August 27, 2013. Prayer Service August 28, 2013

Matthew 23: 27 - 32
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
saying, `If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers."


‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

The following is from an anonymous 5th-century commentary on Scripture called An Incomplete Work on Matthew. “As long as a sepulchre is closed, it can have a beautiful outward appearance, but if it is opened, it looks horrifying. The case of hypocrites is similar; as long as they are not recognised for who they really are, they can be praiseworthy, but when they are found out, they appear disgusting. Tell me, hypocrite, if it is so good to be good, why do you not strive to be truly what you only appear to be? And if it is so bad to be evil, then why do you allow yourself to be in truth what you would never want to appear to be? What appears to be ugly is even uglier in reality, but what is beautiful in appearance is much more beautiful in reality. Therefore either be what you appear to be, or appear to be what you are.”

It would but hard to match that for clarity and vigour. Under such an unblinking stare, all of us, I think, would have to lower our eyes. Does he leave us any wiggle room at all? I see a little bit at the end: “appear to be what you are.” If I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite and I say so openly, then I'm no longer a hypocrite! Easy! If I say the truth about myself, no matter how unedifying it is, then I'm standing in the truth; and the truth sets me free. Everything that I conceal in the heart grows, like plants in rich soil; but everything that is put out is dispersed in the wind. We are all tempted to hide the bad things about ourselves and advertise the good things. So the bad things grow, and the good things are dissipated. If we could do just the reverse: hide the good things – or at least don't go around advertising them; and tell all the bad things: ‘Hey, I'm a chancer, I tell lies to avoid trouble and embarrassment, and I'm lazy...’ we would have nothing to conceal from Anonymous, and we might even have the courage to look him in the eye – to see if he is hiding anything!