Sermon by Senior Pastor Daniel Khong at the Faith Community Baptist Church 27 Jun 2026.
Recap of previous message entitled Fearful Courage, on the story of how David defeated Goliath. To overcome our fear with courage, we should:
1. Focus on the goal, not the enemy's intimidation
2. Focus on God, not our security
Scripture: Jesus told a parable in Matthew 20:1-16 about how the workers were paid the same amount of money, despite some joining the work in the vineyard a few hours later. The reason given by the landowner is that they were promised the wage for the day. Obviously, this caused some unhappiness.
What is supposed to be a joyous occasion when one receives the wages becomes a complaint of unfair treatment because the workers compare that they earn the same $ between one who worked just 3 hours hour versus one who worked the whole 12-hour day.
As followers of Jesus, we are told to rejoice but how does comparison robs us of joy?
1. Comparison breeds self-centeredness
For context, one denarius is a generous pay for 1 day's work from 12 hours (typical is about 0.6 denarius). Note: the first workers are the ones who asked for the generous 1 denarius and was agreed by the landowner. When the other workers came late and still was paid 1 denarius, unfairness crept in. The workers are comparing because they are self-centered.
Paul wrote that we should deny ourselves. We do not have joy because we think it is unfair. We should take up our cross and follow Jesus.
2. Comparison kills contentment
The landowner went to the marketplace several times (at noon, three and five in the afternoon) and saw workers doing nothing. Each time he saw that he hired them with the promise that the pay will be right. At the end of day, he paid them 1 denarius. He already has hired enough workers but because he was generous, he hired a lot more workers than he needed.
Interestingly, the original set of workers did less because more workers are added to the work. But they still grumble because they start to compare. Envy starts to creep in....
The envy start to rot their bones, and kills the contentment and made them dissatisfed, rather than be thankful of their situation that everyone is paid due to the generosity of the landowner.
Comparison breeds self-centeredness...so choose generosity - to be a blessing to others.
Comparsion kills contentment...so practise gratitude. There are a lot of things we strive for but still do not get it. But be grateful and thankful for what we do have.
There is a perpetual statement that the grass is always greener, which never ends. Instead of hopping to the next best thing, we should put in effort into what we are already doing.