“Are you kidding?  Why should I go to church?  They’re a bunch of hypocrites!”  Have you ever heard anything like this?  Have you ever said anything like this?

The gospel reading for Ash Wednesday features Jesus criticizing hypocrites.  “So there; I’m right!”

I have a little story regarding my first experience of Ash Wednesday.  I was a freshman at a Roman Catholic university in Texas.  Mind you, I wasn’t interested in the Catholics or church in general.  One day, I was eating lunch with a friend in the cafeteria.  I mentioned how there were some students walking around with a black mark on their foreheads.  I thought it was funny.

My friend said simply, “Well, it’s Ash Wednesday.”  I had absolutely no idea what that meant.  He had a quizzical look on his face.  I had a blank expression on mine—but at least I wasn’t a hypocrite!

I’m about to do something which is not exactly authoritative, and that is, to define a Biblical word in English.  Here’s what the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says about “hypocrite”: number 1, “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion,” and number 2, “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.”[1]

When Jesus disapproves of the hypocrites, is he thinking of our current-day idea of the word?  If Jesus is saying that we need to practice what we preach, then, as challenging as that may be at times, it still seems like something we can get a handle on.  And if we can’t, there’s usually somebody else who’s willing to point out where our words and deeds don’t match up!

I started thinking about the word “hypocrite” when I noticed the translation in the Anchor Bible.  In all three places where most English versions read “the hypocrites,” it reads “the overscrupulous.”[2]  That puts a different spin on the passage.  It sounds like what Jesus has in mind aren’t those who are frauds, but rather, those who want to “demonstrate their spiritual superiority.”[3]

Our word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek ύποκριτης (hupokritēs).  It originally meant “interpreter” or “one who explains.”  Later, it took on the meaning of “actor,” like one who performs in a play.

It’s this definition of “actor” that was the commonly understood meaning of the word for centuries.  So there wasn’t really a derogatory sense associated with being a hypocrite.  It wasn’t an insult.

It appears that it’s only well after the New Testament era that “hypocrite” takes on that negative meaning.  That is, of people pretending to be something other than what they are, of not practicing what they preach.[4]  So Jesus is saying, “whenever you give alms”… “whenever you pray”… “whenever you fast”… don’t be actors.  Don’t play a role.

After each time Jesus warns against behaving like the hypocrites, he adds this: “Truly I tell you, they have received their reward” (vv. 2, 5, 16).  They’ve received their reward.  What reward is that?

What reward do actors receive—or at least, hope to receive?  Actually, Jesus tells us: “so that they may be praised by others” (v. 2).  Actors, and performers in general, want to be applauded; they don’t want to be booed.  Anyone who’s been on stage, be it for a school play or doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl, can tell you that.

If that’s all you want your life to add up to—the acclaim given to actors, to hypocrites—that’s fine.  But Jesus suggests something much better.  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal” (vv. 19-20).

A life that only has the symbolic fifteen minutes of fame, in the end, isn’t much of a life.  Jesus concludes, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 21).  So where is our treasure?  Where is our heart?  And what does that mean for us tonight?

That ashy cross on the forehead reminds us of our mortality.  We are on this planet for a finite amount of time.  “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  We often act like it isn’t true; perhaps we usually act like it isn’t true.  We are “hypocritical” in the purest sense of the word.

Still, on this Ash Wednesday, perhaps we don’t need to be reminded “we are dust.”  We’ve witnessed plenty of dust this past year.  We don’t need to act.  Maybe in some bizarre, unwanted way, this is a gift; it is a grace.  How could that possibly be the case?

We are especially reminded that our prayer, just as with giving of alms (giving in support of others) and fasting, isn’t for show.  We are told, “go into your room and shut the door.”  That is where we get our inner strength, “in secret” (v. 6).  And thus empowered, we can display it openly.

And contrary to my earlier foolishness, that ashy cross isn’t an occasion for humor, but an occasion for joy.

[1] www.m-w.com/dictionary/hypocrite

[2] W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday, 1971), 73, 74, 78.

[3] Albright and Mann, cxxiii.

[4] Albright and Mann, cxvii.

“Are you kidding?  Do you think I’d go to church there?  I wouldn’t set one foot inside that place!  That bunch is nothing but a pack of hypocrites!”

Have you ever heard anything like this?  Have you ever said anything like this?  A commonly observed flaw in Christian behavior, with varying degrees of accuracy, is that it is “hypocritical.”  Three times in the Ash Wednesday gospel reading from St. Matthew, Jesus makes observations about the behavior of “hypocrites.”  And his comments are not flattering.  They’re along the lines of what not to do!

I’m about to do something which is not exactly authoritative, and that is, to define a Biblical word in an English translation of the Bible.  (You do realize that the Bible was not written in English!)  But here’s what the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says about “hypocrite”:  number 1, “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion,” and number 2, “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.”[1]

When Jesus disapproves of the hypocrites, is he thinking of our current-day idea of the word?  That would almost make things easier.  (And yes, I’ll try to explain what I’m talking about!)

If Jesus is saying that we need to practice what we preach, then, as challenging as that may be at times, it still seems to be something we can get a handle on.  It seems like we can notice whether or not we’re doing it—to an extent.  And if we can’t, there’s usually somebody else who’s willing to point out where our words and deeds don’t quite match up!  Some of us are blessed with more than one such person!  Actually, that’s why it’s impossible to live the Christian life in isolation:  we need the community of faith.

I started thinking about the word “hypocrite” when I noticed the translation in the Anchor Bible.  In all three places where most English versions read “the hypocrites,” it reads “the overscrupulous.”[2]  That puts a different spin on the entire passage.  It sounds like what Jesus has in mind aren’t so much frauds—they aren’t so much phonies—but rather, those who want to “demonstrate their spiritual superiority.”[3]

Our word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek ύποκριτης (hupokritēs).  It originally meant “interpreter” (as in interpreter of dreams) or “one who explains.”  Later, it took on the meaning of “actor,” like one who performs in a play.  It had the idea of speaking the lines in a play.

It’s this definition of “actor” that was the commonly-understood meaning of the word for centuries.  So there wasn’t necessarily a derogatory sense associated with being a hypocrite.  It wasn’t always an insult.

(In fact, far from an insult, on the TV show The Big Bang Theory, there’s a scene in which Sheldon wants acting lessons so he can appear to care about his students.  He comes to Penny, unsure of her qualifications, but she insists that she is not an “actress,” but an actress!)

It appears that it’s only well after the New Testament era that “hypocrite” takes on the metaphorical sense.  That is, of people pretending to be something other than what they are, of not practicing what they preach.[4]  So Jesus is saying, “whenever you give alms”…”whenever you pray”…”whenever you fast”…don’t be actors.  Don’t play a role.

After each time Jesus warns against behaving like the hypocrites, he adds this: “Truly I tell you, they have received their reward” (vv. 2, 5, 16).  They’ve received their reward.  What reward is that?

What reward do actors receive?  Or at least, what reward do actors hope to receive?  Actually, Jesus tells us:  “so that they may be praised by others” (v. 2).  Actors, and performers in general, want to be applauded; they don’t want to be booed.  Anyone who’s been on stage, be it for a school play or doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl, can tell you that.

If that’s all you want your life to add up to—the acclaim given to actors, to hypocrites—that’s fine.  But Jesus suggests something much better.  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal” (vv. 19-20).

A life that only has the symbolic fifteen minutes of fame, in the end, isn’t much of a life.  Jesus concludes, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 21).  So where is our treasure?  Where is our heart?  And what does that mean for us tonight?

Our scripture passage is taken from the Sermon on the Mount.  Earlier, in chapter 5, Jesus says to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (v. 16).  What’s the difference between letting your light shine and being a hypocrite—whether that’s being an actor, as Jesus is likely saying, or being two-faced, as we might say?

Let’s use Ash Wednesday as an experiment.  Receiving ashes on your forehead is something others will notice.  Now, if you’re hoping others will notice the ashes and think you’re spiritual, then I would suggest wiping them off before you leave the premises.

On the other hand, if you’re reluctant to let others see that ashy sign of the cross, that’s a different story.  If you’re embarrassed and don’t want to look like a fool for Christ, then I would suggest that you leave that thing right where it is!

This is true anytime we practice our “piety [or righteousness] before others,” as Jesus says in verse 1.  If we do it “to be seen by them,” then we “have no reward from [our] Father in heaven.”  We’ve received all the reward our actions will get, puny as it may be.

That’s true for Ash Wednesday.  That’s true for leading prayer in a group.  That’s true for feeding the hungry.  That’s true for nonviolently assembling and calling for justice and peace.  That’s true for visiting the sick and the prisoner.  If love for God isn’t our motivation, then our treasure is meager indeed.

So let’s not be hypocrites; let’s not be actors.  Let’s let the ashes do the talking!

[1] www.m-w.com/dictionary/hypocrite

[2] W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday, 1971), 73, 74, 78.

[3] Albright and Mann, cxxiii.

[4] Albright and Mann, cxvii.

At the end of the parable of the faithful and evil servants in Matthew 24, we’re told the fate of the inattentive servant who goofs off when the master is away.  This servant “begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards” (v. 49).  When the master returns and catches him unaware, he is not pleased.  The servant is consigned to an unpleasant outcome.  He is to be “cut…in pieces and put…with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 51).