Joshua 3:7-17

A prominent city council president was given a prestigious “Lifetime Community Honor” award at a grand dinner. After receiving a glowing ten-minute introduction praising his incredible achievements, he stepped up to the microphone, smiled, and said, “Thank you! You know, when I first started out in public service, I asked God to give me two things: wisdom to make great decisions, and humility so I would never get a big head.” At that moment, one of the council members murmured and still everyone heard him: “Well, looks like God never heard his prayers.”

To begin, let me ask you a question to ponder for a moment: When you reflect on your life, what would you consider to be your most worthy and admirable achievement?

Well, when we hear a word like honour, we often think of public recognition, major career milestones, high social standing, or the awards and titles we accumulate over a lifetime. We live in a world that measures worth by what we accomplish, build, or prove. However, true honour in God’s kingdom means something completely different and much deeper. We’ll get to that shortly.

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Matt. 22:15-22

In Matthew 22, the Pharisees and Herodians thought they had Jesus backed into a corner. They asked Him a trap question: “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” If Jesus said “Yes,” the people would see Him as a supporter of their oppressive Roman rulers. If He said “No,” the Romans could arrest Him for treason. Whatever Jesus said would have immediately caught the attention of ordinary people for the following reasons.

In first-century Palestine, the daily economic reality for ordinary people was defined by survival. Scholars estimate that anywhere from 70% to 90% of the population lived at near the survival level, with a significant portion suffering from severe poverty and destitution.

One of the factors that made their lives so harsh and destitute was ‘Triple tax burden’ imposed on ordinary peasant families. First, there was ‘Roman imperial taxes. The Roman government demanded direct land taxes (paid in crops like grain, wine, and oil) and poll taxes (a head tax on individuals). Not just this, but they also levied indirect tolls on roads, harbors, and city gates for moving goods.

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Matthew 21:33-46

In today’s gospel reading Jesus tells the story commonly called the parable of the untrustworthy tenants which tells of a man who builds a vineyard and entrusts it to tenants for them to farm. In return he requires part of the crop. However, the tenants do not honour their agreement and they keep all the crop from the vineyard for themselves.

The vineyard owner sends servants to collect his dues. But the tenants, rather than pay up, attack the servants. Next, he sends another group of servants to collect his crop but they too are killed. Finally, he decides to send his son, because, surely, the tenants would not dare harm him. But he is wrong and the tenants kill the son too.

Now, primarily the purpose of this story is to point out that the Jewish religious leaders who had responsibility for keeping and teaching God’s law had failed to be true to God’s ways, despite God sending the prophets and finally his own son to ensure they met their responsibilities.

Even though this is the main intent of the story, I feel that there is something else happening just below the surface of the main narrative. This story could easily be called ‘the parable of warnings ignored’.

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Matthew 20:1-16

Today’s gospel reading—the parable of the workers in the vineyard—presents some very challenging themes for our 21st-century world. If you have a closer look, you will realise that the story doesn’t make sense in the real world. You’ll realise that there is a fundamental difference between how the world defines fairness and what the Bible reveals.

Firstly, the world’s understanding of fairness is basically based on merit and effort. The world understands fairness through a transactional lens, which means ‘you get what you earn, based on the amount of effort, time, and labour you put in.’ Under this human standard, those who work longer hours naturally deserve a greater reward than those who work less.

Secondly, the parable reveals a God whose generosity operates entirely outside human rules of fairness. And this is what really makes us confused in understanding the meaning of fairness.

For example, if we applied such God’s economy to real life, this model would quickly fail… because it destroys motivation. If workers who just work for an hour receive the same pay as those who worked for eight hours, nobody would work hard. It destroys teamwork. Equal pay for unequal work creates deep friction because it simply goes against our basic sense of fairness

However, this economic mismatch or nonsense is the whole point today. Jesus deliberately uses this shocking story to make a radical statement for us.

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Gen. 50:15-21

In 1994, during the civil war in Rwanda, Immaculée lost her parents and brothers in terrible violence called ‘Rwandan genocide’. Tragically, the people who killed her family were her own neighbours. She would live with an extreme angry. Her desire for revenge never truly disappeared.

Years later, after peace returned to the country, one of the men responsible for her family’s death was released from prison. He came to see Immaculée, asking for her forgiveness. For Immaculee, old memories and pain rushed back, as if the tragedy were happening right now.

For a few quiet moments, she felt as though every emotion in her heart was about to explode. Then she realized a profound truth: it wasn’t the tragedy itself that had been destroying her all these years, but the bitterness she carried inside. Right at that moment, she decided to let go of her desire for revenge and chose unconditional forgiveness. She walked up to him and said, “What you did was awful, but I refuse to live with hate in my heart. Yes. From the bottom of my heart, I forgive you.”

At that exact moment, true healing began. Not only did the man cry tears of relief, but the heavy burden of sorrow and fear that Immaculée had carried for years was finally lifted. Their relationship was restored, and true peace began to heal the village.

When tragedies or painful events occur, it is only natural to carry the hurt for a long time. Without even realising it, we become trapped in those memories. When that happens, the past comes alive in the present, making us relive nearly the same horrors and heartaches over again.

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