Queerying Holy Trinity C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 16:12-15
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 She will not speak on Her own, but will speak whatever She hears, and She will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴She will glorify me, because She will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Caregiver has is mine. For this reason I said that She will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Queeries for the text:
What does Jesus still have to say?
What can't we bear?
What does the Spirit of truth have to say?
What is Jesus'?
What does the Spirit declare?
How do you imagine the Trinity?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Pentecost C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 11:1-9
Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.”—Brick served them as stone, and asphalt served them as mortar.— And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; or else we shall be scattered all over the world.” The Becoming One came down to look at the city and tower that humanity had built, and the Becoming One said, “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach. Let us, then, go down and confuse their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another’s speech.” Thus the Becoming One scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there the Becoming One confused the speech of the whole earth; and from there scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Queeries for the text:
How many languages exist now?
How tall would Babel have needed to be to have its top in the sky?
What purpose does babel hold?
How did these languages evolve into today?
What else can we mourn today?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 14:8-17, [25-27]
⁸Philip said to Jesus, “Lover, show us the Caregiver, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Caregiver. How can you say, ‘Show us the Caregiver’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Caregiver and the Caregiver is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Caregiver who dwells in me does Xyr works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Caregiver and the Caregiver is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Caregiver. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Caregiver may be glorified in the Beloved. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

¹⁵”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Caregiver, and Xe will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Her nor knows Her. You know Her, because She abides with you, and She will be in you.
...

²⁵”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Caregiver will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Queeries for the text:
When is this conversation taking place?
Why does Philip want proof?
How do you show someone the divine?
What works is Jesus talking about?
What power is in a name?
Where is the Spirit of truth today?
Who needs an Advocate?
What's missing?
What does the Holy Spirit need to remind you of?
How does the world give peace?  How does Jesus give peace?

-----

Find previous queeries for the Acts text here.

-----

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 16th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Becoming One in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the prison compound attached to the palace of the king of Judah. For King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him,
------
Jeremiah said: The word of the Becoming One came to me:

Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say,

“Buy my land in Anathoth, for you are next in succession to redeem it by purchase.”

And just as the Becoming One had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the prison compound and said to me,

“Please buy my land in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; for the right of succession is yours, and you have the duty of redemption. Buy it.”

Then I knew that it was indeed the word of the Becoming One. So I bought the land in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver.I wrote a deed, sealed it, and had it witnessed; and I weighed out the silver on a balance. I took the deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one according to rule and law, and gave the deed to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in the presence of my kinsman Hanamel, of the witnesses who were named in the deed, and all the Judeans who were sitting in the prison compound.  In their presence I charged Baruch as follows:

Thus said the Ruler of Angel Armies, the God of Israel: “Take these documents, this deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one, and put them into an earthen jar, so that they may last a long time.”

For thus said the God of Angel Armies, the God of Israel: “Houses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.”

Queeries for the text:
What is missing from this reading?
When did this happen? What did the world look like?
Who is confined?
Where is Anathoth?
When can prisoners buy and sell today?
How long do earthen jars last?
When were houses, fields and vineyards again purchased in the land? Who remained in the land?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said:
¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

²⁷He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

²⁹Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

³⁰He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

³¹He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?  Why?
What is with Jesus and all the rich folks?!
What's so great about purple?
What does the name Lazarus mean? Why is the name important?
What impact do dogs have?
Why does the rich man still think he can get what he wants?
Is the after life zero-sum?
What will it take for true repentance from evil?

What are your queeries?

Remembering Pulse: Words at a Vigil

Below are my words from the Pulse Vigil that took place this evening at The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines.  I was one of three speakers and simultaneous translation and interpretation were provided in Spanish and ASL, so I only have the English below.

-----

Buenas noches.  Good evening.

I'm Pastor Emily Ewing and I'm the Social Justice Pastor at Trinity las Américas United Methodist Church.  My pronouns are they/them/theirs, elle.

Today, my queerly beloved, we gather on land originally inhabited by the Ioway, Sauk, and Meskwaki peoples to remember violence perpetrated on the land of the Seminole people.

The attack on Pulse night club on Latinx night was a decidedly “American” attack—born from a country that weds the dominant religious ideology and white supremacy.  This country combines the evils of racism and queer- and transphobia and in recent years has been even more explicitly encouraging them.

The ways this country has historically and still today perpetuated and even created newly horrific forms of racism, queerphobia and transphobia, especially under the name of Christianity and “religious freedom” are sin.  Racism is sin.  White supremacy is sin.  Queerphobia is sin.  Transphobia is sin.  Heterosexism and cisgenderism are sin.

They harm everyone.

Just as immigration and the evils of ICE and Border Patrol don’t just impact those living along the borders, what happened at Pulse is not restricted to Orlando.  White supremacists and neo Nazis have been physically disrupting Prides this year.  In recent months we have heard again of Black trans women being killed in Dallas, of yet another Latina trans woman dying in detention while seeking asylum, and this is all to say nothing of the murders that don’t make our news.

And so we gather.

Again and again we gather.

We gather to support and encourage each other.

We gather to remember the lives we have lost—the ones unjustly taken from us.

We gather to challenge the powers and principalities that seek to do harm—to oppress, divide, and diminish especially the most marginalized among us.

In my Lutheran tradition, when someone is baptized or confirmed—recommitting themselves to their faith journey—we celebrate and we also make space to renounce the forces that divide and harm us and the world.  So, if you are willing, please join me when appropriate by responding to my questions with “I renounce them.”  Not every renunciation will apply to each one of us gathered here, but especially when it comes to systems and powers that you benefit from or that you want tonight to commit to challenging, please join in the renunciation.  The decision is entirely yours to do as you feel moved.

Do you, my queerly beloveds, renounce queerphobia, homophobia, and biphobia?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce racism, white supremacy, and xenophobia?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce transphobia, cisgenderism, and the gender binary?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce all forms of religious bigotry, religious extremism, and religious supremacy?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the shame that others impose and use to condemn?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the powers and principalities that attempt to divide and conquer us?

I renounce them.

Recommitting ourselves to the work of justice, of love, and of peace takes all of us—calling each other in when we mess up, supporting and carrying each other when we cannot go it alone, ensuring the most vulnerable among us are safe and centered in the work we do, and also celebrating both when there are victories and when the victory is simply that we are still here to fight another day—celebrating even in the face of those who would seek to harm us.

So, to you my queerly beloveds,

who come from the rich, nourishing dirt of the earth

and the brilliant, sparkling stardust scattered throughout the cosmos

you, who bear the divine image, love, and wonder in all of who you are,

and in all of who you are becoming:

May you remember and work to honor those no longer with us—

from the early resisters, rioters, and brick throwers

like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson

to those whose lives were taken at Pulse
to those who are killed still today—

may your living do them justice and honor them

May you know that you are loved—oh so very loved—

that you are lovable,
and that you are capable of so much love.

May you know sacred spaces throughout your life—

from queer bars to faith communities,
from parks and coffee shops to gardens and shelters.

May you always know that you belong,

that you are valid,

and that your existence in the world is important.

Amen.

Queerying Easter 3C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Acts and Gospel readings.

Acts 9:1-6 [7-20]
Meanwhile Saul,

still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus,

went to the high priest
²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,

so that if Saul found any who belonged to the Way, of any gender,

he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³Now as Saul was going along and approaching Damascus,

suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵Saul asked,

“Who are you, Sovereign?”

The reply came,

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

⁶But get up and enter the city,
and you will be told what you are to do.”

[⁷The ones who were traveling with Saul stood speechless

because they heard the voice but saw no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground,

and though his eyes were open,

he could see nothing;

so they led Saul by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

⁹For three days Saul was without sight,

and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.

The Sovereign said to him in a vision,

“Ananias.”

Ananias answered,

“Here I am, Sovereign.”

¹¹The Sovereign said to Ananias,

“Get up and go to the street called Straight,

and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.

At this moment he is praying,

¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in
and lay his hands on Saul so that he might regain his sight.”

¹³But Ananias answered,

“Sovereign, I have heard from many about this man,

how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;

¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests

to bind all who invoke your name.”

¹⁵But the Sovereign said to Ananias,

“Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen

to bring my name before Gentiles and rulers
and before the people of Israel;

¹⁶I myself will show Saul how much he must suffer

for the sake of my name.”

¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house.

He laid his hands on Saul and said,

“Brother Saul,

the Sovereign Jesus,

who appeared to you on your way here,

has sent me so that you may regain your sight

and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes,

and his sight was restored.

Then he got up and was baptized,

¹⁹and after taking some food,

Saul regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying,

“Jesus is the One born of God.”]

Queeries for the text:
Who breathes threats and murder against faithful people today?
How do we persecute Jesus today?
How much evil is done while thinking it is for God?
How is blindness a gift for Saul?
Why would anyone want a street (or anything) called Straight?
How much must Saul suffer for the sake of the Holy Name?
When do we begin to call him Paul?
When have we encountered the Divine?  Do we recognize it?  Do we name it as such?

-----

Gospel: John 21:1-19
After these things

Jesus showed themself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias;

and they showed themself in this way.

²Gathered there together were Simon Peter,

Thomas called the Twin,
Nathanael of Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee,
and two others of the disciples.

³Simon Peter said to them,

“I am going fishing.”

They said to him,

“We will go with you.”

They went out and got into the boat,

but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Just after daybreak,

Jesus stood on the beach;

but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

⁵Jesus said to them,

“Children, you have no fish, have you?”

They answered Jesus,

“No.”

⁶Jesus said to them,

“Cast the net to the right side of the boat,

and you will find some.”

So they cast it,

and now they were not able to haul it in

because there were so many fish.

⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,

“It is the Sovereign!”

When Simon Peter heard that it was Jesus,

he put on some clothes, for he was naked,

and jumped into the sea.

⁸But the other disciples came in the boat,

dragging the net full of fish,

for they were not far from the land,

only about a hundred yards off.

⁹When they had gone ashore,

they saw a charcoal fire there,

with fish on it, and bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them,

“Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore,

full of large fish,

a hundred fifty-three of them;

and though there were so many,

the net was not torn.

¹²Jesus said to them,

“Come and have breakfast.”

Now none of the disciples dared to ask Jesus,

“Who are you?”

because they knew it was the Sovereign.

¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them,

and did the same with the fish.

¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples

after being raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast,

Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Simon son of John,

do you love me more than these?”

Simon Peter said to Jesus,

“Yes, Sovereign;

you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him,

“Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶A second time Jesus said to him,

“Simon son of John,

do you love me?”

Simon Peter said to Jesus,

“Yes, Sovereign;

you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him,

“Tend my sheep.”

¹⁷Jesus said to Simon Peter the third time,

“Simon son of John,

do you love me?”

Peter felt hurt because Jesus said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”

And Peter said to Jesus,

“Sovereign, you know everything;

you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him,

“Feed my sheep.

¹⁸Very truly, I tell you,

when you were younger,

you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished.

But when you grow old,

you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will fasten a belt around you
and take you where you do not wish to go.”

¹⁹(Jesus said this to indicate

the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.)

After this Jesus said to him,

“Follow me.”

Queeries for the text:
How many times will Jesus show themself to the disciples?
Why did Simon Peter want to go fishing?
Do the fishing disciples always follow instructions and advice from strangers they don't recognize?
How does the Beloved Disciple know it's Jesus?
Why is Simon Peter in such a rush to get to Jesus?
Why does the disciple whom Jesus loves wait for the boat to get to short to see Jesus?
Why does Jesus want more fish if some was already on the fire?
Why 153?
How many times must Jesus appear for the disciples to get it?
Why does Jesus ask Simon Peter three times?

What are your queeries?

Lent 3 year C

On the afternoon of 15 March 2019, a White Supremacist inspired by politicians in the United States opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. As people trained in the Christian tradition, which often functions in Islamophobic and White Supremacist ways, we repudiate White Supremacy and Islamophobia in the strongest possible terms. Our queeries this week are in honor of those who died, may Allah open the highest levels of paradise to them.

-----

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 55:1-9

Ho, all who are thirsty, come for water,

even if you have no money;

Come, buy food and eat: buy food without money,

wine and milk without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

Your earnings for what does not satisfy?

Give heed to Me, and you shall eat choice food and enjoy the richest viands.

Incline your ear and come to Me; Hearken, and you shall be revived.

And I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

The enduring loyalty promised to David.

As I made him a leader of peoples,

a prince and commander of peoples,

So you shall summon a nation you did not know,

and a nation that did not know you shall come running to you

For the sake of the Becoming One your God,

The Holy One of Israel who has glorified you.

Seek the Becoming One while Ey can be found,

Call to Em while Ey is near.

Let the wicked give up her ways,

The sinful one her plans;

Let her turn back to the Becoming One,

And Ey will pardon her;

To our God, for Ey freely forgives.

For My plans are not your plans,

Nor are My ways your ways —declares the Becoming One.

But as the heavens are high above the earth,

So are My ways high above your ways

And My plans above your plans.

Queeries for the text:
What genre is this text?
What is a viand?
What do we hunger and thirst for today?
How might Muslim people give heed to Allah? Do Christians have similar practices?
What does the beginning of this text refer to? What does that look like in other faiths?
What kind of summoning does this text refer to? Which country will be called?
What are the conditions of forgiveness? How are they culturally conditioned?
To whom does the last stanza refer? Is it the same "you" throughout this passage?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans

whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

²Jesus asked them,

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way

they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?

³No, I tell you;

but unless you repent,

you will all perish as they did.

⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—

do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?

⁵No, I tell you;

but unless you repent,

you will all perish just as they did.”

⁶Then Jesus told this parable:

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard;

and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.

⁷So he said to the gardener,

‘See here!

For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree,

and still I find none.

Cut it down!

Why should it be wasting the soil?’

⁸The gardener replied,

‘Sir, let it alone for one more year,

until I dig around it and put manure on it.

⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good;

but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Queeries for the text:
At which "very time"?
Does Jesus know what Paul will write?
How else is Jesus clear about victim blaming?
What are compassionate responses to those who have been killed?
Who is in need of compassion and action?
What do we need to confess and repent of?
How long does it take a tree to bear fruit?
Why do men think they know how everything should work?
Is God the gardener?

What are your queeries?

Ash Wednesday year C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Jesus said:
“Beware of practicing your piety before others

in order to be seen by them;

for then you have no reward from your Loving Creator in heaven.

²“So whenever you give alms,

do not sound a trumpet before you,

as the hypocrites do in the synagogues

and in the streets,

so that they may be praised by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

³But when you give alms,

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so that your alms may be done in secret;

and your Loving Creator who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵“And whenever you pray,

do not be like the hypocrites;

for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues

and at the street corners,

so that they may be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

⁶But whenever you pray,

go into your room and shut the door

and pray to your Loving Creator who is in secret;

and your Loving Creator who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁶“And whenever you fast,

do not look dismal,

like the hypocrites,

for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

¹⁷But when you fast,

put oil on your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that your fasting may be seen not by others

but by your Loving Creator who is in secret;

and your Loving Creator who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust consume

and where thieves break in and steal;

²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust consumes

and where thieves do not break in and steal.

²¹For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

Queeries for the text:
Which verses are missing?
How do you practice piety?
Why does intent matter?  Does it?
If my left hand doesn't know what my right is doing, how do I know what to report for taxes?
How do hypocrites pray today?
How is secrecy good?  How is secrecy bad?
When else is fasting harmful?
What does Jesus' promise mean for us?
What consumes earth these days?  What does resistance look like?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Holy Innocents

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

Tanakh: Jeremiah 31:15-17
Thus said the Becoming One: A cry is heard in Ramah—wailing, bitter weeping—Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, who are gone.
Thus said the Becoming One: restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shedding tears;
for there is a reward for your labor—declares the Becoming One:
They shall return from the enemy's land. And there is hope for your future—declares the The Becoming One: your children shall return to their country.

Queeries for the text:
Who weeps today?
Who weeps today?
Who weeps today?
Who weeps today?
Where is Ramah? What is its importance?
Where are the children gone to?
How can God offer a reward for such a horrible deed?
Where are we waiting for people to return to their country?

-----

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

Gospel: Matthew 2:13-18
¹³Now after the magi had left,

an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream

and said,

“Get up,

take the child and their mother,

and flee to Egypt,

and remain there until I tell you;

for Herod is about to search for the child,

to destroy them.”

¹⁴Then Joseph got up,

took the child and their mother by night,

and went to Egypt,

¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfill what had been spoken by God

through the prophet,

“Out of Egypt I have called my child.”

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi,

he was infuriated,

and he sent

and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem

who were two years old or under,

according to the time that he had learned from the magi.

¹⁷Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah,

wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be consoled,

because they are no more.”

Queeries for the text:
What are magi?
How are our dreams guiding us today?
Who provided refuge for those who were fleeing?
What happens when powerful people are tricked?
Who are slaughtered today?
Who are slaughtered today?
Who are slaughtered today?
Who are slaughtered today?
How are we carrying out Herod's orders?
How are we we weeping without consolation?

What are your queeries?

all saints day year b - john

 

John 11:32-44
³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him,

she knelt at his feet and said to him,

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping,

and the Judeans who came with her also weeping,

he was greatly disturbed in spirit

and deeply moved.

³⁴Jesus said,

“Where have you laid him?”

They said to him,

“Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus began to weep.
³⁶So the Judeans said,

“See how he loved him!”

³⁷But some of them said,

“Could not the one

who opened the eyes of the blind man

have kept this man from dying?” 

³⁸Then Jesus,

again greatly disturbed,

came to the tomb.

It was a cave,

and a stone was lying against it.

³⁹Jesus said,

“Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man,

said to him,

“Lord, already there is a stench

because he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone.

And Jesus looked upward and said,

“Father, I thank you for having heard me.

⁴²I knew that you always hear me,

but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

so that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³When he had said this,

he cried with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴The dead man came out,

his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to them,

“Unbind him,
and let him go.”

Queeries for the text:
Who is Jesus weeping for?
How did Jesus love Lazarus?
Why do they call Jesus Lord so many times?
How often are our prayers for the sake of the crowd? Can they be for us and the crowd?
Does Jesus know something about Lazarus that we don't?
How is the church bound?
What did Lazarus think about coming back from the dead?  What did he say?
How did the religious authorities respond to this?
How many saints have been killed by guns and hatred this year?

What are your queeries?

from queerying to preaching: the 4th after pentecost year b

For a while now I've been sermonizing and preaching in a new way.  Now that I feel like I have a bit of a pattern to it, I thought I'd update you on the whole process.  

When I first preached this way, it was by accident and because the Holy Spirit made me do it (like she does).  Since then, I have preached several sermons with a similar sermonizing style as what that first one ended up being.

My sermons begin, about a week before preaching, with queerying the text.  This is a process I developed, after a fabulously queer text study (some might call it the queerest text study ever) with a friend, Rev. Caleb Crainer, at our annual Proclaim Gathering.  Queerying the text developed as a way for me to continue to engage devotionally with the lectionary, even as I was no longer preaching as regularly, and as a resource for others who were preaching or wanting to engage more deeply with one or more texts for the upcoming week.  

The heart of queerying is asking questions of the text, of us who engage with the text, and of the world, cosmos, and culture in which we live.  A lot of my queerying also comes with links that can problematize the text or the question, suggest answers, give examples, and more.  The particular perspectives I do my best to bring are a hermeneutic of suspicion, which I've learned from feminist theologians; a queer attention to those who are not heard and those who don't have power or names; and an attention to the intersectionality of identity, politics, power and liberation, learned from womanist, mujerista, and liberation theologians, among others.  

A lot of the time this involves google and more in-depth searches as well as cultivating from my ever growing list of resources and friends.  If you know of good connections (to resources or people) for me to make in my queeries, please let me know!  I try to do this Friday or Saturday a week before the reading(s) come up in the Revised Common Lectionary, but depending on the work (to pay the bills) that I have and other life events, sometimes it gets done and/or posted as late as Tuesday.  Sometimes I get more than one reading queeried, but many weeks it has just been one (lately, the gospel).

For this week, queerying the text looked like this:

Mark 4:26-34

26Jesus also said,

    “The reign of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,

         27and would sleep and rise night and day,

              and the seed would sprout and grow,

                   the sower does not know how.

         28The earth produces of itself,

              first the stalk,

                   then the head,

                        then the full grain in the head.

              29But when the grain is ripe,

                   at once the sower goes in with a sickle,

                        because the harvest has come.”

30Jesus also said,

    “With what can we compare the reign of God,

         or what parable will we use for it?

         31It is like a mustard seed, which,

              when sown upon the ground,

                   is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;

              32yet when it is sown it grows up

                   and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,

                        and puts forth large branches,

                             so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them,

    as they were able to hear it;

         34Jesus did not speak to those around him except in parables,

              but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Queerying the text:
What does the first parable mean in light of scientific knowledge?
Are we so distanced from the harvest that most of us no longer know how the earth produces?
How is God's reign like a weed?
What does mustard look like fully grown?
Does Jesus just want us to stop getting in the way of the reign of God?
Why does Jesus use riddles so much?  Why are the disciples the only ones that get explanations?

What are your queeries?




----- 

After queerying the text, I continued to sit with it as well as the other two readings for this weekend.  It percolated along with unfolding events and remembrances of recent history.  It simmered in conversations with others during the present Pride month of celebration, resistance, and rebellion.  It sparkled and shined as I looked ahead.

And then I began to sketch out the sermon—to really sermonize. This week I tried to be more intentional, so that I wouldn't end up redoing a "final" (read: colorful) sermon (but I redid it anyway, which is what I have done each of the past weeks).  

This was the draft I first sketched out.

Because I haven't figured out how to practice preaching out loud by myself, I then preached to my friend, River Needham, via Skype (as has become a delightful weekly occurrence for us both) for feedback and so that I could record a draft of my sermon.  This usually happens after my first colorful draft of my sermon, but this week it happened before.

This is what I had hoped would be my final draft, but was really just my first colorful one.

Following the brilliant practice of another friend, Rev. Corrine Haulotte, I have begun recording a sermon in draft form and then listening to it over and over again Saturday and Sunday to get the words and the flow into my head.  I used to hesitate about doing this, because with manuscripts I would tweak them the morning of preaching.  Once I started doing it, I realized that listening to them over and over again let me mentally tweak and realize where I wanted to change things, where it was good, and any other shifts I wanted to make.  This helped, rather than hindering, the sermonizing process.

This is the final visual for this week's sermon.

Receiving feedback and re-listening to my sermon inevitably leads to a new draft of the sermon.  This week's sermon is particularly visual, with images in addition to words and visual movement.  This week's sermon is also covered in glitter, much like the children's message.

There is an audio for this sermon, although I am recovering from a sinus infection, so you can tell that I'm not 100%, but I don't have a way to host the audio, because it requires so much, so if you're really interested in the audio, you'll have to comment or contact me and let me know.

-----

This is more or less the pattern I now use for sermonizing and preaching.  I no longer use a manuscript, though some of my favorite preachers definitely do.  Particularly as someone who does a lot of pulpit supply, where I don't know the congregation(s) as well, this is helpful, because it forces me to pay attention and respond to the congregation in more intentional ways.  I am more clued in on if they're clued in or spaced out (Speaking of spaced out, have you seen this version of the new pride flag??  It's awesome!!!).

I'd love your feedback if you have questions, comments, or concerns!  Let me know what you think.  Also, if you like my queerying (whether it's the text, music, or liturgy) and/or want it to be more frequent, click the button on the right towards the top of the blog and "buy me a coffee" to help financially support me and my work!

Thanks!!