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?

-----

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 Advent 3C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Shout for joy, fair Zion,
cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be glad with all your heart,
fair Jerusalem!
The Becoming One has annulled the judgment against you,
She has swept away your foes.
Israel’s Sovereign, the Becoming One, is within you;
you need fear misfortune no more.
In that day,
this shall be said to Jerusalem:
Have no fear, O Zion;
let not your hands droop!
Your God the Becoming One is in your midst,
a warrior who brings triumph.
She will rejoice over you and be glad,
She will shout over you with jubilation.
She will soothe with Her love
those long disconsolate.
I will take away from you the woe
over which you endured mockery.
At that time I will make an end
of all who afflicted you.
And I will rescue the crippled sheep
and gather the strayed;
and I will exchange their disgrace
for fame and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will gather you,
and at that time I will bring you home;
for I will make you renowned and famous
among all the peoples on earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before their very eyes
—said the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:
What is crip?
What about crip joy?
How does God love?
How can fame end?
Why must fortunes be restored?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 3:7-18
⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Hagar and Sarah. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked John, “What then should we do?”

¹¹In reply John said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³John said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”

¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?”

John said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of that one's sandals. The one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷The winnowing fork is in hand, to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into the granary; but the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

Queeries for the text:
What's a brood of vipers?
What else comes from stones?
What happens to trees in fire?
Who has two coats? Who has none? How many coats do you have?
Who takes economic advantage today?
What other questions make their home in the heart?
What kind of sandals?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 2C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Malachi 3:1-4
Behold, I am sending My messenger to clear the way before Me, and the Becoming One whom you seek shall come to Her Temple suddenly. As for the angel of the covenant that you desire, they are already coming. But who can endure the day of Her coming, and who can hold out when She appears? For She is like a smelter’s fire and like fuller’s lye. She shall act like a smelter and purger of silver; and she shall purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they shall present offerings in righteousness. Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Becoming One as in the days of yore and in the years of old.

Queeries for the text:
What is in the way?
How will she come to her temple?
Which angel came?
What is lye?
What sacrifices are available?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the wilderness.

³John went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Becoming One, make Her paths straight. ⁵Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; ⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Queeries for the text:
Where are these places?
How do we situate faith in its historical context?
Who are Elizabeth and Zechariah?
What region is around the Jordan?
Where is it written in Isaiah?
Why should anything be made straight?
How is God invested in accessibility?
What is salvation for flesh?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Easter 3B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Acts reading.

 

 

First Reading: Acts 3:12-19

¹²When Peter saw people running to the throuple, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made the person walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Rebecca, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified Zer servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in Their name, Their name itself has made this person strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given this person this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 

 

¹⁷“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what Ze had foretold through all the prophets, that Zer Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out..."

 

Queeries for the text:

What did Peter see and do?  Why is Peter talking to his own community?

Who do we make walk? 

Who else are our ancestors? 

Who handed Jesus over?  Who bears responsibility?  What was Peter up to at the time?

How does naming give strength?

How do we act in ignorance?  Who acts in ignorance? 

Of what do they need to repent?  Who does NOT need to repent?

-----

Guest queerier, Pace Warfield-May, queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48, Luke 24:13-49 for context

¹³Now on that same day two members of Jesus’ chosen family were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were kiki-ing, Jesus Themself approached and went with them, ¹⁶but the eyes of the two chosen family members were prevented from recognizing Them. ¹⁷And They said to them, "What words are you kiki-ing with each other about while you saunter along?" The two stopped in their tracks, looking like they were in mourning. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered Them, "You alone must be the only tourist in Jerusalem who does not know what happened?"

¹⁹Jesus asked the chosen family members, "What things?" 

The two replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how the rulers and chief religious leaders of our own people handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to liberate Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the grave early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him."

²⁵Then Jesus said to the two of them, "For fuck’s sake! How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to trust all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Anointed One should suffer these things and then enter into Their glory?" ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, They interpreted to them the things about Themself in all the scriptures. ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, They walked ahead as if They were going on. ²⁹But they compelled Jesus, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So They went in to stay with them. ³⁰When They were at the table with the two, They took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Them; and They vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, "Were not our hearts lit on fire within us while They were talking to us on the road, while They were opening the scriptures to us?"

³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, "The Leader has risen indeed, and They have appeared to Simon!" ³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. ³⁶While they were kiki-ing about this, Jesus Themself stood among them and said to them, "Peace and wholeness be with you."

³⁷They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸Jesus said to Their chosen family, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." ⁴⁰and when They had said this, They showed them Their hands and Their feet. ⁴¹While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, They said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" ⁴²The chosen family gave Them a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and They took it and ate in their presence. ⁴⁴Then They said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."

⁴⁵Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and They said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Anointed One is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in Their name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And see, I am sending upon you what my Caretaker promised; so stay here in the city until you have been bedazzled in the power from on high.”

Queeries for the text:
Is Jesus a zombie, ghost, vampire, or other supernatural being?
Why were the disciples afraid and in doubt?
How does one disbelieve and wonder in joy?
What does bedazzlement from on high look like?
How would you react to seeing someone you thought had died?
How does the Road to Emmaus impact the story?
How do you witness justice, repentance, and forgiveness of sins?

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying 16th after Pentecost A

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

Tanakh: Exodus 16:2-15 

In the wilderness, the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Becoming One in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.”

The Becoming One said to Moses, “I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day’s portion—that I may thus test them, to see whether they will follow my instructions or not. But on the sixth day, when they apportion what they have brought in, it shall prove to be double the amount they gather each day.” 

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “By evening you shall know it was the Becoming One who brought you out from the land of Egypt; and in the morning you shall behold the Presence of the Becoming One, because they have heard your grumblings against the Becoming One. For who are we that you should grumble against us? Since it is the Becoming One,” Moses continued, “who will give you flesh to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to the full, because the Becoming One has heard the grumblings you utter against them, what is our part? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Becoming One!” 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community: Advance toward the Becoming One, for They have heard your grumbling.” 

And as Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there, in a cloud, appeared the Presence of the Becoming One. The Becoming One spoke to Moses: “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I the Becoming One am your God.” In the evening quail appeared and covered the camp; in the morning there was a fall of dew about the camp. When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”—for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which the Becoming One has given you to eat.

Queeries for the text:

Which character do you most relate to in this story?
What are fleshpots?
Where do we reject the God of Liberation?

Where else do we look for liberation?

What does God provide for us? 

Who changes in this story? How do they change?
 
-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

“For the reign of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for their vineyard. ²After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, they sent them into the vineyard. 

³When they went out about nine o’clock, they saw others standing idle in the marketplace ⁴and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 

⁵When the landowner went out again about noon and about three o’clock, they did the same. ⁶And about five o’clock they went out and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 

⁷They said to the landowner, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ 

The landowner said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to their manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ ⁹When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 

¹⁰Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. ¹¹And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ¹²saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 

¹³But the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? ¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. ¹⁵Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Queeries for the text:
How would the world be different if no one were forced to work in order to survive?
Why didn't anyone hire the 5pm laborers?
What impact did finally getting hired have on them?
What happens if God is the person at 5pm with no work?
Who is the real enemy?
What does friend mean?
What if no one was last or first?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Lent 2A

Rev. Emily E. Ewing and River Needham, M.A. queery the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 3:1-17
¹Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Judeans. ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

³Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the reign of God without being born from above.”

⁴Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the parent’s womb and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the reign of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Human One. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in Them may have everlasting life. ¹⁶For God loved the world in this way: that God gave Their only Child, so that everyone who believes in Them may not perish but may have everlasting life. ¹⁷Indeed, God did not send the Child into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Them.”

Queeries for the text:
What happened to the Pharisees?
What else happens at night?
How else can someone experience the reign of God besides sight?
Who else has a womb besides a mother?
How else is love expressed?
Who is condemned?  How might they be saved?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 6th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Amos 8:1-12
This is what my Becoming God showed me: there was a basket of figs.
Ze said, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A basket of figs,” I replied.

Then, the Becoming One said to me: “The hour of doom has come for My people Israel; I will not pardon them again. The singing women of the palace shall howl on that day—declares my Becoming God: So many corpses left lying everywhere! Hush!”

Listen to this, you who devour the needy, annihilating the poor of the land,  saying, “If only the new moon were over, so that we could sell grain; the sabbath, so that we could offer wheat for sale, using an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big, tilting a dishonest scale, and selling grain refuse as grain! We will buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.”

The Becoming One swears by the pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their doings.”

Shall not the earth shake for this, and all that dwell on it mourn? Shall it not all rise like the Nile and surge and subside like the Nile of Egypt?

And in that day —declares my Becoming God— I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day.

I will turn your festivals into mourning, all your songs into dirges; I will put sackcloth on all loins, tonsures on every head. I will make it mourn as for an only child, all of it as on a bitter day.

A time is coming—declares my Becoming God—when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Becoming One.

So that they shall possess the rest of Edom and all the nations once attached to my name —declares the Becoming One who will bring this to pass.

Queeries for the text:
Where else do figs show up?
What measures are used today?
What is the pride of Jacob?
When is noon?
How do only children come up culturally?
For what do we repent today?
For what do we repent today?
For what do we repent today?
What are the words of the Becoming One today? What might they mean?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
³⁸Now as the Jesus and the disciples went on their way,

Jesus entered a certain village,

where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

³⁹She had a sister named Mary,

who sat at the Boss’ feet
and listened to what he was saying.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks;

so she came to Jesus and asked,

“Boss, do you not care that my sister has left me

to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me.”

⁴¹But the Boss answered her,

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

⁴²there is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part,

which will not be taken away from her.”

Queeries for the text:
Which "certain village" did Jesus enter?
Why was it Martha's house?  Did she and Mary not share it?  Were they sisters or "sisters"?
Which tasks distracted Martha?  Which tasks distract us?
Is there anything about which Jesus doesn't care?
Did Martha already ask for Mary to help her?
What worries Martha?  What worries us?  Why?
What is the better part for us?  Is it guaranteed the way Jesus guarantees Mary's better part?

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?

Lent 5 year C

Gospel: John 12:1-8
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany,

the home of Lazarus,

whom he had raised from the dead.

²There they gave a dinner for him.

Martha served,

and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.

³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,

anointed Jesus’ feet,

and wiped them with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But Judas Iscariot,

one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,

⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii

and the money given to the poor?”

⁶(He said this not because he cared about the poor,

but because he was a thief;

he kept the common purse

and used to steal what was put into it.)

⁷Jesus said,

“Leave her alone.

She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.

⁸You always have the poor with you,

but you do not always have me.”

Queeries for the text:
When was Lazarus raised?
What does nard smell like?  How can it be beneficial?  How can it be harmful?
Why did Mary use her hair?
What's the equivalent of 300 denarii?
Why does John's gospel work so hard to make Judas seem evil?
How do we balance allocating personal resources?  Community resources?
Did Mary know she was anointing Jesus for burial?
Who should be, but is not being anointed for burial today?
How do we always have the poor with us?  How do we not?  What is Jesus referencing?

What are your queeries?