The Lord does not get carried away by pretty words.  Especially if those words are insincere.  We see in the Gospel reading the Pharisees dishonestly giving some praise to the Lord.  Though it is true what they said, the way they said it was false.  They wanted Jesus to feel at ease while they were stabbing him on the back. 
   There is one phrase in English that says, “buttering up” and another one that says, “to soften the blow.”  This is what the pharisees were doing. They were “buttering up” Jesus to trip him up.  The pharisees did not have good intentions. They were only pretended they cared what Jesus said while they wanted Him to fall into a trap. They gave a good show, a good acting, bravo. The Lord calls them out and rightly names them hypocrites.
   This word has a context in theatre, in drama. The actors would wear masks to hide their identity. May the real persons show themselves?  How many false people do we have in our church? They pretend to be nice people but, in their hearts, there are malicious.  They wear masks.  They try to entice people with their words, but God is not a fool. God sees right through them.  For God is not interested in flattery, and falsely at that.  There are still modern-day pharisees, false people in the church. They do great disservice to the Church but at the end they hurt themselves. They will be unveiled, shown for whom they truly are, enemies of the Gospel.
   God will not save anyone because of their pretty words. God will save those that true servants. The second reading tells us the type of person who pleases God.  Instead of being a Pharisee left in ridicule at the end, we are called to work in faith. Get right to work and provide favorable results. Enough talking, more work. This reminds me of President Theodore Roosvelt who said, “Talk softly, and carry a big stick.” Part of the phrase can be applied to what is proposed.  Talk less, labor more for God. And this work needs to come out of love, it is a labor of love not of obligation.  Not because we have to, but because we get to. 
   Another quality of a good servant is endurance, especially with those plenty pharisees in the life of the Church. Making sure I am not one of them. Today the readings call us to see where we are in our relationship with God. Are we Pharisees with false pretenses, which the Lord calls out easily? Or are we trying to become better servants rendering to God what belongs to God?