Queerying 12th after Pentecost C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Hear the word of the Becoming One, O House of Jacob,
Every clan of the House of Israel!
Thus said the Becoming One:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they abandoned me
and went after delusion and were deluded?
They never asked themselves, “Where is the Becoming One,
Who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
A land of deserts and pits,
A land of drought and darkness,
A land no human had traversed,
Where no human being had dwelt?”

I brought you to this country of farm land
To enjoy its fruit and its bounty;
But you came and defiled my land,
you made my possession abhorrent.
The priests never asked themselves, “Where is the Becoming One?”
The guardians of the teaching ignored me;
The rulers rebelled against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed what can do no good.

Oh, I will go on accusing you
—declares the Becoming One—
and I will accuse your children’s children!
Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look,
Send to Kedar and observe carefully;
see if anything like this has ever happened:
Has any nation changed its gods
Even though they are no-gods?
But my people have exchanged their glory
for what can do no good.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be horrified, utterly dazed!
—says the Becoming One.

For my people have done a twofold wrong:
They have forsaken me, the fount of living waters,
and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
which cannot even hold water.

Queeries for the text:
Who abandoned whom?
What does the power analysis say?
Where are Kittim and Kedar?
Where else are living waters?

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ETA: There was a mix-up this week and next week's gospel was queeried this week! Hopefully it didn't mess too many people up.
Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate parents, spouse and children, siblings, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when you have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, ³⁰saying, ‘This one began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what ruler, going out to wage war against another ruler, will not sit down first and consider whether they are able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against them with twenty thousand? ³²If they cannot, then, while the other is still far away, they send a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my chosen family if you do not give up all your possessions.

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
Who hates family?
Who hates life?
How do humans hate life?
How are building cost estimates inaccurate?
Who actually builds towers?
How is peace negotiated?
What harm does war cause?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 11th after Pentecost 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 God!
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.

And the Becoming One 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 a hand and touched my mouth, and said to me:
Now 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:
How did the word of the Becoming One come?
Who is still a boy?
What are Christians afraid of?
What needs to be destroyed and rebuilt, overthrown and planted?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
¹⁰Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. ¹¹And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” ¹³When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.

¹⁴But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”

¹⁵But the Leader answered the synagogue leader and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie their ox or their donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” ¹⁷When Jesus said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Queeries for the text:
How often is Jesus active on the Sabbath?
What does it mean to be crippled?
How are people bent?
How do ailments bind? How don't they?
What is Sabbath for?
What is shameful today? 

What are your queeries?

Queerying 10th after Pentecost C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 12:49-56
Jesus said:
⁴⁹“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹Do you think that I have come to remove conflict from the earth? No, I tell you, but rather to engage the conflict already present! ⁵²From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³they will be divided: parent against child and child against parent, elder against youth and youth against elder, in-laws against newlyweds and newlyweds against in-laws.”

⁵⁴Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. ⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Queeries for the text:
What comes with fire?
What can conflict lead to?
How are generations divided?
How accurate are weather predictions?
What is the present time?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 9th after Pentecost C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40
Jesus said:
³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Caregiver’s good pleasure to give you the reign. ³³Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your wealth is, there your heart also will find itself.

³⁵“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶be like those who are waiting for their enslaver to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those people who are enslaved whom the enslaver finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If the enslaver comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those people who are enslaved.

³⁹“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, they would not have let their house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Human One is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Queeries for the text:
Who has a little flock?
When else does Jesus promise us influence over our hearts?
How do you dress for action?
What happens if we are not hypervigilant?
Who else has their lamps lit?
Do enslavers ever serve people who are enslaved?
Who stays out all night for weddings?
When do thieves come?

What are your queeries?