The Durian Factor Durians. How many of you like durian? A South East Asian fruit. I think most Singaporeans do. Yet there are some who don't. It is called the king of fruits. It is unique. Its taste is different from any other. It smells. Yet this is the only smell that people love.. Some durians are sweet. Some are bitter and yet nice to the taste. Durians are so unique that it is used to give flavour to many other food. For example, we have durian cakes, durian puffs, durian ice-cream, durian ice-kachangs, durian shakes. Come April this year, we will have durian fusion -- the Neways Durian Fusion - a fruit juice like none in the world. It looks highly different from other fruit. Its shape. Its size. Its thorns. Its looks is indeed unique. So unique that there is a building built to look like two durians - the icon of arts in Singapore. What makes durian the most loved or the most hated fruit? It has to do with its uniqueness. It is like no other. We as Christians are called out to be with the durian factor. We have been called out to be unique. Though we are in this world, we should not be like the world. We should never be part of this world. We have been called out to be unique. So unique that we will either be the most loved or the most hated of people. So unique that we will add fragrance to a world that literally stinks. So unique that we will give light in a world of darkness. Jesus after giving the beatitudes in the sermon on the mount tells us about our uniqueness. Today I want to talk about how we should maintain this uniqueness. What we should do to be different from the rest of the world - how we can be used by God to influence the world. Please turn with me to Matthew 5 MT 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. MT 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Jesus used two items here to describe our uniqueness. Salt and light. Salt has a unique taste. So unique that there is no other word to describe it except by its own name. Salt. Salty. Saltiness. It is unique in that we do not eat it by itself. No one eats salt by itself. Yet sprinkled with food it makes that food taste nice. Without it the food just taste too blend. Too much and we cant eat that food as well. No other item does it quite the way that salt does. It is unique. Light brings forth the beauty of items. It makes the items visible. In the dark we cannot see. A thing of beauty in darkness will just remain unknown. However when light is cast upon it, the item can be seen and appreciated. Nothing else can cast light upon things other than light in itself. It is unique. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He did not say that we should be or that we ought to be. He said we are. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are unique. We are different from the rest of the world. The moment we accept Jesus into our lives - because Jesus in the light of the world -- He is in us - we become the light of the world as well. We are to God the fragrance of Christ to those who are being saved. We bring good taste to those who are lost As such, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are provided that we allow Jesus to shine forth from us. Trouble is that we lock him in. We jail Him in our hearts. We refuse to let him out. When salt is kept for too long, it loses its saltiness. It become bad. During winter months when roads become frozen such salt is thrown on the roads so as to defreeze the roads. It becomes trampled upon by men. During Jesus' time light comes forth from a candle or a flaming torch. When we do not allow light to shine forth and put it under a cover to hide it the flame will just die off. When Jesus is not allowed to shine forth from us, we will become the salt that becomes useless to anyone - only fit to be thrown on the roads and be trampled upon by people. If we do not allow Jesus to shine forth from us, our lights will be snuffed out. We will become spiritually cold. When our salt has lots its saltiness. When our lights are snuffed out. We lose our uniqueness. We become like anyone else. We become chameleon Christians. We hide among the waves of people in the street everyday unnoticed. We do become the contagious Christian that God has called us out to be. We do not add flavour to our society. We do not cast light in a world of darkness. We are no better off than anyone else. We have lost our uniqueness. How do we hold Jesus in? Light cannot shine through a vessel that is unclean. We will not be able to see light from a lamp with glass that is dirty. Salt cannot come out of a salt shaker that has its opening clogged up as well. Jesus cannot come forth from vessels that are polluted. When the vessel is contaminated with things that are obstructing Him in coming forth. We become just like other people. People who do not have Jesus. We are no longer unique. We have lost the durian factor. One of the worst pollutant is the way we think. Our worldview. The way that we see things. The Bible says as we think so are we. We are in accordance to the way we think. Our thinking is influenced by our worldview. The way that we see the world around us. As long as we hang on to our secular worldview we are no different from anyone else. We are not unique. We do not have the durian factor. When we come to Jesus we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We must no longer see things the way the world sees them. We must change our worldview from that of a secular worldview to that of a Kingdom worldview. If we are to be unique we cannot think along the same lines as people in the world. We need to see things different. We need to think different and we need to act different. You hear people complaining of their problems. They grumble. They speak of the sorrows of life. They speak about their pains and hurts. They detest sufferings. Do you? If you do, then you are thinking just like them. You do not see that life is eternal. You do not see that suffering is a way for God to prepare you for life with Him. If you do what the world does you are no different from them. You are not unique. To have the durian factor dictates that we must see that life is far longer than the years we have on this earth. We must see that suffering is a joy for God is still at work making us more like Jesus. To be unique we need to change the way we think. You see people compete. You see them quarrel and fight. They become angry for they do not get what they want. Do you? If you do, then you are thinking just like them. You do not see that God can give you anything that you want. His is the Kingdom of abundance. This world is one of scarcity. If we do these things. We are no longer unique. To have the durian factor requires us to see things the Kingdom way. That we need not compete for the scarce things of this world. To be unique we need to change the way we think. You see people showing prejudice to the rich and powerful. You see them mistreating the poor and underprivileged. Do you? If you do, then you are thinking just like them. They think they can get things from the powerful. They play politics in order to get what they want. They do not see that as long as they walk with God, He can give them whatever they want. If we do the same we are no longer unique. To have the durian factor requires us to see things the Kingdom way. That we should treat everyone the same way. To be unique we need to change the way we think. You see people chasing and buying all the different gadgets in town. You see them following every single trend that comes our way. Do you do the same? If you do, then you are thinking just like them. These people want to feel accepted. They want to feel secured. They find their security in materialism and the things of this world. To have the durian factor we need to place our security on God. To be unique we need to see God as the source of our acceptance. That He is our rock and shelter. When we change our worldviews we will be the salt of the world. We will be the light of the world. We will be unique. We will grant flavour to a world that is distasteful. We will give light to a world in darkness. We need to possess the durian factor of being different from the rest of the world. Everybody likes Charles. He was the gentleman of the office. Always punctual. Always doing his work with a smile on his face. He has a nasty boss. The whole department did not like him. They would always say bad things about the boss. They never heard anything bad that comes forth from Charles though. One day they asked him "Charles, we are not sure what's wrong with you? You get scolding the same way we do from that nut. But you always smile and continue to work as though there is nothing wrong. We never hear a word come out from you." Charles said "everyone has his faults. The day when I find that I have none will be the day that I might be able to say something. So, let's wait for that day to come before we throw the first stone. This is what Jesus has taught me. Let him who has no sin cast the first stone." The group was silent. Years on, through the influence of Charles, each of his colleagues came to accept Jesus into their lives. Charles is indeed the salt of the earth and the light of the world in his office. Alice was a quiet, shy little girl. Studious and hardworking she was a girl whom all the other students like. One day, in sports class when she was running in the field she fell and lost consciousness. They called the ambulance. She was rushed to hospital. About two days passed and she did not come back to school. The classmates discovered that she was still in hospital and they decided to visit her after school. The doctor had discovered that Alice was suffering a rare form of cancer in the bones of her leg. Her leg had to be amputated. The girls were shocked. Some cried. Alice however remained calm and was smiling right through. Some of the girls were surprised and asked "Alice, don't you feel sad. Why are you so cheerful?" She said "God created me and He loves me. He will always do what is best for me. If this happens to me, it is in His will. Whatever happens to me, I know Jesus cares for me." There were even more tears running down the cheeks of those girls when Alice said that. She was indeed the salt of the earth and the light of the world to those girls that day. Both Charles and Alice are people who are unique. In their different experiences they shine through for Jesus because they saw things from God's perspectives and not that of the world. They are unique. They possess the durian factor. Not everyone will like you when you possess the durian factor. Not all love durians. It is the kway lohs that don't. the devil certainly will not like you when you are unique. You will be briniging Jesus to a world lost without Him. That is why he is not going to like you. His followers are not going to like you either. Never mind. God does and that is far more important than anything else. Both Charles and Alice have the durian factor. What about every single one of us? Are we the salt of the earth and the light of the world as we should be. Friends, be transformed by the renewing of our minds and we will be. We can be unique and we should be unique. But how do we renew our minds? Both Charles and Alice have consistent time with the Lord each day. They will read the Bible and allow the Word to be part of their being by meditating on the Word right through the day. They also know that they need their spiritual family to spur them on. As such they found in CGs on a regular basis. We have to do the same if we want to be salt of the earth and light of the world. We can be unique and make a difference to this world we live in. Let us be unique from this day forth for the glory of God.

Close This Window