Luke 21:5-19

“Nations will go to war; conflicts will break out between nations. You can expect massive earthquakes, food shortages, and deadly pandemics globally.  On top of that, there will be terrifying phenomena visible in the sky. And soon after, you will be hunted down, detained, and punished simply for believing in me.”

This is what Jesus told the disciples who had asked when the end of the world would come in Luke 21.  It was Jesus’ apocalyptic statement. 

Something similar began in 2020 as well.  The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world, and around 8 million deaths were associated with the pandemic in the years of 2020 and 2021. The whole world was in lockdown. We couldn’t see friends, go to work, visit cafés, or restaurants— not even attend church on Sundays.

Just as the world was starting to recover, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, causing massive destruction and leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and military personnel. The war continues, forcing an estimated 41 million people to flee from their homes.

What about the climate crises happening in many parts of the world? Extreme weather and natural disasters—including heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires—highlight escalating environmental chaos.

Tonga is one of the continuing victims. The sea level is slowly rising every year, causing the islands to lose their coastline and land to live on. For many Tongans, this is a daily battle for survival against the rising tides, happening right now in their lifetimes.

The reading from Luke today is very powerful, but let’s shift our attention to a more personal level. Instead of thinking about the global end, let’s focus on our own lives and struggles. Simply put, instead of talking about ‘giant forest’, we’ll focus on the individual tree.

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Luke 20:27-38

In ancient Jewish society, there were two prominent groups: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their main difference lay in their belief about the afterlife: the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, while the Sadducees did not.

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, some Sadducees approached Jesus with a challenging question. They were trying to discredit the idea of resurrection and heaven, but we won’t go into the specifics of the familiar story.

Even today, people still grapple with similar questions: Is resurrection real? Is there truly life after death? Will we continue to age in heaven, or will we remain the same age?

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Luke 19:1-10

Great Britain achieved significant victories in wars against France in the mid-18th century. These conflicts often took place in locations including North America and India and Britain became the dominant global power during that time. However, the cost was immense.

The years of warfare had left the nation on the brink of financial crisis. The nation was left deeply in debt. To pay off this massive debt, the British Government began to impose heavy taxes on its colonies, including those in India and the American colonies.

In India as well, the British government created a similar problem by enforcing a highly unfair taxation called the ‘Salt Act’, which stopped Indians to produce or sell their own salt. The British controlled all salt sales and imposed a heavy tax on the Indian salt product.

The British government sent their officials to India and North America to enforce these taxation policies. And these British officials in India and America hired local people to collect taxes on their behalf.

Naturally, these local tax collectors were seen as traitors by their own people. They hated and hated these tax collectors because they worked for their enemies by exploiting their own fellow people.

These stories are the first-century version of Zacchaeus’ story in today’s reading.  Whether it was Britain taxing America or India in 19th century or Rome taxing Judea in the first century, their unjust and heavy taxes took advantage of millions of ordinary and struggling people in other countries.

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Luke 18:1-8

I came across a story about a young North Korean defector, who tried to escape North Korea three times and failed, getting caught eventually.  He succeeded a few later and became a citizen of South Korea, where he began to live a new life.

Despite his new life in the South, he was never truly happy because his mother was still alone in the North. He often cried at night, thinking that he should have to help her out. He worked hard and saved every bit of money he could to hire someone to bring her out of North Korea. However, after talking to several brokers, none of his efforts worked.

One day, he decided to rescue her himself. Late one dark night, he crossed the border from China into North Korea, but unfortunately a North Korean border guard caught him. The guard searched his bag. The worst part was that his South Korean passport was hidden at the bottom; if the guard found it, it would be the end of his life.

In a desperate move, he fought back, knocked him down, and ran. He made it to his home village and entered his mum’s place. A few days later, his mum got caught but he escaped this time, too. He was hiding in the nearby mountains for a week and decided to get back to South Korea for another plan to help her mum out.

Upon his arrival at the South, the South Korean police arrested him because going into North Korea without following the correct legal procedure was illegal. He served a year in jail and was released.

Once free, he started working two different jobs every day for two more years. He worked harder than ever to save enough money to hire a couple of experienced North Korean brokers for his mother to be brought safely out of the North. The long story short. He is now living a happy life with his mother in Seoul, Korea.

Now, I’ve got a question for you: How would you describe his character in one word?

My answer: Persistence or determination.  He was absolutely determined to rescue his mother from the North. He planned, worked, fought, and sacrificed his freedom for years. He risked everything, including his own life, and refused to give up, no matter the cost or the time it took.   That’s persistence.

Someone has said, “We don’t pray persistently to make God open a door. We pray persistently because it helps us find the path to His door and recognise God’s answer at His timing.” What an inspiration!

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