Notes of a sermon preached at Holy Trinity Norwich on Ash Wednesday, 2026.

Text: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Everybody has an outside and an inside; a public exterior and a private interior.  On the outside are all the things that other people can see and hear.  On the inside is that collection of thoughts, feelings, motives, and attitudes that we call ‘the heart’.

But how well do our outward appearance and our inner reality match up?  We have a name for the person who is one thing in public and another in private: we call him or her a hypocrite.

The athlete who campaigns against drugs in sport but is herself a walking pharmaceutical cocktail, is a hypocrite.

The politician who appeals to the ‘trusty sword of truth’ but is found to be concealing all kinds of corrupt practices, is a hypocrite.

The man who is all sweetness and light to his partner in public but abuses her in the privacy of their home, is a hypocrite.

The person who is keen to give the impression of godliness but actually has no heart for the things of God, is a hypocrite.

Nothing is more despised by the world more than religious hypocrisy.  You know the kind of story: The pastor was a pillar of the local community, a compassionate visitor of the sick and a preacher of traditional family values.  Then his congregation learns that he has been having an affair with the choir mistress for the past three years.  The world rubs its hands with glee and says, “There, I told you so.  The church is full of hypocrites.”

Nothing is strenuously condemned by Jesus than religious hypocrisy.  Our passage from Mt 6 begins with a warning about just that:-

Matthew 6:1  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.”

Then follow three examples.

Example 1 – Mt 6:2-4 – Giving.  They would announce their gift with a fanfare of trumpets.  “Look at me.  Look how generous I am to these poor wretched people.”

Example 2 – Mt 6:5- – Praying.  The Jewish system of praying made showing off very easy.  For one thing, the Jew prayed standing, with hands stretched out and head bowed.  For another thing, there were three times for prayer, 9, 12 and 3, and prayer had to be said wherever a man might be.  So it was easy to arrange to be in full view either in the synagogue or on the street corners, and to perform a lengthy and impressive prayer.

Example 3 – Mt 6:16-18 – Fasting.  The Pharisees fasted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Those two days also happened to be market days, so there was a ready audience.  Picture them walking through the streets with hair deliberately unkempt, and clothes grubby and disarrayed. Their fasting had become an act of religious ostentation. The very thing that was intended to express humility before God had become a vehicle for spiritual pride.

In each case, Jesus says, “They have received their reward.  They were seeking the admiration and congratulation of others, and they have achieved it.  No other reward will be forthcoming”

Religious hypocrisy is an ever-present danger.  We may not arrange for a fanfare of trumpets to accompany our giving.  We may not pray long prayers on street corners.  We may not deliberately disfigure ourselves to show that we are fasting.  But how much of our behaviour is driven by a need to make the right impression on others?

Stott: ‘How few of us live one life and live it in the open!  We are tempted to wear a different mask and play a different role according to each occasion…Some people weave round themselves such a tissue of lies that they can no longer tell which part is real and which is make-believe.’

So that’s the problem.  What can be done about it?

(a) Remember that God sees everything.  Verse 4 – Our heavenly Father “sees what is done in secret”.

Hebrews 4:13 ‘Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’

We can hide our thoughts and feelings from our friends, neighbours and loved ones.  We can even be blind to our own inmost desires and motives.  But we can hide nothing from God.  And when we do good, even though there may be no-one else to see it, God sees it, and that is what matters.

(b) Remember that God will reward the righteous.  Verse 4 – “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

This idea of rewards seems unworthy, almost mercenary.  But Jesus mentions them three times in this very passage, vv 4,6,18.  But the rewards of godliness are of no interest to the mercenary-minded.  To the sincere Christian disciple there is no guarantee of worldly prosperity; no assurance that other people will think well of you.

So what are these rewards of which Jesus speaks?  They are summed up in what we call the ‘beatitudes’.  The poor in spirit shall possess the kingdom of heaven; those who mourn shall be comforted; the meek shall inherit the earth; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled; the merciful shall be shown mercy; the pure in heart shall see God; the peacemakers shall be called the sons of God; those who are persecuted because of righteousness shall have a great reward in heaven.

These are the rewards for those who will walk humble with their God.  They are such as the world cannot give to them, nor take away from them.

(c) There will be some people here for whom every word spoken by Jesus about hypocrisy cuts like a knife.  You know that your heart is a tangle of mixed motives.  Sometimes you feel like a complete fraud.  Anything that anybody can say about hypocrisy just makes you feel worse.  Take heart.  Your very despair shows that you are not far from the kingdom of God.  It’s time to cast yourself on Jesus.

The same Great Physician who diagnoses your spiritual disease also prescribes the perfect remedy.

The same Lord who says, “You should be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect;” also encourages us to pray, “Forgive us our sins.”

The same Saviour who declares, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of those hypocrites, the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven;” also invites us to himself, Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Rest from trying to keep up appearances.  Rest from trying to be good enough for God.  Rest, not from doing good, but from burdensome toil.

‘Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.’