Theme:   Just as there is fake jewelry, Jesus says there is “make believe”
faith too.

Hypocrite. We all know the word, “hypocrite.” What is a hypocrite? A phony. A two-faced person, pretending to be a friend but is really an enemy in disguise.

A hypocrite is a pretender, pretending to have love for you but does not. A hypocrite says the pretty words of love, makes the motions of love, puts on a good face of love, is totally charming and loving. But that person does not really love you.  Pretending to have strong feelings for you but it is all a farce.

Hypocrites give the illusion, the pretense, the deceit of authenticity, but it is all an illusion.

We all know what fake jewelry is. We know what fool’s gold is. It looks like gold but it is not. It fools you. The fake gold necklace, the fake gold ring, the fake gold earrings…. you look at the price tag and you know it is fake gold. The necklace, ring and ear rings give the appearance of genuine gold but they are not.

We also know about the fake diamond, the fake ruby, the fake pearl. Sometimes you look closely at a diamond or ruby or pearl and say, “Is it real? Is it genuine? Is it the real thing?”

People like me love to go to the theater and see plays. If the play is exceptionally fine, it is usually because there are great actors and actresses on the stage. These great actors and actors play their parts so well that you think that he or she is actually that person but it is all “make believe.” The sets are all “make believe” to give the illusion that you are really there.

Sometimes, when seeing a play, an actor or actress is incredibly believable in their role. The actor or actress seems so authentic, so genuine, so real that it is hard to comprehend that it is all “make believe.”

The English word, “hypocrite,” comes from the Greek word, “hypocresis” which is the Greek word for “actor.” A good “hypocresis” is a good actor. A good actor is good at playing a part, playing a role, playing a character.

That is what the story from today’s gospel is all about. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the symbol of hypocrisy, the symbol of phoniness, the symbol of pretense and duplicity. If anyone was a religious fake, it was the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They pretended to be genuinely religious but it was all a sham, a charade. It was a deceit, a deception. Like any good actor, they were all “make believe.”

In Matthew’s gospels, Jesus’ words against the phoniness of the Pharisees are enormously confrontational. Unlike any other place in the four gospels, his words against the Pharisees drip with intensity and scathing indictments.

When we get to chapter 23 in the Book of Matthew, it is as if his feelings have come to a boiling point. Think of a pan of water on the stove and you turn the burner on high and slowly the water becomes warmer and warmer and begins to give off steam. And then, there are a few bubbles in that water and those few bubbles come to the service. And pretty soon the water in the pan is rolling with bubbles because the water has come to its boiling point.

So it is with the words of Jesus in Matthew 23. His words come to a boiling point. This is the angriest that you will ever experience Jesus in the Scriptures.

In the following phrases from Matthew 23, Jesus reaches a climax of intense anger towards the Pharisees.

Listen carefully to Jesus’ feelings that are boiling and roiling against the Pharisees in Matthew 23.

-They preach but they do not practice.

-They lay burdens on others shoulders but they do not lift a finger to help.

-They do all their deeds to be seen by men.

-They love the places of honor at feasts and greetings in the market places and being called rabbi.

Then the gospel text switches from “they” to “you.” In both English and Greek, there is emphasis on the “you” in each of these statements. Talk about being in your face. Talk about calling a spade a spade. Talk about boiling and roiling. A person can hear the “you”s that drip with sarcastic indictment.

-Woe to you scribes and Pharisees for you shut the kingdom of heaven. You do not enter the kingdom and you prevent others from entering it.

-Woe to you Pharisees, you blind guides, you blind men.

-Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe on the trivia but you neglect the weightier issues of law, justice, mercy and faith.

-Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for outwardly you appear beautiful but inwardly you are full of dead men’s bones.

-You are the sons of those who have murdered the prophets.

-You serpents and brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Jesus was deeply offended by the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a bunch of phonies who did not do what they preached.

So it is with many people of faith: on the outside and the showy parts of their lives, they give a good performance of being a Christian, but it is all “a front.” Inside, their hearts are far from the love of God/Jesus and neighbor.

An important issue of our day is still hypocrisy. Jesus still hates hypocrisy. Why is hypocrisy offensive today, especially to people outside the church?

More of Rev. Edward Markquart’s sermon