Queerying 4th after Epiphany C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The word of the Becoming One came to me:
Before I created you in the womb, I selected you;
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.

I replied:
Ah, Becoming Itself!
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.
And the Becoming said to me:
Do not say, “I am still a boy,”
But go wherever I send you
And speak whatever I command you.
Have no fear of them,
For I am with you to deliver you
—declares the Becoming One.

The Becoming One put out Her hand and touched my mouth, and the Becoming One said to me: Here, I put My words into your mouth.
See, I appoint you this day
Over nations and kingdoms:
To uproot and to pull down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.

Queeries for the text:
What nations does this author refer to?
Who are the prophets?
What is God saying today?
What can we build and plant?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30
²¹Then Jesus began to say to the crowd gathered in the synagogue, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²All spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

²³Jesus said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

²⁴And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

³⁰But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Queeries for the text:
Which scripture?
Who is spoken well of today? Who speaks well of others?
What expectations do we place on helpers?
What did God do in Zarephath?
What did God do to Namaan?
How do some people fill with rage so quickly?
How do people pass through the midst of crowds? 

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying 3rd after Epiphany C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Nehemiah 8:1-3,[4,]5-6,[7,]8-10
The entire people assembled as one human in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which the Becoming One had charged Israel.

On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, people of many genders and all who could listen with understanding.

He read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate, from the first light until midday, to all the people and those who could understand; the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the Teaching.

[Ezra the scribe stood upon a wooden tower made for the purpose, and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah at his right, and at his left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam.] Ezra opened the scroll in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; as he opened it, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the Becoming One, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with hands upraised. Then they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Becoming One with their faces to the ground.

[Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the Teaching to the people, while the people stood in their places.] They read from the scroll of the Teaching of God, translating it and giving the sense; so they understood the reading. Nehemiah the Tirshatha, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were explaining to the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Becoming One your God: you must not mourn or weep,” for all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Teaching. He further said to them, “Go, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our sovereign. Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in the Becoming One is the source of your strength.”

Queeries for the text:
Who interprets the texts today?
Who keeps people safe when reading the Teaching?
Why are we eating choice foods this week?
Why are Teachings good?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 4:14-21
¹⁴Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

¹⁶When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸“The Spirit of God is upon me, because She has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. She has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of God’s favor.”

²⁰And Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then Jesus began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Queeries for the text:
Where did Jesus return from?
How long did it take to unroll the scroll?
What is good news to the poor?
What can release to the captives look like?
What kind of sight do the blind have?
How do the oppressed go free?
What is the year of the God's favor? 

What are your queeries?

 

Queerying 2nd after Epiphany C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his chosen family had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

So they took it.

⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the wedding party ¹⁰and said to them, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Queeries for the text:
The third day after what?
Who gets invited to weddings?
What happens when wine runs out?
When is Jesus' “hour”?
What Jewish rites of purification?
What do servants know?
Why does quality matter?
To whom can this text be harmful? 

What are your queeries?

Queerying Epiphany C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine, for your light has dawned;
The Presence of the Becoming One has shone upon you!
Behold! Darkness shall cover the earth,
And thick clouds the peoples;
But upon you the Becoming One will shine,
And Their presence be seen over you.
And nations shall walk by your light,
Rulers, by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about:
They have all gathered and come to you.
Your children shall be brought from afar,
Your offspring like babes on shoulders.
As you behold, you will glow;
Your heart will throb and thrill—
For the wealth of the sea shall pass on to you,
The riches of nations shall flow to you.
Dust clouds of camels shall cover you,
Dromedaries of Midian and Ephah.
They all shall come from Sheba;
They shall bear gold and frankincense,
And shall herald the glories of the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:
How is darkness good?
How do we see without eyes?
What is the wealth of the seas?
What is a dromedary?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise ones from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise ones and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Queeries for the text:
Where is East?
Who observes the stars?
Why was King Herod frightened?
Was the star a secret?
Why did they stop in Jerusalem?
How do you know where the star stops?
What are frankincense and myrrh for?
What other warnings do dreams carry?

What are your queeries?