People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: The Constancy ~ 5th Sunday in Lent WLWC* ‘25 Yr C

For Sunday, April 6, 2025; Readings: 1 Kings 10:1-10, 13; Psalm 131:1-3,

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10, Luke 11:27-32

Now the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon…and she came to test him with hard questions…she told him all that was on her heart…Then the Queen of Sheba saw the whole of the wisdom of Solomon…She said to the king…“Happy are your women! Happy are your slaves, they who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom…God has made you king to deliver justice and righteousness.” [1 Kings 10:1,4,8,9b]

…I have soothed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with her mother…Israel, hope in the Wellspring of Life from now until forever. [Psalm 131:-3]

We give thanks to God at all times…mentioning you all in our prayers…God has chosen you all…you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And turned to wait for God’s Son from heaven…Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming. [1 Thessalonians 1:2,4b,9b-10]

… Jesus said, “…blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it…This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the women, children, and men of Nineveh, so the Son of Woman will be to this generation. [Luke 11:28-30]

The story of the Queen of Sheba’s visit would certainly have made a great film back in the days of the Biblical Spectaculars. Dr. Gafney suggests that, as wealthy as Solomon was, the Queen’s wealth may have surpassed his. At gold prices in 2022 trading at $1830.30 per ounce, her gift to him would have been equivalent to $271,160,262.81 US and please don’t leave out that 81 cents! That noted, her wealth is less interesting than her interest in seeking out the truth about the Solomon’s famed God-given wisdom. While she has no other name than her title in either the Hebrew or Christian Testaments, she was written about by Josephus, the ancient Roman-Jewish historian, and she is known as Bilqis in the Qur’an and Makeda in the “Kebra Nagast,” the Ethiopian national hagiography [a biography of saints or those greatly admired]. Dr. Gafney indicates that the nation of “Sheba” has been identified with the Sabeans on the Yemeni portion of the Arabian peninsula to eastern Africa, generically called “Ethiopia” in antiquity.

The entirety of the very brief Psalm 131 is part of these readings. Dr. Gafney’s translation is slightly different though resonant with the version in the US Book of Common Prayer. I do like the imagery in Dr. Gafney’s translation, however, as it reminds me that no matter my age, I am always a child of God and often forget God as the ideal mother/father who can indeed soothe and quiet my soul with hope.

Paul, in the First Letter to the Thessalonians carries that theme of hope through God who sent Jesus to rescue us from the wrath that is coming, a phrase that chills and yet is recently becoming far too familiar in the seeming wrath of some powers currently being unleashed on our planet.

Luke has Jesus speaking to his times about the long past times of Jonah and his prophecies. I can’t resist the adage of what goes around comes around, from those times to our own, yet God through Jesus with the Holy Spirit are our constants. There, in the Presence is the sign we often beg for God to please show us! While the winds may blow and the storms and fires, literal and figurative, may rage, there are many and varied sources of word and wisdom that God provides when we are open to hear and to learn. Every single generation from the beginning of time has had its evil-doers and our own, obviously, is no exception. Our faith and our discipleship, especially in community, can keep us moving forward through worry, fear, and doubt. It can also feed our joy in the small moments and the great, when we can soothe and quiet our souls through knowing the constancy of our God in all places in all times.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O God Who is Love, who has chosen us all, soothe and quiet our souls as your weaned children in these difficult times. Turn our hearts in prayer to give you thanks at all times, that we may persevere through life’s trials and feel the strength of your constant embrace.

Wellspring of Life

RESPONSE: We place our hearts and hope in You

~ O God Who is Love, imbue all political leaders in this World, this Nation, and this Community, with fresh and enduring wisdom, compassion and empathy, integrity and morality, to legislate well for the true needs of those they were chosen to serve. Guide their souls to govern kindly rather than to rule cruelly, and to respect and care for all others as they would have others respect and care for them. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Wellspring of Life