Queerying Palm Sunday A

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Palm Processional Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11

When Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Commander needs them.’ And they will send them immediately.”

⁴This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ⁵“Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your ruler is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

⁸A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds that went ahead of Jesus and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Child of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Becoming One! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹⁰When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”

¹¹The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Queeries for the text:
Who else was entering Jerusalem at that time?
How did Jesus ride on both a donkey and a colt at the same time?  Is that what everybody remembered happening?
When else do palm branches show up?
Why do we shout Hosanna?
What other kinds of palms are there?
What happens to the prophets?

What are your queeries?

Palm Sunday year C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 19:28-40
²⁸Jesus went on ahead,

going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany,

at the place called the Mount of Olives,

Jesus sent two of the disciples,

³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you,

and as you enter it

you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden.

Untie it and bring it here.

³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’

just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent departed

and found it as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the colt,

its owners asked them,

“Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵Then they brought the colt to Jesus;

and after throwing their cloaks on the colt,

they set Jesus on it.

³⁶As Jesus rode along,

people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

³⁷As Jesus was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives,

the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully

with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,

³⁸saying,

“Blessed is the ruler who comes in the name of the Sovereign!

Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”

⁴⁰Jesus answered,

“I tell you, if these were silent,

the stones would shout out.”

Queeries for the text:
Of whom did Jesus go on ahead?
What else happens at the Mount of Olives?
Which two disciples?  What does it mean to be sent?
Why would the colt's owner let anybody walk away with it?
What condition was the road in?  What condition were the cloaks in?
Where are the palms?  Why cloaks?
For what do we praise God joyfully and with a loud voice?
What else was going on in Jerusalem?
What are stones shouting out today?

What are your queeries?

Lent 2 year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, and guest queerier, Jessica Davis, queery the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 15:1-12, [13-16], 17-18

Some time later, the word of the Becoming One came to Abram in a vision.
She said, “Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”
Then Abram said, “O Becoming God, what can You give me,

seeing that I shall die childless,

and the one in charge of my household is Dammesek Eliezer!”

Abram continued, “Since You have granted me no offspring,

my steward will be my heir.”

The word of the Becoming One came to him in reply,

“That one shall not be your heir;

none but your very own issue shall be your heir.”

She took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars,

if you are able to count them.”

Then She added, “So shall your offspring be.”
And because he put his trust in the Becoming One, She reckoned it to his merit.
Then She said to him, “I am the Becoming One who brought you out

from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.”

And he said, “O Becoming God, how shall I know that I am to possess it?”
She answered, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram,

a turtledove, and a young bird.”

He brought Her all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other;

but he did not cut up the bird.

Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark dread descended upon him.
[Then She said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring

shall be strangers  in a land not theirs, and

they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years;

but I will execute judgment on the nation

they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth.

As for you, You shall go to your ancestors in peace; You shall be buried

at a ripe old age.

And they shall return here in the fourth generation,

for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”]

When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven,

and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces.

On that day the Becoming One made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:..."

Queeries for the text:
Are the Becoming One and the Becoming God the same?
Who else is a steward? How do stewards exist today? What might justice look like for stewards?
What does it mean to count the stars?
What allows Abram to be so forward with demanding things of G-d?
How did Abram carry all the animals? Did he have a pickup truck?
Why was so much of the Becoming One's Covenant omitted from the pericope?
What does it mean for God to give humans land to possess? What does it mean to possess land?
Where did the smoking oven and flaming torch come from? What powers them?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 13:31-35
³¹At that very hour

some Pharisees came and said to Jesus,

“Get away from here,

for Herod wants to kill you.”

³²Jesus said to them,

“Go and tell that fox for me,

‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow,

and on the third day I finish my work.

³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way,

because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’

³⁴“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

the city that kills the prophets

and stones those who are sent to it!

How often have I desired to gather your children together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

and you were not willing!

³⁵See, your house is left to you.

And I tell you,

you will not see me until the time comes when you say,

‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Becoming One.’”

Queeries for the text:
At which hour?  Where was Herod?
Why were Pharisees warning Jesus?
Why would Jesus call Herod a fox?
Have prophets ever been killed outside Jerusalem?
Can Jesus the Hen actually protect the brood from a fox?
Who else is like a mother hen?
When will people say "Blessed is the one..."?  Why?
Why does Jesus leave the house to them?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Christmas 1 Year C

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

Tanakh: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Samuel was engaged in the service of the Becoming One as an attendant, girded with a linen ephod. Hir mother would also make a little robe for hir and bring it up to hir every year, when she made the pilgrimage with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and eir wife, and say, “May the Becoming One grant you offspring by this woman in place of the loan she made to the Becoming One.” Then they would return home.
Young Samuel, meanwhile, grew in esteem and favor both with God and with humans.

Queeries for the text:
What is missing from this text?
What does it mean to be an attendant?
What is an ephod?
What pilgrimages do we make today?
What does it mean to bless someone?
Where is home? What is home?
What does it mean to grow in esteem and favor?

-----

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

Gospel: Luke 2:41-52
⁴¹Now every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem

for the festival of the Passover.

⁴²And when Jesus was twelve years old,

they went up as usual for the festival.

⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return,

the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem,

but his parents did not know it.

⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers,

they went a day’s journey.

Then they started to look for Jesus among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵When they did not find Jesus,

they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

⁴⁶After three days they found Jesus in the temple,

sitting among the teachers,

listening to them

and asking them questions.

⁴⁷And all who heard Jesus were amazed

at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸When Jesus' parents saw him they were astonished;

and his mother said to him,

“Child, why have you treated us like this?

Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

⁴⁹Jesus said to them,

“Why were you searching for me?

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

⁵⁰But they did not understand what Jesus said to them.

⁵¹Then Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth,

and was obedient to them.

His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,

and in divine and human favor.

Queeries for the text:
How hard is it to get to Jerusalem every year for the Passover?
What were Mary and Joseph doing during the festival?
What system of family care-giving did Jesus grow up with?
Where did Jesus sleep after Mary and Joseph began to head home?
Why does everything happen after three days?
If Jesus was listening and asking questions, how could people be amazed at his answers?
Who is responsible for anxiety?
How often do we not understand Jesus?  Children?
When else did Mary treasure things in her heart?
What does it mean to increase in wisdom? years? divine favor? human favor?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 1 Year C - Jeremiah

This text was queeried by periodic queerier, River Needham

Tanakh - Jeremiah 33:14-16
See, days are coming—declares the Becoming One—when I will fulfill the promise that I made concerning the House of Israel and the House of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will raise up a true branch of David’s line, who shall do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah shall be delivered and Israel shall dwell secure. And this is what she shall be called: “The Becoming One is our Vindicator.”

Queeries for the text:
What is the context of this passage?
Where is the house of Israel/house of Judah?
What are we waiting for in this passage?
How do these promises come to be?
What does this text refer to in its original context?
What about modern day controversies?
What kind of tree is David's branch from?
What looks just and right in the land?
What is the Becoming One vindicating? What does it look or feel like?

What are your queeries?



If you want to check out the sermon that came in part from this queery, you can find it here!