Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Queerying Easter 6C



Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Acts reading.

Acts 16:9-15
9During the night Paul had a vision:
there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10When Paul had seen the vision,
we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia,
being convinced that God had called us
to proclaim the good news to them.
11We set sail from Troas
and took a straight course to Samothrace,
the following day to Neapolis,
12and from there to Philippi,
which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia
and a Roman colony.
We remained in this city for some days.
13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river,
where we supposed there was a place of prayer;
and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.
14A certain woman named Lydia,
a worshiper of God,
was listening to us;
she was from the city of Thyatira
and a dealer in purple cloth.
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
15When she and her household were baptized,
she urged us, saying,
“If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come and stay at my home.”
And she prevailed upon us.

Queeries for the text:
Where was Paul and who was with him?
Who is "us" in Macedonia? Did Paul actually help them?
What did the journey look like?
Why does it matter that the cloth was purple?
Where is Thyatira?
How does Lydia have a household?
How hard did Lydia prevail to provide hospitality?
What colonies exist today?
If a man had summoned Paul, why did the group talk to women?  Would they have listened if a woman had summoned them?  What about someone who was trans, intersex, and/or gender expansive?

What are your queeries?



No comments: