If we do things backwards, for appearances' sake in the first place, the relationship to God falters and we fail to learn the love we are meant to put into practice. We fail to reach the depths He asks us to go in discipleship, we are in danger of being hypocrites.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Almsgiving, prayer and fasting are the traditional practices of spiritual and religious discipline. But Jesus' discipleship goes further. It goes deeper within us, and it doesn't stop -- there are always deeper places to go, there is always "more" of us to devote to relationship to our Father in heaven. Here, Jesus teaches about fasting, and calls the hypocrites those who disfigure their faces so their practice makes a great show to others. But it's the Father who sees in secret whose awareness counts in terms of what we are doing, our devotion and love -- and in this way, with reliance on God, our outward lives become tinged with the spiritual discipline we practice, and reflect our inner lives.

On Saturday, in the previous reading and commentary, we noted how all of Jesus' teachings reflect what He will teach in Matthew chapter 22, when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus gave two in response: "‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." In His teachings against hypocrisy, Jesus deepens and builds His teachings that reflect with perfect consistency His understanding of the Law. First comes our deepening, growing relationship to our Father in heaven in the inner life, which grows to encompass "heart and soul and mind." Whatever has been reserved from the light of this relationship will come to that light, either to be changed, transformed, repented of or deepened and grown. In this way, our discipleship becomes better formed, strengthened - and the love of God grows in us to encompass more of who we are. But we cannot forget Jesus' promise. His teachings are not against almsgiving, prayer and fasting! But spiritual practice is done with one thing in mind first -- and our Father in the secret place, who sees in secret, will reward us openly. It's not the opinions of others that count first about who we are, it's the opinion of the Father that counts, that place right in the heart that touches us in the truest place, in the center of who we are. Let's not forget His promise, that our Father who sees in secret will reward us openly. We rely on God, we deepen our faith, we grow in its possibilities and God's love. Who can put a limit on the rewards that may come from this practice? Let us give up our worldly expectations for a life of His devotion, His love for us, the great value He sets on us to do as He wants.