Matthew 11:2-11

Thomas Edison held a lifelong obsession with Morse Code. This fascination started early, as he became a professional telegraph operator at the remarkably young age of 15 in the mid-19th century.

This fixation even manifested visually: he carried a mysterious, tattoo-like symbol of dots and dashes on his left arm. Some speculate that this symbol may have contained a hidden message.

Edison’s deep involvement with the code permeated his personal life as well. He famously used it to bestow nicknames upon his children. When his daughter, Marion, was young, her father dubbed her “Dot.” A couple of years later, when his son, Thomas Jr., arrived, Edison naturally nicknamed him “Dash.”

Even when it came time for Edison to remarry after his first wife’s death, his passion for the code played a role. He taught Morse Code to his new fiancée, Mina, and it is documented that they often communicated with each other using the very system of dots and dashes.

Ultimately, Edison’s dedication to this communication method was productive. His intense interest in Morse Code drove him to invent the automatic telegraph well before the turn of the 20th century. What an extraordinary and fruitful obsession!

An obsession is when a single idea, image, or desire completely takes over a person’s thoughts and feelings. However, if that obsession is a positive one, it can actually be a very useful and powerful tool.

There is someone with his life-long obsession in today’s reading from Matthew.  He was known as ‘John the Baptist’.  He was also called ‘a voice in the wildernesses.’ He lived most of his adult life in the desert, living on locusts and wild honey. He didn’t care about his appearance… because he had a very special life-long obsession.

His obsession was with someone called the Messiah.

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Matthew 3:1-12

Viktor Frankl was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. During his imprisonment, Frankl began to record what was happening inside the camp. He later said that this job of writing became his sense of purpose, which eventually gave him the willpower and reason to survive.

In his famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he offers lessons that are deeply relevant to us as Christians, especially in this advent season.

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Luke 23:33-43

Picture the scene from today’s gospel. The hill is known as “The Skull.” It is a place defined by dust, agony, and shame. Three men hang on crosses, suspended in suffering. Yet, in the middle of this bleak picture, we hear conversations that reveal everything we need to know about the human condition and the heart of God.

In this narrative, four distinct voices emerge.

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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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