The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on March 16, 1986. The title is, The Goal of Your Life, and the scripture reference is Luke chapter 20, verses 9 through 19. 

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke, from the 20th chapter beginning at the 9th verse.

And Jesus began to tell the people this parable. A man planted a vineyard and led it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.

But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant. Him also they beat and treated shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

and he sent yet a third. This one they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do?

I will send my beloved son. It may be that they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, This is the heir.

Let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours. And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said, God forbid. But he looked at them and said, What then is this that is written?

The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. but when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people. For they perceived that he had told this parable against them. The Gospel of the Rule. Jesus told a parable against the Pharisees. In fact, he told many parables against the Pharisees. The reason was that their history was one of such misdirected zealousness that every time God sent a messenger to them to say, you're doing it wrong, change direction, rather than receiving him and honoring him and submitting to that message, they ended up persecuting and in some cases killing that messenger, that prophet from God.

problem was that the pharisees had religion righteousness and respectability all wrapped up in one on the surface they had the form of godliness you need to understand that they were respectable folk they were honest folk they were scrupulously honest folk you could trust your wallet to a Pharisee without batting an eyelash. You could trust your house or your car or your boat or your reputation or your wife. You had nothing to fear.

They would be scrupulously honest. In fact, if you want to be sure that you're moving into a good neighborhood, no fear of property values declining, pick a group of Pharisees. Pharisee village, That's the place to move into.

They had the form of godliness. But Jesus said, in fact, their lives were built entirely upon the foundation of self-righteousness. And what a difference between self-righteousness and genuine righteousness.

Self-righteousness says, I see what's required and I will do it. of course I have God's favor I've obeyed his laws haven't I of course I have the honor and acclaim of men I am honorable and then along comes a prophet and says you've totally missed the point you don't earn God's favor by being righteous you receive his favor as a gift, an unmerited gift, which he bestows out of his mercy. And you, Pharisee, say, mercy?

I don't need mercy. Prostitutes need mercy. Wife beaters need mercy.

Drug dealers, they need mercy. Dictators need mercy. Ferdinand Marcos needs mercy I don't need mercy tax collectors need mercy but you see I've spent my whole life trying to be a good person and as a matter of fact I've done quite well at it thank you very much and the prophet says well now let me tell you a little bit about being a good person you take all of your achievements you take all of your righteousness and you stack it up and you know what it is in the sight of God it's a pile of filthy rags as a matter of fact that's a very polite translation and you say who does he think he is saying that to me and he persists he says if God graded on the curve you might do alright but he doesn't he grades on the standard of his own perfection the standard is absolute holiness and against that measure you've done very badly as a matter of fact you are right down there in the pit with the worst offender you're on a level of Adolf hitler and you say i've had just about enough of this.

And then he goes the final step and he says, if you don't repent, you're going to hell. And you say, get rid of him. You got it?

That's the mentality. Now there's another problem. The Pharisee not only says, you, who have spent all your life trying to be righteous and done rather a good job at it, you need to be brought down to the level of the vilest offender, then he turns right around as if that weren't bad enough and says that the vilest offender can go right into the heavenlies, right into the arms of God simply by receiving that gift of grace.

He says there's a place in God's kingdom for the worst of sinners. And you say, I have spent my whole life distancing myself from them. Now you're going to tell me God goes slumming.

That gets around. It could be very destructive. Jesus at one point wept over the city of Jerusalem, which God had said is the apple of my eye.

My heart is Jerusalem. And Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem. He says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those that are sent to you.

Why? Because their message cuts at the very root of everything that you've built your life upon. And so there's the conflict.

Now just in case you think that I'm overstating this Pharisaic self-righteousness, let me read to you from the Talmud. It quotes from a rabbi, Simeon Ben-Jokai, who said, I have seen the children of the world to come, and they are few. If they are three, I and my son are of their number.

If they are two, I and my son are they. And then he adds this little postscript. It says, if Abraham's righteousness has redeemed all generations up till now, my righteousness will redeem all future generations to the end of the world.

That's the attitude. That's the goal of life, is to be righteous. Everything in my life is geared to being a good, godly, righteous person.

I glory in it. That's what life is all about. Can you see the offense of somebody coming and saying, you've totally missed it.

You've got to repent. Well, when you turn to the book of Philippians, you see that Paul says, that attitude is exactly the one that I had. Let me read it again.

If any other man, including Rabbi Simeon Ben-Jokai, if any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church. I was so committed to the Pharisaic understanding of what life is all about.

The goal of my life was righteousness under the law. I was so committed to that, that when this Christian gospel began to be preached around the place, this upside-down worldview that says that righteousness is filthy rags and sinners can go to heaven, I was so committed to Pharisaism that I persecuted the church. As a matter of fact, elsewhere he admits he was involved in murdering Christians.

Stamp it out. Get rid of that obnoxious gospel. As to zeal.

A persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law. Blameless.

Blameless. Can you say that? Paul could say that.

Under the law. Without fault. But.

But. I'm not like that anymore. I've changed.

I've got a new opinion. Whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. I count as refuse, as garbage.

King James Version says, as dumb. Everything that I previously gloried in. Paul is not saying it's the bad things in my life that I count as refuse.

He's saying it's the good things. It's the achievements. It's the righteousness that I strove so hard with every ounce of my energy to achieve.

It's those things that I now consider done. Because they stood in the way of the reality. They were a false righteousness.

I missed the point. The prophets were right. My attempt at righteousness stood in the way of receiving the gift of righteousness from God.

My self-esteem got in the way of my salvation. Somebody said you don't even begin to appreciate the good news until you understand the bad news. Until you understand that you are a sinner in desperate need of a Savior, the Gospel will mean nothing to you.

If you think of yourself as I look around and I'm at least as good as the next guy, probably a good deal better, until you understand that the next guy is in terrible trouble, and so am I. The Gospel means nothing. Jesus said, I haven't come to call the righteous. Not that there are any.

But I haven't come to call people who think that they're righteous. but sinners. And in case you don't understand that, he pressed the point.

He said, those who are well have no need of a physician. It's those who are sick. Those who understand that they're sick and it's a sickness unto death, those are the ones who are interested in the doctor.

And those who understand that they are sinners and it's a sin unto death, they're the ones who are interested in a Savior. And Paul says, the goal of my life used to be that I'd be better than anybody else. Well, what's wrong with that? That's a pretty good goal.

The goal of my life used to be that I'd be perfect, that I'd be righteous, that I'd be a good person. But it isn't anymore. The goal of my life now is that I might know Jesus Christ.

That I might know Him and know Him and know Him. That I might know Him better today than I did yesterday and that I might know Him better tomorrow than I do today. The goal of my life is that I might know Him and in coming to know Him, come to be like Him and especially in His death.

You say, how does that work out? Jesus Christ was nailed to the will of the Father. Humanly speaking, absolutely helpless.

And yet in that helplessness, the power of God was operative to save the world. And Paul says, the goal of my life is to be absolutely helpless, nailed to the will of God, and find His power at work in me. Now probably you never thought of yourself as a Pharisee.

As a matter of fact, you probably look down on Pharisees. See, Pharisees are folks that think they're better than everybody else, and they look down on people. God forbid I should be a Pharisee I look down on people who look down on people but what is the goal of your life?

what is the goal of your life if the truth be known is the goal of your life success status of some sort achievement wealth popularity esteem Is that the goal of your life? That at the end of your life, you can look back upon it with pride. Is that the goal of your life?

Righteousness? That I'd be a good person? Or is it that you might know this Lord Jesus?

Is it really? that's a good question for Lent isn't it what's your life all about what is the goal of your life is the goal of does it even approximate this that I might know him and the power of his resurrection becoming like him in his death that's the goal of my life is it are you orienting your life around that goal are you spending time with him in prayer are you in his word Are You inviting Him into every moment of Your life? Lord Jesus, invade this day my life and walk with me that I might come to know You better this day.

My hope is built on nothing less In Jesus' blood and righteousness, no merit of my own, I claim, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

Let's bow our heads together. Lord Jesus, we get so caught up in the busyness of life. running furiously to achieve various kinds of goals and sometimes overlooking the most important one.

Lord, I want to know You better today. I want to see you more clearly and love you more dearly and follow you more nearly for your name's sake. Amen.

Amen.