Hypocrite

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 22, 2023

Ash Wednesday

When I was in elementary school, each year every class got to put on a play for the rest of the school.  I don’t remember a lot of the plays, but I do remember how much fun it was to get to be someone else for a while.  One year, our class play was a Thanksgiving production and I got to be a pilgrim. I wore a pilgrim dress and tried to think pilgrim thoughts for weeks, so that I could really feel like a pilgrim.  Another year, when I was older, our class did a play that was a newscast and I got to be a reporter.  Reporters got to dress up, carry a clipboard and look very important.  Being in a play was sort of like Halloween, but even better because we had a chance to really live into being someone else.  And when we dressed and acted like someone else for a while, we could actually begin to feel like that person.

The word “hypocrite,” which Jesus uses three times in the gospel reading today, literally means to pretend to be someone he or she is not.  Often, in the middle ages, the word was actually used to refer to a stage actor.  But Jesus is talking about an imposter, not a stage actor.  Three times, Jesus tells us not to be like the hypocrites, pretending to be someone faithful with our actions when our thoughts are somewhere else.  Three times, Jesus challenges us to be honest before God and not use the actions of our faith to make others think well of us. 

Every Sunday, except during Lent, ironically, we pray the Collect for Purity at the beginning of our worship.  This collect is an ancient prayer that was originally said as the priest’s private prayer of preparation before celebrating the Eucharist.  “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord.”  This prayer that we pray each week reminds us that God sees us as we really are-we have no secrets from God-all the time, not just during Lent, and no matter what other person we pretend to be.  God knows our hearts-God knows if we are fasting so others will see our misery, giving alms so others will admire our generosity, or praying so that people will admire our faith. 

          In Lent, we are called by the church to a season of prayer, fasting, and self-denial-of which almsgiving can be a part-to deepen our relationship with God and to help us realize our dependence on God.  We are called to these actions because our actions do form our faith.  We practice faith just like we practice anything else we want to do well.  We are just reminded that the reason we practice is to deepen our relationship with God, not to make others think well of us.  Lent is a time to be intentional about practicing the actions of our faith, and to allow ourselves to be formed by those actions, so that we are not hypocrites-we are not trying to be someone we are not, but are working, practicing, to be more fully the people God created us to be.

In a minute, we will be invited to the observance of a holy Lent.  We will be called to practice the actions of our faith, whether deepening our prayer, fasting from things which draw us from God, or using our resources to help those in need.  We do these things not as an ends in themselves, and certainly not to draw attention to ourselves, but so that our faith can be shaped by these actions.  On Ash Wednesday, we allow ourselves to be marked with a cross of ashes as an action of our faith that reminds us to whom our lives belong.  We receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist as an action of our faith that reminds us from where our real nourishment comes. We take on certain disciplines or give up others to remember our dependence on God.  We are not pretending to be something we are not. We are working to be more fully the people God created us to be.

                                                                                           Amen.