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

"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.

* * * 

"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, 16-18

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.  You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  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."  As we begin chapter 6, Jesus will present the three most basic aspects of spiritual living, which are charitable giving, prayer, and fasting.  These three disciplines relate directly to God's righteousness, my study Bible tells us.  In today's lectionary reading, we are given the teachings on charitable living and on fasting.  Here Christ focuses on charitable deeds.

"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."   The original meaning of the word "hypocrite" was "actor" (meaning "under the mask" as ancient actors wore masks to denote character).  My study Bible says that hypocrites are play-actors practicing piety for show, who desire to please other people rather than God.  This is glory from men.  These hypocrites wear masks of compassion, but inwardly they are heartless.  Their reward is the applause of people and nothing more.  In ancient times, a trumpet would be used as an aid to an announcement, a part of publicity, calling people's attention.

"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."  My study Bible comments that God is not impressed with what others think of us, nor by what we think of ourselves.  It notes that God will reward good deeds when they are based on pure motives of the the heart.  

"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."  Hypocrites miss the spirit of prayer, which my study Bible says describes as an intimate, personal communion with God that leads to a vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).   Hypocrisy blocks out this communion and this vision.   True prayer, my study Bible notes, is not telling God what God already knows and then telling God what to do about it,  and it's not appearing pious in front of other people.   Jesus emphasizes here the humble (go into your room) and the personal (pray to your Father).

"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."  To keep a sad countenance in order to show off one's fasting is yet another mere external display.  Again, Jesus rejects this type of hypocrisy.  My study Bible comments that, for the person who fasts, the compassion of God outshines physical discomfort.  In the fasting seasons of the Church, Orthodox hymn call the faithful to wash and anoint their faces (there is no Ash Wednesday in the Eastern Churches).  Fasting is for spiritual growth and the glory of God, and not done to be seen by those who are around us.  Fasting is a spiritual discipline, and is not meant simply to mean abstinence from food.  The practice of self-denial is meant to work in all areas of life where it is beneficial in order to escape being controlled by passions.  St. John Chrysostom writes, "What good is it if we abstain from eating birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?"

It has been said that humility is the key to all of the virtues of Christian spiritual discipline.  It's important that we examine Christ's recommendations here and note that humility forms the bedrock of everything He is teaching.  To be a hypocrite (and in the ancient sense of the word, an actor wearing a mask to denote character) is to lack humility in that one seeks recognition from others as the main purpose and goal of whatever charitable or "good" act one is "performing."  But really the problematic nature of the lack of humility in the things Jesus describes in today's reading goes much deeper.  This kind of hypocrisy can reflect a deep insecurity, which is sought to be covered up and ameliorated through external achievement and recognition.  In that context, it can reflect a lack of depth and of self-knowledge.  For Christian spirituality, and the whole history of monasticism, a lack of self-knowledge is a basic stumbling block to coming closer to God and to following Jesus Christ.  If we have no self-knowledge, how can we correct the things we need to change in order to be more "like Christ," to come closer to the things He teaches that He wants to see from us?  If we don't understand, for example, an impulse for selfishness in one dimension or another, or that our need for excess money (for example) is driven by a deep insecurity or trauma, how can we come to see that reliance upon God to a deeper level in our hearts can begin to correct and to heal that?  It takes humility to come to terms with the things we might be threatened with embarrassment about, our perceived or feared shortcomings.  One way to cope with such shortcomings, or the insecurities that lead to our own desire not to know ourselves more deeply, is to inflate our sense of ourselves -- and this is often done through acts meant to impress others and which leave God out of the picture.  This is the greatest obstacle to wholeness and healing, for it is in meeting God that we find the love that allows us to look at our own flaws without hatred.  It is God who can give us a sense of the patience of a truly loving parent who knows us more deeply than any human being can know us -- and who also knows the steps we need to take in order to heal and realize this love, and to become more "like" our Creator ourselves.  All of these things are dependent first upon humility; that is, humility before God first, and from that we're to learn how God wants us to live and interact with the world, with neighbor.  Humility is often mistaken and misunderstood for a kind of groveling subservience to other people, but that's not what humility means at all.  In fact, that can also be another form of hypocrisy, a mask, a way to make an impression or manipulate.  Humility must instead convey to us a relationship with God, and precisely the one my study Bible describes as the one appropriate to prayer:  sincere and intimate, intensely personal, one that seeks to truly know God -- for in so doing, we will find ourselves.  Perhaps the greatest fear of God is really the fear of knowing and seeing ourselves as God sees us, with everything else stripped away.  In modern parlance, people often speak disparagingly of "virtue signaling," meaning hypocrisy in deeds meant to convey one's compassion or morality.  So let us consider what my study Bible tells us, that we don't need to impress God by what others think of us.  We need sincerity, intimacy, and personal time with the God who loves us, a kind of honesty that denotes purity.  That is, where we can come to know our own hearts, and cooperate with God's grace in finding the way for that heart to be the same from the inside to the outside, correcting the blemishes or flaws that keep us from being healed.  It is always time for this kind of prayer and this kind of life, for this is what God seeks for us.  This is what it means to go forward in the spiritual life.  Note that this pattern is meant to be established in us in terms of our charitable works, our prayer, and practice of fasting, for Christ's teachings are all in all, from the inside to the outside, with nothing left out.  It is in that secret place we find our meanings and substance for everything else.