Queerying 7th after Pentecost A

River Needham M.A., queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 28:10-19a

Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran.

He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the Becoming One was standing beside him and Xe said, “I am the Becoming One, the God of your ancestor Abraham and the God of Rebecca: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants. Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Becoming One is present in this place, and I did not know it!”

Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. 

Queeries for the text:
Where did this story take place?
When did this story take place?
Did this story take place?
Who are angels?

Who are God's Messengers Today?

What does the assigning of the land mean? Who is captivated by the land?

Why did Jacob anoint the Rock?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

²⁴Jesus put before the disciples another parable: “The reign of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in their field; ²⁵but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷And the slaves of the owner came and said to them, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’

²⁸They answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’

The slaves said to them, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

²⁹But they replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

^...

³⁶Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

³⁷Jesus answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Human One; ³⁸the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the reign; the weeds are the children of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Human One will send Their angels, and they will collect out of Their reign all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴²and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the reign of their Maker. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Queeries for the text:

What's missing?

What makes you uncomfortable in this passage?

What needs uprooting?

Who is human?

What is the difference between consequences and punishment?

How does context and interpretation matter?

How does listening happen without ears?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 3A

River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 35:1-10

The arid desert shall be glad, the wilderness shall rejoice and shall blossom like a rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, It shall also exult and shout.

It shall receive the glory of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall behold the glory of the Becoming One, the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the hands that are slack; make firm the tottering knees!
Say to the anxious of heart,

“Be strong, fear not; Behold your God! Requital is coming, The recompense of God—
She herself is coming to give you triumph.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall shout aloud;

For waters shall burst forth in the desert, streams in the wilderness.

Torrid earth shall become a pool; Parched land, fountains of water;
The home of jackals, a pasture; The abode of ostriches, reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall appear there, which shall be called the Sacred Way.

No one unclean shall pass along it, but it shall be for them.
No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there, no ferocious beast shall set foot on it— these shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk it; and the ransomed of the Becoming One shall return, and come with shouting to Zion,
Crowned with joy everlasting. They shall attain joy and gladness, while sorrow and sighing flee.

Queeries for the text:
Can land be glad?
What does it look like for wilderness to rejoice?
What is the splendor of God?
How might a blind person receive this text?
How might a D/deaf person receive this text?
How might a disabled person hear this text?
What is the Sacred Way?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeried the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11

²When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples ³and said to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”  

⁴Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. ⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

⁷As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ ¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the realm of heaven is greater than John.

Queeries for the text:
Why was John in prison?
Who takes offense at Jesus?  How?
How is ableism embedded in the text?  How can we challenge it?
What assumption is everyone making?
What assumptions do we make about who Jesus and John are?
What does greatest mean?  What about least?
What about those not born of women?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Holy Trinity C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the reading from the Gospel.

John 16:12-15
Jesus said:
¹²"I still have many things to say to you,

but you cannot bear them now.

¹³When the Spirit of truth comes,

she will guide you into all the truth;

for the Spirit will not speak on her own,

but will speak whatever she hears
and will declare to you the things that are to come.

¹⁴The Spirit will glorify me,

because she will take what is mine and declare it to you.

¹⁵All that the Loving Parent has is mine.

For this reason I said that she will take what is mine
and declare it to you."

Queeries for the text:
Does Jesus have FOMO? Or is YOLO driving this speech?  Is YOLO even possible for Jesus?
What can't we bear?
How and why does truth matter?
What does the Spirit hear today?  Does she need to hear in order to comprehend?
Which possessions or people do Jesus and the Loving Parent hold in joint custody?
What things are to come?
What does the Spirit declare?
How will the Spirit glorify Jesus?  Did it already happen?  Will it ever happen?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 3rd after Epiphany - year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the reading from the Tanakh.

Tanakh: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 (8:1-10 printed, omitted portions in italics)

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,

butches and femmes and all who could listen with understanding.

She read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate,

from the first light until midday,

to the femmes and the butches 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 her right,

and at her left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam.

Ezra opened the scroll in the sight of all the people,

for she was above all the people;

as she 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.

Ze 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 divine ruler.

Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in the Becoming One is the source of your strength."

Queeries for the text:
What is the Water Gate? What other elements are important?
What was the Teaching of Moses?
Who are butches and femmes?
What is understanding?
How can you learn without ears?
How can you see without eyes?
Why were verses 4 and 7 omitted from this lesson?
Why was mourning prohibited?
Where else are choice foods mentioned?
What was Moses's teaching before Nehemiah read this?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the reading from the Gospel.

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.

¹⁵Jesus 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.

Jesus unrolled the scroll

and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of Holy One is upon me,

because God has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

God 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 the Holy One’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 he began to say to them,

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Queeries for the text:
Where was Jesus returning from?
What does Luke mean by "everyone"?
Did Jesus choose which Sabbath on purpose?  Did Jesus change the expected reading?
What is good news to the poor?
What is release to the captives?
Do the blind want recovery of sight?
What is freedom for the oppressed?
What is the year of God's favor?
Does Jesus practice street theater of the oppressed?
How has this scripture been fulfilled?

What are your queeries?

16th after pentecost year b - mark

Special thanks this week to collaboration from River Needham and Remy!

Mark 7:24-37
²⁴Jesus set out
     and went away to the region of Tyre.
Jesus entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.
     Yet he could not escape notice,
          ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit
               immediately heard about him,
               and she came and bowed down at his feet.
                    ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile,
                         of Syrophoenician origin.
               She begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter.
²⁷Jesus said to her,
     “Let the children be fed first,
          for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  
²⁸But she answered him,
     “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  
²⁹Then Jesus said to her,
     “For saying that,
          you may go—
               the demon has left your daughter.”
          ³⁰So she went home,
               found the child lying on the bed,
                    and the demon gone.

³¹Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre,
     and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee,
          in the region of the Decapolis.
     ³²They brought to him a deaf man
          who had an impediment in his speech;
     and they begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.
³³Jesus took him aside in private,
     away from the crowd,
     and put his fingers into his ears,
     and he spat and touched his tongue.
          ³⁴Then looking up to heaven,
               Jesus sighed and said to him,
                    “Ephphatha,”
                         that is, “Be opened.”
               ³⁵And immediately his ears were opened,
               his tongue was released,
               and he spoke plainly.  
³⁶Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one;
     but the more he ordered them,
          the more zealously they proclaimed it.
               ³⁷They were astounded beyond measure, saying,
                    “He has done everything well;
                         he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Queeries for the text:
How do you escape notice *inside a house*??
Why does it matter that she was a Gentile?
Are there any lengths to which a parent won't go for their child?
What "children" is Jesus talking about?
What did Jesus just call her?!?!?!
How quick-witted do you have to be to come up with such a subversive comeback?
What impact did this woman have on Jesus?
Who is the they?  Family?  Community?  People who don't know how to open up their community to other ways of communicating?
How do we make a spectacle in inappropriate ways?
What did the man actually want? 
How do we need to be opened?
Are they outing Jesus without his consent?
What could possibly have been done "well" in calling this woman a dog?
What would society be like if people didn't have to be "healed" in order to be included?
What did the man say when he began to speak?

What are your queeries?