Queerying Narrative Lectionary 130

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary.

Matthew 18:1-9
Shortly after the transfiguration on the mountain top, the twelve chosen family members came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the G.O.A.T.–greatest of all time–in the kin-dom of heaven?" ²Jesus called out to a nearby child and brought the child among the chosen family ³ and said, "I tell you the truth: unless you transform and become like children, you will never enter the kin-dom of heaven. ⁴Whoever humbles themselves to be like this child is the G.O.A.T. in the kin-dom of heaven. ⁵Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name welcomes me.

⁶If any among you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to miss the mark, it would be better if you had a great stone chained to your neck and you were thrown into the depths of the sea to drown! ⁷Woe to the world for all the systems that create and cause sin! These things are always going to come, but woe to the one and the systems through whom they come! ⁸If your hand or your foot or any other appendage causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter enter life without that appendage than for you to have all your appendages and be thrown into the never ending fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, rip it out and throw it away; it is better for you to be missing that eye than for you to have both eyes and be thrown into the hell of never ending fire."

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
What is disability theology?
How can we help protect children?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 11th after Pentecost A

 

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 15:[10-20]21-28

[¹⁰Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 

¹²Then the disciples approached and said to Jesus, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 

¹³Jesus answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Creator has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 

¹⁵But Peter said to Jesus, “Explain this parable to us.” 

¹⁶Then Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”]

²¹Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 

²³But Jesus did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 

²⁴Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Queeries for the text:
How are the first and second parts connected?
How is what Jesus says ableist? What kind of guides are blind people?
What comes from the heart? How do words defile?
Why is hand-washing important?
Who else are Canaanite women?
Who has privilege and power in this text?
Who else is called dog?
Who receives crumbs?
How do words empower and resist?

What are your queeries?

20th after pentecost year b - genesis

This queery is brought to you by our periodic contributor, River Needham.

Note: I translate this with influence from my understanding of the Hebrew; this includes some changes in pronouns. Of particular note is my choice to use ey/em/eirs/emself pronouns for the human one (Adam). Additionally, I extended the pericope by one verse to reach the end of the chapter. These both affirm my hope to increase the variation in the ways the texts are read.

Genesis 2:18-24[25]
¹⁸And the Becoming God said: “It is not good that the human should be alone; I will make a helpmeet for em.” ¹⁹And out of the ground the Becoming God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the human to see what ey would call them; and whatsoever the human would call every living creature, that was to be the name they would be called. ²⁰And the human gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the human, there was not found a helpmeet for em. ²¹And the Becoming God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the human, and ey slept; and God took one of eir ribs and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof. ²²And from the rib, which the Becoming God had taken from the human, God made a woman and brought her unto the human. ²³And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cling unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. ²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Queeries for the text
Why is this text foundational to the heterosexual contract

How does the way gender is constructed in this passage feel un/comfortable?

Why is the human the default, rather than the woman? What does this reflect about how we engage with the world?
Why were the animals not appropriate helpmeets?

How does this story impact our understanding of God's omniscience?

How does the rib coming from the human make the woman queer? What are the other ways these characters are queer?

Why has the chain of families become important to society?
Who else in the Bible clings to each other?
What does it mean to be naked and unashamed?

What are your queeries?

easter 3 year b - luke

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Luke 24:36b-48

[³⁶While the were talking about this,]

Jesus themself stood among the eleven and their companions and said to them,

     “Peace be with you.”

³⁷The disciples were startled and terrified,

     and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

³⁸Jesus said to them,

     “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 Jesus had said this,

     they showed them their hands and feet.

     ⁴¹While in their joy those gathered were disbelieving and still wondering,

          Jesus said to them,

               “Have you anything here to eat?”

                    ⁴²They gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish,

                         ⁴³and Jesus took it and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴Then Jesus 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 said to them,

          “Thus it is written,

               that the Messiah 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.

Queeries for the text:

Had the eleven and their companions locked themselves up for fear of the Judeans in this gospel also or were they just gathered? 

Why is peace so terrifying?

Why is Jesus' resurrection so embodied?

What is the difference between doubt and disbelief?

Is Jesus just eating to show off that they can?

Does Jesus refer to fulfilling the psalms anywhere else in the gospels?

How do you go about opening someone's mind?  Is Jesus a legilimens?

What do we need to repent of today?

For what do we need to give and receive forgiveness?

Are we witnesses of the witnesses of the witnesses,...ad infinitum?

What are your queeries?

A bonus: this is the manuscript for a sermon I preached on this text, which came out of this queerying: http://emmy-liz.blogspot.com/2018/04/jesus-resurrection-is-for-bodies-easter.html

easter 2 year b - john

John 20:19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day,

     the first day of the week,

     and the doors of the house where the disciples had met

          were locked for fear of the Judeans,

               Jesus came and stood among them and said,

                    “Peace be with you.” 

²⁰After Jesus said this,

     they showed them their hands and their side.

          Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Sovereign. 

²¹Jesus said to them again,

     “Peace be with you.

          As the Parent has sent me,

               so I send you.”

     ²²When Jesus had said this,

          they breathed on them and said to them,

               “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

                    ²³If you forgive the sins of any,

                         they are forgiven them;

                    if you retain the sins of any,

                         they are retained.” 

²⁴But Thomas

     (who was called the Twin),

          one of the twelve,

               was not with them when Jesus came.

     ²⁵So the other disciples told him,

          “We have seen the Sovereign.”

     But Thomas said to them,

          “Unless I see the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands,

               and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in Jesus’ side,

                    I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later Jesus’ disciples were again in the house,

     and Thomas was with them.

     Although the doors were shut,

          Jesus came and stood among them and said,

               “Peace be with you.” 

     ²⁷Then Jesus said to Thomas,

          “Put your finger here and see my hands.

               Reach out your hand and put it in my side.

                    Do not doubt but believe.” 

²⁸Thomas answered them,

     “My Sovereign and my God!” 

²⁹Jesus said to him,

     “Have you believed because you have seen me?

          Blessed are those who have not seen

               and yet have come to believe.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of their disciples,

     which are not written in this book. 

     ³¹But these are written 

          so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah,

               the One born of God,

          and that through believing you may have life in Jesus’ name.

Queeries for the text:
What does peace mean in the face of fear?
Is Christ actually disabled?
How bad does Jesus return-from-the-dead morning breath smell?
What was brave Thomas doing outside the fearfully locked doors?
Is Thomas the only equal-opportunity disbeliever among the disciples?
Is Thomas (who was called the Twin) blind?
Is there a greater proclamation of faith in the gospels than Thomas'?
What were Jesus' other signs?
What is life in Jesus' name like compared with regular life?

What are your queeries?