People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: Tilling the Ground of Our Being ~ 7th Sunday after the Epiphany WLWC* ‘25 Yr C

For Sunday, February 23, 2025; Readings: Genesis 47:13-25, Psalm 107: 1-3, 35-43; Acts 5:1-11,

Luke 8:1-15

The Four Soils by Minkar
Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. Then Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharaoh… Buy us and our land for food and we with our land will become slaves to Pharaoh; now give us seed that we may live and not die and that the land not become desolate.” Thus Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh and every Egyptian sold their fields because the famine pressed down upon them and the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he moved them to cities [and made slaves of them] from one end of the border of Egypt to the other end…They said, “You have saved our lives; may it find pleasure in your eyes my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” [Genesis 47: 13-14, 19b-21, 25]

And she has gathered them from all the lands…She turns deserts into pools of water, and dry ground into springs of water. And there she settles the hungry…Then she elevates the needy from affliction, and makes their families like flocks…They will come to understand the faithful love of the SHEPHERDING GOD. [Psalm 107:3a, 35-36a, 41, 43b]

Now a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property. And he kept back some of the proceeds…and brought only a part and placed it at the feet of the apostles. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to withhold the proceeds of the land?...You did not lie to [mere] mortals but to God!” [Acts 5:1-3, 4c]

Now a great crowd of women, children, and men gathered, coming to Jesus town by town and he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow seed and while sowing some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And another batch fell on rock and as it grew up, it withered having no moisture. 7 And other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 Yet more fell onto good ground, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” [Luke 8:4-9]

We begin the readings this week with Joseph, whose extensive backstory [worth a re-reading in Genesis chapters 37-50] may be remembered more for his “coat of many colors,” yet has much more for us to know. As the quintessential annoying and spoiled little brother, his jealous older brothers wanted to kill him and then decided to sell him into slavery in Egypt.

Because of the same famine in the Genesis reading for this week, in the Revised Common Lectionary, the brothers have been forced to go to Egypt to seek food and find their little brother in charge of the distribution of Pharoah’s stores. Joseph warmly receives them much to their [and perhaps even our own] surprise. Here we move into a different piece of Joseph’s story, as Dr. Gafney again, presents us with a passage never read in the usual Sunday or Daily Lectionary. Can we imagine being so desperate as to sell ourselves into slavery, whatever that would be for today? Consider, in these days and times, with many beyond mere desperation, with little or no option for food, shelter, or healthcare. In reading all of this passage, we see that Joseph has the authority to be generous and is indeed generous to all who come to him for sustenance in the short and the long terms, even volunteering themselves as slaves for Pharoah.

The Psalmist gives us a poetic rendering of life in our own times as well as in the ancient past. The full psalm, Parts I, II, and III, are also worth the full reading whether in your favorite translation or paraphrase, or from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer [BCPonline.org]. We see the fearful who become thankful and the rebellious who learn from their mistakes. In Dr. Gafney’s translation as well, and more or less the same in other versions, my favorite line is the second part of verse 42: but all wickedness will shut its mouth.

This piece from Acts is perplexing for a variety of reasons, mostly because, with Peter’s severe chastisement, the quickly deceased couple, are guilty of as Dr. Gafney puts it, a crime without occasion because there was no requirement to give any of their wealth, though that was the common practice. As Peter finds them convicted of lying to the Holy Spirit, perhaps there was a prior pledge made by Ananias that we aren’t told about. It certainly puts me on notice for my current and future pledging.

In this Gospel reading, we find yet another interesting piece which we haven’t heard in the usual lectionary before, a prelude to the familiar Parable of the Sower, a regular in our customary readings. Yet in the NRSV, the NKJV, the NIV and others use this beginning and all mention several of women by name and many others, who in various phrasings, are providing for them, that is Jesus and the Twelve, out of their resources/out of their substance/out of their own means. In her use of these passages, it certainly puts a spotlight on what is usually in the shadows, or unnoticed at best ~ the true prominence of women in the ministry of Jesus and the Twelve.

Many of us have and many of us have not spent much time reading the Bible. For those of us who have, we still seem to only remember the pieces we hear regularly through the Revised Common Lectionary in all three weekly and two daily of its sets of readings. I have not remembered these passages from Genesis, Acts, or Luke, though I have read all of these completely, but not recently, nor do I remember all of Psalm 107, although bits of it are familiar. These translations and their use are difficult for some who only want what is familiar. Yet, for me, these pieces can fill out our perspectives, and give light and breadth and depth to the entirety of our informed Faith and its Narrative, push me to wonder and wander further into these texts and other commentaries.

A thread that winds through these readings is money and persistence. Money, wealth, and such resources in and of themselves are neither good nor bad, despite one source showing 30+ biblical quotes reflecting the usual adage that money is the root of all evil. Rather, these are tools for walking through this journey of life. Some are gifted with or earn much, some are relatively comfortable, and some for a variety of reasons have far less. So it is and has always been. How we use these resources speaks volumes about our priorities, our faith, and, even our character. How we persist in trying to make a positive difference with whatever we have also speaks to our priorities for all of God’s Creation.

As we look at life today, especially in light of these passages, we know that there are several enormous chasms dividing the really haves, the sort of haves, and the really do-not haves. How we reach into those divisions is both personal and communal, a call to each and all of us to pay attention, to act however we are able, even if we can only show up with an extra blanket, to help serve a meal, or to spend time and/or donate in whatever other way we can. Of course we cannot solve the problems of our local community let alone the entire world individually, but we can make a difference in a minute, an hour, or a day, for someone somewhere. We can gather together and make a loud noise for those who have ears to hear and to listen and who can do more, to do so. We can till the ground of our own beings and through our sowing of prayer, of care, and of persistence, we can produce a fruitful bounty of spiritual seeds to grow within us and to scatter among all we meet.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Faithful SHEPHERDING GOD, grant us each the wisdom, the desire, and the willingness to till, nourish, and tend the ground of our hearts and souls. May we flourish, flower, and bear the fruit of your divine Seed for our spiritual health, through which we become the sowers of your love and grace, in all of our thoughts, words, and actions.