Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of
Trinity Sermons. And happy spring! To mark the
beginning of spring, we're starting a brand new
teaching series called Spring Cleaning, where
over the next three weeks, we're going to clear
out the clutter of comparison, complaining, and
criticism. Today, we're looking at the comparison
trap, that trap that steals our joy and keeps
us looking sideways instead of looking at the
good things that God is doing in our life. Today's
reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapters
20, verses 1 to 15. For the kingdom of heaven
is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He
agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and
sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the
morning he went out and saw others standing in
the marketplace doing nothing. He told them,
you also go and work in my vineyard and I will
pay you whatever is right. So they went. He went
out again about noon and about three in the afternoon
and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon,
he went out and found still others standing around.
He asked them, why have you been standing here
all day long doing nothing? Because no one has
hired us, they answered. He said to them, you
also go work in my vineyard. When evening came,
the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
call the workers and pay them their wages. beginning
with the last ones hired and going on to the
first. The workers who were hired about five
in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.
From those who came who were hired first, they
expected to receive more. But each of them also
received a denarius. When they received it, they
began to grumble against the landowner. These
who were hired last worked only one hour, they
said, and you have made them equal to us. who
was born the burden of the work and the heat
of the day. But he answered one of them, I am
not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree
to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go.
I want to give the one who was hired last the
same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to
do what I want with my own money? Or are you
envious because I am generous? The word of the
Lord. I'll tell you, it is that time of year.
It is spring cleaning time when we kind of go
through our houses or garages or closets and
see, you know, what needs to go, what needs to
stay. But of course, if we're honest, it's not
just our homes that need a little spring cleaning
from time to time. It's actually our lives that
need that. Our hearts can be cluttered up by
all sorts of junk in there. And, you know, some
of the things we know are there. Other things
are kind of hard to... see right we can look
really put together on the outside but on the
inside things can be a real mess so what we're
going to do is over the next three weeks we're
going to do a little cleaning up and clearing
out of some of the clutter that gets into our
hearts specifically three things we're going
to try to get rid of the comparing to get rid
of the complaining and to get rid of the criticizing
that goes on in here Now, there is a danger to
this kind of a sermon. And the danger is, is
that it turns into one of those sermons that
it's just like, oh, just try harder. Just try
to fix up your own life. Just, you know, try
to make this week better than last week. And
of course, you know, we know that doesn't work,
right? The kind of work that happens in our heart
is not stuff that we can do on our own. Only
God can do that. work. So that's why every week
in this series, we're going to start with a prayer.
This is a prayer that comes from Psalm 139, and
I'm going to read it to you, and then we're going
to read it together. It says, search me, God,
and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious
thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in
me. God is doing the searching here. And lead
me in the way everlasting. Now, when we begin
with a prayer like that, it does two things.
First of all, this is not about behavior modification.
This is about heart transformation. Search me,
God, and know my heart. And secondly, a prayer
like this is inviting God into this kind of work
that needs to happen in our hearts. This is a
God thing. Search me, God. So what I want to
do is invite you and myself to pray this prayer
together today and for the next two weeks so
that this isn't some kind of sermon that's all
based on moralism, but on God doing work in our
lives. Let's pray it together. Search me, God,
and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious
thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in
me and lead me in the way everlasting. Amen.
Now, I really hope that prayer travels with you
for these next three weeks and far beyond. And
we're going to begin. By going through our first
pile and clearing out comparison. You know and
I know that comparison can make a real mess of
our lives. And it does that because it changes
how we see other people. It changes how we see
ourselves. And it even changes, as we'll see
in a moment, how we see God. Now, I've given
you a few little teaching notes that I would
encourage you to follow along and make sure you
get the most out of our time together this morning.
But I want to just start with the story that
Jen read for us a few moments ago. There's a
landowner and he's got some work to do in his
field. And so he goes out to hire a bunch of
hired hands. And he says, guys, I'm going to
pay you a denarius for this work. And that was
a fair and good wage for a day's work. But then
as the day goes on, he goes out to get more workers.
He gets some at 9 a .m., he gets some at noon,
he gets some more workers at 3 p .m., and even
one hour before quitting time, he goes out and
gets some more workers. Well, the end of the
workday comes around, and it's time to gather
everybody together. It's time to pay everyone.
And guess what? Looky, looky. all the workers
end up getting the same denarius, the same wage.
Now you would think that those who agreed to
that wage would be very happy, but actually they're
not. They're not anymore. Because why? Because
they've started to look sideways and they've
seen what the others have also received and they
are not happy about that. This is what people
call the comparison trap. The comparison trap
is this. It's resenting God's goodness to others
while ignoring God's goodness to me. And the
thing about a trap is you often don't know you're
in a trap until it's too late. It doesn't feel
like a trap. It actually just feels like common
sense or it feels like you're just having some
thoughts. I wonder why the owner gave them a
bit more money than me. I wonder why. was so
generous to them my wonder I wonder but pretty
soon those wonderings turn into a trap and all
sorts of bad things then start to happen as a
result and the first thing that happens is that
we lose our joy that's what comparison does it
steals our joy in fact Teddy Roosevelt said that
comparison is the thief of joy and it's true
it's true in this story at the beginning of the
story the workers were happy hey they got hired
all these people were hanging out looking for
work and they got hired yay for us and we're
getting a good wage yay for us out into the field
they went no complaints no issues everyone's
happy but by the end of the day Nobody's happy.
They're all grumbling. They're grumbling. Why?
Where did the joy go? How did the joy disappear?
It disappeared when they started comparing. Suddenly,
what had been enough is now no longer enough.
And again, this isn't so much about them as it
is about us. So let's look inside and say, God,
search me, right? Search me. I even think about
myself. You know, I'm perfectly happy with my
own home until I see my sister's newly renovated
kitchen. Or I'm very happy about a vacation that
I went on until I see pictures that somebody
else posted from their vacation. It is almost
impossible to be grateful on the one hand and
compare on the other hand. Because gratitude
says, hey, look what God has given me. And comparison
is like, well, look what God has given them.
you focus on each of these it kind of grows if
you focus on gratitude then eventually it gratitude
grows but if you focus on comparing your gratitude
shrinks your joy evaporates and it's not because
anything has changed in your life it's just because
you started comparing that's the first thing
the comparison trap does but the second thing
the trap does is it ruins relationships and we
see this pattern all through the bible right
saul and david comparison led to competition
which led to violence or cain and abel right
comparison ultimately leads to murder and why
does that happen it's because when you compare
That other person ceases to be a person and becomes
a competitor, right? You see them now as competition.
In our story, there's no doubt in my mind that
all those workers now... started to have a broken
and ruined relationship with the landowner and
the foreman they don't like them but but now
my hunch is as they look at each other it's probably
also broken the relationships of the whole work
crew because think about it if you were working
all day for a certain amount of money and you're
standing beside the person who worked one hour
and got the same amount of money that i'm sure
there were a few looks I'm sure there was a few
sideways glances and comments under your breath.
Oh, it must be nice. Hmm, interesting, right?
Under the breath comments. But again, it's not
about them. What we want to focus on is ourselves
here. So let's ask, God, search me. Right now,
God, search me. Do I ever struggle with this?
Do I ever find it hard to celebrate someone else's
success? Does it bother me when things are going
well for them? When I see it, say someone else
gets recognized, instead of drawing me closer
to that person, does it push me further away
from them? That's what happens with comparison.
Over time, it erodes our relationships. But thirdly,
the comparison trap distracts us from Jesus.
At the beginning of the story Jesus told, all
right, all the workers' eyes were on the landowner,
on their master. The master was the one who hired
them. The master was the one who called them.
The master was the one who sent them. The master
was the one who made the promise to pay them.
It was all about the master, all eyes on the
master. But by the end of the story, nobody's
looking at the master anymore. Now they're looking
around at each other. They've lost sight. of
the relationship that they had with their boss.
And I know this is a different story, but I think
of, in John's gospel, the story of Mary and Martha.
Maybe you know that one, but Martha cannot focus
on Jesus. Why can't she? Because she's too busy
focusing on her sister and worrying about her.
Lord, don't you care that my sister has left
me to do all this work by myself? She's literally
in the same room as Jesus, but she's not looking
at Jesus. She's looking instead at her sister
Mary. Now again, let's look into our own hearts.
God, search me here. Do I come to church, but
I'm just so distracted by comparing my life to
others? Am I serving or volunteering maybe at
church, but actually I spend all my time... distracted
because I'm wondering why other people aren't
also helping out and serving. Or in worship,
when I'm here and I'm singing, am I paying more
attention to Jesus or am I paying more attention
to the people around me? See, what comparison
does is it creates a distraction and you're no
longer having your eyes fixed on your master,
Jesus. And that brings us to the last thing the
comparison trap will do to us. And I think this
could be the most serious. And that is it starts
to change how we think about God. Starts to change
how we see God, right? It distorts God's character
in our mind. Here's what I mean. At first, in
the very beginning. Everybody thought the landowner
was great, right? He's generous, he's kind, he
hired them, but by the end of the story, now
they're not so sure. Maybe he's not generous.
Maybe he's actually unfair. And this is what
comparison does. It twists how you see God. Because
you used to think that God was a God of grace,
but now it appears that God is a God of inequality?
Or you used to think that God was a God of generosity,
but now it appears God is a God of injustice.
And you start to say things, huh, maybe God is
actually playing favorites. Search your own hearts
on this one, people. Do you ever find yourself
saying, hmm, I think God might be holding out
on me. Or I don't think God is being fair here.
Or I actually question God's goodness. Why would
he do that for them and not for me? Do you see
why this is so serious? So serious, because when
you compare, it's not just affecting your identity,
it's affecting your theology. It's affecting
how you view God. So comparison, what does it
do? It steals joy, ruins relationships, distracts
us from Jesus, and distorts God's character in
our eyes. Now, before we go any further, I just
want to come clean and be honest with you. And
that is to say that I actually struggle a lot
with this myself. And you may not know this about
clergy, but clergy are the worst, the absolute
worst when it comes. to comparing i mean you
put a couple clergy in the room and it is not
long before they're like well how many people
did you have at church on sunday or how many
programs do you have or how many kids do you
have in in your sunday school i know clergy i
guarantee i know clergy that within five minutes
of me striking up a conversation with them they
are going to ask what was what's your average
sunday attendance right and it it's it's just
something that we're really really bad at i want
to tell you Last Sunday was Easter Sunday, and
I left here, I was feeling great. It was on top
of the world. It was so encouraging, all that
we did last Easter Sunday. I was grateful for
what God was doing at Trinity. And then we went
to visit some of our family on my wife's side.
And I have to tell you that there are three or
four clergy in that family on my wife's side.
And so we got there for lunch and one thing leads
to another and we start talking shop. Oh, you
know, how was your Sunday morning? What did you
guys do? How many people were there? Blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah. And pretty sure I could feel
it, folks. I could feel the joy evaporating.
I could feel the distance growing between me
and my in -laws and their families because of
this sense of competition. I'm just being honest.
Competition building up within me. And I could
feel even this breakdown of my picture of God
because now my focus had been pulled away from
all the things that God had done that very morning.
So I just want to let you know, God searched
my heart. on this and god search your heart on
this because if that's what comparison does to
us then we have got to get rid of it now how
do we get rid of it well let's pivot to the cleanup
plan the first way i want to say that we can
get rid of comparison is to guard our gaze, to
watch what we're watching. Comparison does not
just start in the heart. It actually starts with
what we see. And it has always been this way.
You go back to the Garden of Eden. This is how
the very first sin began. It started with what
Eve saw. She saw... of all the different trees
and all the different fruits. She saw this one.
She compared them. She saw this one and it looked
so good. And so that was the one that she had
to have. And as a result, you know what happened.
The joy got sucked out of that situation. Relationships
with God and others were ruined and God's image
was, it was not a good scene. And that's the
way it works. It all starts with seeing. In the
parable, Jesus told it all began with seeing.
right when those who were hired first saw when
they saw what was happening that's when everything
started to fall apart because what goes into
your eyes ends up in your heart And we have to
acknowledge this. I'm going to take a minute
just to point this out. That we live in a time
and a place right now where we are constantly
seeing things that are twisting and cluttering
up our hearts, right? Every time you open up
your phone, you're stepping into a comparison
environment. You're seeing other people's homes,
other people's vacations, other people's families,
other people's successes, other people's perfect
moments. And we know they're not really perfect
moments. We know that they've used a filter and
it's cured. and it's edited. I mean, nobody ever
posts a picture of like their worst day. Hey,
here's a picture of my kids melting down in the
grocery store. Or, you know, here's me fighting
with my spouse, right? No, it's here's me. Here's
my best moments of my life. And we compare our
ordinary life with these curated best moments
of their life. And it kills us inside. it does
there is actually you probably heard about this
a couple weeks a court case right meta instagram
snapchat were found guilty they're probably going
to overturn this because they got the money but
they're found guilty of ruining people's lives
often ruining teenagers lives and it's not Because
of screen time. I mean, that's bad. It's really
because of comparison time. It's comparison exposure.
And one witness in the case actually said that
the problem was that she was continuously comparing
herself to others and she used beauty filters
to enhance her appearance. End quote. This is,
the more that we stare at that thing, the more
we passively scroll through that thing. we are
just sucked into the comparison vortex. Proverbs
4 says, above all else, guard your heart. Everything
flows from there. And one of the primary ways
we have to guard our heart is by guarding our
gaze. And that might mean definitely limiting
the amount of time you spend on these platforms.
It might mean offloading these apps once and
for all, like not just for a week, but taking
a permanent break. Maybe it means unfollowing
some of those... you know, whatever, the accounts
that are constantly triggering you on this, but
guarding our gaze. That has got to be step one
in beating comparison, the cleanup plan. But
step two, this is a tough one, but I think what
we need to do is start celebrating others. It
sounds easy, but I think it's the hardest of
them all because our instinct when we compare
is always to not celebrate, it's to compete.
But the Bible has a completely different idea
for us. Paul says, rejoice with those who rejoice.
Rejoice with that coworker who got the promotion
even though you were secretly hoping it might
go to you. Rejoice with someone who announces
an engagement even though you're still waiting
for that moment. Rejoice when your classmates
gets the award and you don't. And even as I'm
saying this, I know what I'm saying is super,
super, super hard. But just imagine in our story
what would have happened if instead of those
workers, of grumbling and disagreeing. If they
had looked at the others who were treated so
generously and they said, wow, gosh, man, good
for you. I'm happy for you. God is so generous.
Look how generous he is. Comparison always says,
oh, why them and why not me? But celebration
says, thank you, God. Thank you for what you're
doing in their life. right celebrating others
is actually a sure way to break the power of
comparison because what are you really celebrating
you're actually celebrating what god is doing
in the life of that person and therefore you're
aligning your own heart with god's heart and
that's a great way to clean up comparison so
why not tell someone this week that you are genuinely
happy for them Pray a blessing over someone who's
just had a success of some sort. Thank God out
loud for what he's doing in their life. And I
know, do it even if you're not feeling it just
yet. Maybe that will push you past the line,
okay? That's our cleanup plan. The third part
of our cleanup plan isn't just to guard our gaze
and celebrate others, but to be grateful for
what we have. See, comparison always shifts your
focus from what God has given you to what God
has given someone else. So the antidote seems
quite simple. Let's just be more grateful for
the things God has given us. Paul writes, isn't
everything you have and everything you are sheer
gifts from God? So what's the point of all this
comparing and competing? You already have everything
you need. In other words, Everything you have
is a gift. Your life, your abilities, your opportunities,
your relationships. You didn't earn any of it.
It was all given to you. So be grateful for that.
Those first workers, they received a good wage.
But it was the comparison that made them ungrateful.
And we do this. I know. We all do this. We pray
for a job, but then we resent the job. Or we
pray for a relationship, but then when we get
the relationship, we take the relationship for
granted. The Bible says it is just better to
be satisfied with what you have than to be always
wanting something else. Gratitude, it might look
like you starting your day with thanksgiving,
the first words out of your mouth, or ending
your day. Maybe you've got a journal and you
jot down some things throughout that day that
you're particularly grateful for, right? Comparison
says, hey, look at all the things you don't have.
But gratitude says, look at what God has already
given me. Whichever voice you listen to is going
to shape your heart. Okay, the fourth part of
our cleanup plan is to trust. To trust God when
life seems unfair. When we see others getting
something and we are not, there's something in
us that says that's not fair. God, you made a
mistake. God, you screwed up here. God, you didn't
divide things up properly. God, what's going
on, right? And that's what happens in our story.
They're complaining. They're saying, hey, these
guys were only hired one hour. God, you've made
a mistake. You can hear it in their voice. It's
not just about comparison. This is about protest,
right? They're saying, it's not fair. You made
a mistake. You need to rethink this, God. But
the landowner says, no, no, I'm not being unfair.
I'm not being unfair. I know what I'm doing.
I know what I'm, you may not know what I'm doing,
but I know what I'm doing. So let's be honest.
Do I trust God even when it looks like his plan
for somebody else is better than his plan for
me? Do I trust that he actually knows what he
is doing even when it doesn't feel like it? You
know, Isaiah says, My thoughts are not your thoughts.
Neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord.
So clearing out comparison means choosing to
trust God's goodness, even if we don't understand
it, even if it doesn't seem to make sense, even
if it doesn't seem fair. It might mean praying,
God, I don't understand this. It doesn't seem
right to me, but God, I actually know you've
got a bigger view, and I trust that you are good.
And that brings us to the final part of our cleanup
plan. And that is to keep focused on God's plan
for you. Comparison. Right it always wants to
pull you out of your lane It's like you're driving
down the road and if you're looking straight
ahead of you you're fine But if you start looking
at the cars over there pretty soon you're drifting
out of your lane and you're in their lane and
now you're actually Following them and you're
not actually paying attention to where it is.
You're supposed to be going Right? All the workers
in this story were called into the vineyard.
They were all given a job. They all had a purpose.
They all had a part to play. But by the end of
the day, everybody was focused on everybody else's
work. Well, I got a lot. What did you get? Well,
I got a little. What did you get? Right? And
God is like, everybody, take your pay. You, you
got something. You did something. Take it and
go. Stay focused on what it is I've given to
you. The Bible says, let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for, and say it with me,
us, right? Not the race marked out for someone
else. God has given you a race. God has given
you gifts and opportunity and a calling. And
if you compare all the time, you are going to
abandon your assignment. Right? God isn't messing
around with your life. The psalmist says, all
the days ordained for me were written in your
book, God, before one of them came to be. God's
got a plan for your life. He's got specific days.
He's got specific opportunities, a specific calling.
So why not pray instead, God, what is your plan
for me? Not for them, right? God, what is your
plan for me? Your purpose for me? Where are you
calling me? The most freeing thing that we could
do is to stop trying to live someone else's life
and start faithfully living the one that God
has given us. So that's the cleanup plan, right?
Guard your gaze, celebrate others, practice gratitude,
trust God, and stay in your lane. Stay focused
on God's plan for you. But I want to end, if
you don't mind, I just want to share my favorite
part of this whole story. My favorite verse is
right here in verse 12. The workers say to God,
wait a second, God, you've made them equal to
us. And God, I think, essentially says, yeah,
I kind of did. And that's the point. The kingdom
of God is not built on... fairness and everyone
kind of equal. It's built on grace. Nobody stands
before God and says, I worked harder. I did more.
I deserve a bigger reward from you, God. Because
everything we receive from God is a gift. And
at the cross, there's no first place Christians,
second place Christians, third place Christians,
right? There's just people. People who have received
mercy. And yeah, some people come early and some
people come late. Some people have been coming
to church for decades and others are here for
the first time today. But guess what? At the
cross, we all receive the same grace. You don't
have to compare. You don't have to compete because
nobody earns God's love. It's just given to all
of us. Nobody gets what they deserve. We all
get God's grace and mercy for free. So, God,
search me and know my heart. Test me and know
my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive
way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Amen. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode
of Trinity Sermons. This week's sermon was recorded
at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga,
Ontario on April 12th, 2026.