Queerying Narrative Lectionary 105

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17
^19:3Then Moses went up to God; the Becoming One called to him from the mountain: “This you shall share with all the descendants of Jacob, the entire nation of Israelites: ⁴'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles' wings to safety, to myself. ⁵Dear ones, if you listen to what I am saying and keep our covenant, you will be dearly treasured, my most prized keepsake, out of all the peoples. Yes, the entire earth is mine, ⁶but you shall be for me a people made of priests and a sacred nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

⁷So Moses went to the elders of the people, summoned them, and set before them all the words that the Becoming One had told him to share.

[…]

^20:1Then God spoke all these words,
²I am the Becoming One, your God, who brought you to safety out of the land of Egypt, who freed you from the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before me.
⁴You shall not make an idol for yourself, whether it is in the shape or form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth below or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to the idols or serve them, for I am the Becoming One, your God, and am a jealous God, who will revisit the inequities of those who hate me to their children up to the third and the fourth generation, ⁶but I will show steadfast, enduring love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and who keep my commandments.
⁷"You shall not use the name of the Becoming One, your God, in wrong or harmful ways, for the Becoming One will not let anyone go free who misuses my name.
⁸"Remember the Sabbath day, the day of rest, and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you have to labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a day of rest to the Becoming One, your God. You shall not do any work nor ask or require anyone else to do work, whether it is your children, the people you enslaved or the people who work for you, your animals, or even the migrant workers in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Becoming One made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that fills them, but rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Becoming One blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as a holy day of rest.
¹²"Give honor to your parents so that you may live many days in peace in the land that the Becoming One is giving to you.
¹³"Do not kill.
¹⁴"Do not violate intimate relationships.
¹⁵"Do not steal.
¹⁶"Do not lie about or mischaracterize one another.
¹⁷"Do not long for your neighbors' house, spouse, the people they enslaved or those who work for them, animals, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor."

Queeries for the text:
What is this building on?
What is missing?
What is the companion text?
Where is this headed?
Who do these commandments protect? What communities are left out of the commandments' protection?
How were the ten commandments originally understood?
How do we tell the truth?
What counts as murder?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative 104

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29
⁵When the Pharaoh was told that the Israelites had left Egypt, Pharaoh and his officials' minds were changed toward the people, and they said among themselves, “What have we done, letting our slaves leave our service?” ⁶So he had his chariot made ready and took his entire army with him: ⁷six hundred of the elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with his best military commanders over them.

[…]

¹⁰As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back and saw the vast multitude of Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Becoming One, ¹¹ and said to Moses, “Why have you taken us to die here in the wilderness? Were there not enough graves in Egypt to bury us? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Did we not tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so we can serve the Egyptians’? For we knew if we left there would be major ramifications to our safety.” ¹³But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, remain steadfast, and see how the Becoming One will bring deliverance for you, for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴The Becoming One will fight your oppressors on your behalf, and you have only to keep still.”

[…]

²¹At the Becoming One's command, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Becoming One sent such a strong east wind toward the sea that it turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. ²²The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground with waters forming a great wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. ²⁴At the morning watch the Becoming One, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. ²⁵Xe clogged their chariot wheels so that they could barely turn. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Becoming One is fighting on their side against us!”

²⁶Then the Becoming One said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians and their army.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Becoming One tossed the Egyptian army into the sea. ²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; all of them were drowned in the sea. ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Queeries for the text:
What is this passage building on?
What's missing?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this headed?
How are the seas affected today?
What would the parting of the sea look like?
How are justice and freedom traded for capital gain?
How does war between an oppressing force and an oppressed force play out?
When is it okay to doubt God's plan?

What are your queeries?

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, 1831

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?
 
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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 15th after Pentecost A

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

Tanakh: Exodus 14:19-31

The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them, it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night so that the armies could not come near the other all through the night.

Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and the Becoming One drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsepeople. At the morning watch, the Becoming One looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. They locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Becoming One is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the Becoming One said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their horsepeople.” Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak, the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But the Becoming One hurled the Egyptians into the sea.

The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the horsepeople—Pharaoh’s entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Thus the Becoming One delivered Israel that day from the Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. When Israel saw the wondrous power which the Becoming One had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared the Becoming One; they had faith in the Becoming One and their servant Moses.

Queeries for the text:
What do we need freedom from?  Who is setting us free?
How do we shift the leaders around us?
How does God work in the world?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

²¹Then Peter came and said to Jesus, “Guide, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 

²²Jesus said to Peter, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 

²³“For this reason the reign of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When the king began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵and, as the slave could not pay, her lord ordered her to be sold, together with her spouse and children and all their possessions, and payment to be made. 

²⁶So the slave fell on her knees before the king, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷And out of pity for her, the lord of that slave released her and forgave her the debt. 

²⁸But that same slave, as she went out, came upon one of her fellow slaves who owed her a hundred denarii; and seizing them by the throat, she said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 

²⁹Then her fellow slave fell down and pleaded with her, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰But she refused; then she went and threw them into prison until they would pay the debt. 

³¹When her fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 

³²Then her lord summoned her and said to her, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴And in anger her lord handed her over to be tortured until she would pay her entire debt. 

³⁵So my heavenly Parent will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your sibling from your heart.”

Queeries for the text:

What's so special about 77?
How does a person rack up a debt of 10,000 talents?
How can debts be paid when the debtor is imprisoned? When they are tortured?
Who is master in this story?
What is mercy?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 14th after Pentecost A

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

Tanakh: Exodus 12:1-14
The Becoming One said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.

Speak to the whole community of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. But if the household is too small for a lamb, let them share one with a near neighbor, in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire. You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a passover offering to the Becoming One. For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and animal; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:
How else has this story been queered?
When does the first of the year fall this year? Have the traditions changed? How?

What Mitzvot are connected with this holiday?
Where else might we all contribute to ensure that everyone may be free?

What mitzvot involves doorposts today?

When is genocide permissible?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 12th after Pentecost A

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

Tanakh: Exodus 1:8-2:10

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and the king said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”

So the Egyptians set taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”

The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?”

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” 

 

God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. Since the midwives feared God, They established households for them. Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” 

A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to fetch it. When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.” 

 

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?” 

 

Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” 

 

So the girl went and called the child’s mother, and Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who made him her son. She named him Moses, explaining, “I drew him out of the water.”

Queeries for the text:
What did Joseph do for Pharaoh? (What did we miss last week?)
What are the rights of immigrants in the u.s.?

Who are the Shiprah's and Puah's of today? Who is Pharaoh in this analogy? What are the orders?
What life is found in the River today?

What should we be looking out for as we work for freedom for the whole human family?

What parts of the story do we miss when we read in translation?

 

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20

¹³Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Human One is?” 

¹⁴And the disciples said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

¹⁵Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Offspring of the living God.” 

¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the dominion of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

²⁰Then Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Queeries for the text:
Who do people say is human? 

Who do people say the Human One is?

Who is revealing humanity and divinity today?
Why are names important? How is naming powerful?

Why doesn't Jesus want the disciples to tell anyone? 

What are your queeries?

Queerying the Easter Vigil

 
Queerier River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh readings of the Easter Vigil.

Tanakh 1: Genesis 1:1-2:4a


Queeries for the text:
Who is the main character in this story?
Why was this creation narrative chosen?
Where is human's responsibility today?

Tanakh 2: Exodus 14:10-31, 15:1b-13, 17-18, 20-21


Queeries for the text:
What visceral feelings emerge when you hear this text?
Does this text show certain character(s) as unquestionably good?  How can different viewpoints complicate that?
Could you sing the song of Moses after seeing so many people die?
What horrifies you about this story?

-----

Tanakh 3: Isaiah 55:1-11


Queeries for the text:
How does this utopian vision feel in an era of social distancing and CoViD-19?
What parts of our economic system do you want to change after reading this?
Does God care about the people who cannot afford to eat?
How are God's people remedying that?

----- 

Tanakh 4: Ezekiel 37:1-14


Queeries for the text:
How can bones hear?
How can bones breathe?
How can hope emerge from despair?
How can the dead live again?

-----

Tanakh 5: Daniel 3:1-29



Queeries for the text:
How hot was the fire to kill people outside of it?
What kind of spiritual development does Nebuchadnezzar show in this text, if any?
Who went along and didn't ask questions or create difficulties for Nebuchadnezzar?  What might the parallels to today be?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel readings of the Easter.

Gospel 1: Matthew 28:1-10


Queeries for the text:
How does the world feel unstable today?
What is as shocking as lightning to us?
What happened to the guards after this?
What is with Jesus and Their feet?
What's going to happen in Galilee?

-----

Gospel 2: John 20:1-18


Queeries for the text:
How does Mary's fear about Jesus' body resonate in our context?
Who rolls up linen wrappings?
How are belief and understanding different?
What is the power of Naming?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Lent 3A

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

Tanakh: Exodus 17:1-7

From the Wilderness of Sin the whole Israelite community continued by stages as the Becoming One would command. They encamped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses. “Give us water to drink,” they said; and Moses replied to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you try the Becoming One?”And the people thirsted there for water; and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Moses cried out to the Becoming One, saying, “What shall I do with this people? Before long they will be stoning me!” Then the Becoming One said to Moses, “Pass before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take along the rod with which you struck the Nile, and set out. I will be standing there before you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will issue from it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and because they tried the Becoming One, saying, “Is the Becoming One present among us or not?”

Queeries for the text:
What is the significance of the Wilderness of Sin?
Where do we lack water?
Why do we lack water?
How are we grumbling instead of looking for water?
For what do we thirst?
For what do you thirst?
What risks are you taking? What safety have you left to follow God's call?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

⁵So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. ⁷A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(Jesus' disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)

⁹The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jewish man, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jewish people do not share things in common with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked them, and they would have given you living water.”

¹¹The woman said to Jesus, “Captain, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”

¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

¹⁵The woman said to him, “Captain, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”

¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”

¹⁹The woman said to him, “Captain, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”

²⁶Jesus said to her, “I am Them, the one who is speaking to you.”

²⁷Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰They left the city and were on their way to him.

³¹Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

³³So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete Their work. ³⁵Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for everlasting life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

³⁹Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “They told me everything I have ever done.”

⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them; and Jesus stayed there two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of his word. ⁴²They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Queeries for the text:
What happened at Jacob's well?  Why isn't Genesis the Tanakh reading for this day?
Why is the woman coming to get water in the heat of the day?
What assumptions are made about Jesus' sexuality in this passage?  What about the woman's sexuality?
What happens if the "the one you have now" is not your husband, because they're not a man?
What is living water?
What astonishes you?
Why do the Samaritans from that city need more proof than a woman's word?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Transfiguration A

River Needham M.A. queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Exodus 24:12-18

The Becoming One said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them.” So Moses and his attendant Joshua arose, and Moses ascended the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; let anyone who has a legal matter approach them.” When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. The Presence of the Becoming One abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day She called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. Now the Presence of the Becoming One appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Queeries for the text:
What mountain does The Becoming One tell Moses to go up?
Can tablets be made of stone?
How do we instruct?
Does the Becoming One have a body?
What other divine figures are represented by fire?
What is significant about forty days?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. ²And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

⁴Then Peter said to Jesus, “Duuuuuude, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While Peter was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Child, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” ⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.  

⁷But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” ⁸And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. ⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Human One has been raised from the dead.”

Queeries for the text:
Six days later than what?
How does the sun shine?
How does whiteness dazzle?  What about darkness?
How was Peter going to make the dwellings?
How does touch challenge fear?
Why doesn't Jesus want anyone to know?

What are your queeries?

Maundy Thursday year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14.
The Becoming One said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months;

it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.

Speak to the whole community of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month

each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household.

But if the household is too small for a lamb, let him share one with a neighbor who

dwells nearby in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for

the lamb according to what each household will eat.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male;

you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month;

and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight.

They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel

of the houses in which they are to eat it.

They shall eat the flesh that same night;

they shall eat it roasted over the fire,

with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water,

but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire.

You shall not leave any of it over until morning;

if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it.

This is how you shall eat it:

your loins girded,

your sandals on your feet,

and your staff in your hand;

and you shall eat it hurriedly:

it is a passover offering to the Becoming One.
For that night I will go through the land of Egypt

and strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;

and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt,

I the Becoming One.

And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you:

when I see the blood I will pass over you,

so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to

the Becoming One throughout the ages;

you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time.

Queeries for the text:
Does time rebegin in this text? How does time change in this text?
What do cooperative economics look like in this text? In different cultures? Today?
Why were the preparation instructions not a required part of the assigned reading?
Why is cooking it with water explicitly verboten?
Are there any meals we eat hurriedly today? Why do we hurry?
Who are the gods of Egypt? Why does the Becoming One need to mete out punishments to them? What do they do?
What is the significance of blood? Why does God upend the social structure, where Egyptians benefit from the slavery of the Israelites? What might this imply for our social structure today?
Are there any additional plagues? Does this complicate God's instruction? Who was Batyah? Why is she important?
What is the significance of passover to Christians?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Now before the festival of the Passover,

Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world

and go to the Loving Parent.

Having loved his own who were in the world,

Jesus loved them to the end.

²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas

son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.

And during supper ³Jesus,

knowing that the Loving Parent had given all things into his hands,

and that he had come from God and was going to God,

⁴got up from the table,
took off his outer robe,
and tied a towel around himself.

⁵Then Jesus poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

⁶Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him,

“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered,

“You do not know now what I am doing,

but later you will understand.”

⁸Peter said to Jesus,

“You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered,

“Unless I wash you,

you have no share with me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to him,

“Master, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“One who has bathed does not need to wash,

except for the feet,

but is entirely clean.

And you are clean,

though not all of you.”

¹¹For Jesus knew who was to betray him;

for this reason he said,

“Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After Jesus had washed their feet,
had put on his robe,
and had returned to the table,
he said to them,

“Do you know what I have done to you?

¹³You call me Teacher and Master—and you are right,

for that is what I am.

¹⁴So if I, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet,

you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵For I have set you an example,

that you also should do as I have done to you.

¹⁶Very truly, I tell you,

slaves are not greater than their master,

nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

¹⁷If you know these things,

you are blessed if you do them.”

³¹“Now the Human One has been glorified,

and God has been glorified in them.

³²If God has been glorified in the Human One,

God will also glorify the Human One in Godself
and will glorify them at once.

³³Little children,

I am with you only a little longer.

You will look for me;

and as I said to the Judeans so now I say to you,

‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴I give you a new commandment,

that you love one another.

Just as I have loved you,

you also should love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.”

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
Why is John's gospel always hating on Judas?
What was under Jesus' outer robe?  How big was the towel?
Why would Jesus wash everyone's feet?
Do we ever really know what Jesus is doing?
What kind of master and slave are we talking about?  Was Jesus kinky?  A power bottom?
How has the Human One been glorified?  How is God glorified in humanity?
What can it look like to love one another?  What about those outside of the community?  How do we fail at Jesus' new commandment?

What are your queeries?

Transfiguration year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Exodus 34:29-35
So Moses came down from Mount Sinai.
Then, as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the pact,

Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had

spoken with Her.

Aaron and all the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; and they

shrank from coming near him.

But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned

to him, and Moses spoke to them.

Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he instructed them concerning

all that the Becoming One had imparted to him on Mount Sinai.

And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
Whenever Moses went in before the Becoming One to speak with Her, he would leave the veil off until he came out;

and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,

the Israelites would see how radiant the skin of Moses’ face was.

Moses would then put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Her.

Queeries for the text:
Where is Mount Sinai? Do other traditions of this story exist?
Which pact was on the two tablets?
How does radiance look on different types of skin?
Where else do the leaders of the congregation show up in Torah?
Why did the Israelites fear Moses? What made his radiance atypical?
Where else do veils show up in Torah? How are veils gendered? What about veils or wigs today?
How many times did Moses see Her? Was this a regular occurrence? What about people who hear directly from God today?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 [37-43]
²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James,

and went up on the mountain to pray.

²⁹And while Jesus was praying,

the appearance of his face changed,

and his clothes became dazzling white.

³⁰Suddenly they saw two men,

Moses and Elijah,

talking to Jesus.

³¹They appeared in glory
and were speaking of his departure,

which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep;

but since they had stayed awake,

they saw his glory
and the two men who stood with him.

³³Just as the men were leaving him,

Peter said to Jesus,

“Master, it is good for us to be here;

let us make three dwellings,

one for you,
one for Moses,
and one for Elijah”

—not knowing what he said.

³⁴While he was saying this,

a cloud came and overshadowed them;

and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

“This is my Child,

my Chosen;

listen to him!”

³⁶When the voice had spoken,

Jesus was found alone.

And they kept silent

and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

³⁷On the next day,

when they had come down from the mountain,

a great crowd met Jesus.

³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted,

“Teacher, I beg you to look at my son;

he is my only child.

³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him,

and all at once he shrieks.

It convulses him until he foams at the mouth;

it mauls him
and will scarcely leave him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out,

but they could not.”

⁴¹Jesus answered,

“You faithless and perverse generation,

how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?

Bring your son here.”

⁴²While he was coming,

the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions.

But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit,

healed the boy,

and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing,

Jesus said to his disciples,

Queeries for the text:
Eight days after which sayings?
What does glory look like?  How does transfiguration appear?
Where have we heard that claim before?
How could Peter not know what he was saying?
Where are other places that God shows up in clouds?
What does God's voice sound like?
Why can't the disciples cast out the demon?
Who is the faithless and perverse generation?
What did Jesus say?

What are your queeries?