Queerying Narrative Lectionary 133

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary.

Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus spoke to his chosen family in parables, once more. He said, ²"The kin-dom of heaven could be described as a ruler who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent all of his slaves to call the guests who had been invited to attend. The guests would not come. ⁴Again, the ruler sent other slaves out, saying to them, 'Tell those who have been invited: Look, everything is prepared: for dinner, the oxen and best quality of my cows have been prepared. Everything is ready! Come to the wedding banquet.' ⁵But the invited guests couldn't be bothered. One went back to his farm, another to his business, ⁶while another guest decided to be extra and seized up the ruler's slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷The ruler was enraged. He sent his troops, killed the guests who had murdered his slaves and burned their city. ⁸The ruler said to his remaining slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those I originally invited were not worthy. ⁹Go then into the streets and invite everyone you can find to the wedding banquet.' ¹⁰The slaves went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, regardless of their character or worthiness, so that the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹"But when the ruler came in to see all the guests, he noticed that there was a man who was not wearing a wedding robe. ¹²The ruler said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And the man was silent. ¹³Then the king said to the guests, 'Bind this man's hands and feet so he cannot get free. Then throw him into the outer unknown, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' ¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen."

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
Why is the ruler such an asshole in this?
How has this text been used in antisemitic and supersessionist ways?
What does the heavenly banquet look like here and now?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 132

Rev. Emily E. Ewing and Pace Warfield-May queery the Narrative Lectionary.

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:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
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? Why did the landowner only respond to one of the workers?
What if no one was last or first?

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 131

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary.

Matthew 18:15-35
Jesus said: "If your sibling causes you harm, speak to them alone about it. If you are listened to, you have rebuilt that relationship. ¹⁶But if you are not listened to, take one or two along with you so that every word you say can be supported by your witnesses. ¹⁷If that person refuses to listen to you and your witnesses, tell it to the church. If that person refuses to listen even to that church, that relationship is broken and you should sever ties. ¹⁸I tell you the truth: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you let go on earth will be let go in heaven. ¹⁹Again, I tell you this truth: if two of you agree about everything you ask, it will be done for you by my Parent in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am truly present among you."

Then Peter came and asked Jesus, "Teacher, if my sibling causes me harm, how often should I forgive them? Seven times?" ²²Jesus responded, "Not seven times, but I'm telling you seventy-seven times. ²³For this reason the kin-gdom of heaven may be compared to a slave master who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he began the settling of accounts, the slave who owed him the equivalent of two hundred thousand days of labor was brought to him, ²⁵and, as he could not pay his master, the slave master ordered that slave to be sold together with his wife and children and all his possessions in order for the payment to be met. ²⁶So the slave prostrated himself before the master and said, 'Please, I beg of you, have patience with me. I will pay you everything I owe.' ²⁷And out of pity for him, the slave master released the debt that was owed. ²⁸But that same slave ran into one of his fellow slaves who owed him the equivalent of 100 days of work. He seized his fellow slave by the throat and said, 'Pay me all that you owe me.' ²⁹Then his fellow slave fell down and begged him, 'Please, have patience with me. I will pay you!' ³⁰But the first slave refused. Indeed, he threw the other slave in a prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹When the rest of the slaves heard about what happened they were very upset. They reported it to the slave master. ³²The slave master summoned the first slave back to him and said, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you that huge debt you owed me because I took pity on you when you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have shown your fellow slave mercy, the way I showed you mercy?' ³⁴The slave master in anger handed him to be tortured until he could pay back the entire debt he owed. ³⁵So it will be with my Parent in heaven if you do not truly forgive your siblings from your heart."

Queeries for the text
What is this text building on?
What was skipped? What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this headed?
How have passages like this been used to justify slavery?
When is it okay to not forgive?
What does true forgiveness look like?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Palm/Passion C

 Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 19:28-40
²⁸After Jesus had said this, he 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 Becoming One needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent departed and found it as Jesus had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They said, “The Becoming One needs it.” ³⁵Then they brought it 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 he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the chosen family 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 Becoming One! 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:
After Jesus had said what?
Why a colt that has never been ridden?
Where are the palms?
Who benefits from silence? 

-----

Gospel: Luke 21:37-22:16
³⁷Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. ³⁸And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.

22Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. ²The religious authorities were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. ³Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; ⁴he went away and conferred with the religious authorites and officers of the temple police about how he might betray Jesus to them. ⁵They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. ⁶So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them when no crowd was present.

⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.”

⁹They asked Jesus, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?”

¹⁰“Listen,” Jesus said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow them into the house they enter ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ ¹²The owner will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.”

¹³So they went and found everything as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. ¹⁴When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the chosen family with him. ¹⁵He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the dominion of God.”

Queeries for the text:
What else happens in the temple?
What is Passover? What isn't it?
Who colludes with police? How is Satan at work?
How is antisemitism at play?
What kind of man carries water?
Who prepares room for unknown strangers?
How is it fulfilled? How is it not?

What are your queeries?


  
 

Queerying Lent 4C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³So Jesus told them this parable:

[...]

^11b“There was a man who had two children. ¹²The younger of them said to their father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger gathered all they had and traveled to a distant country, and there they squandered their property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When they had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and they began to be in need. ¹⁵So they went and hired themself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent them to hir fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶They would gladly have filled themself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave them anything. ¹⁷But when they came to themself they said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ ²⁰So they set off and went to their father. But while they were still far off, their father saw them and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around them and kissed them. ²¹Then the child said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your child.’ ²²But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on them; put a ring on their finger and sandals on their feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this child of mine was dead and is alive again; they were lost and are found!’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his elder was in the field; and when they came and approached the house, they heard music and dancing. ²⁶The elder called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.

²⁷She replied, ‘Your sibling has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got them back safe and sound.’ ²⁸Then they became angry and refused to go in. Their father came out and began to plead with them.

²⁹But they answered their father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this child of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for them!’

³¹Then the father said to them, ‘Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this sibling of yours was dead and has come to life; they were lost and have been found.’”

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
What does the rest of the family think? The slaves? How do they feel?
How is property inherited?
Why did no one give the younger child anything?
Why was the younger child dead to the father?
How can a child work like a slave?
What does the elder actually know about the younger's activities? What is assumed?
What do sex workers do?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Lent 2C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 13:31-35
³¹At that very hour some religious authorities 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.’ ³⁴Jerusalem, 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 what very hour and where?
Why did Herod want to kill Jesus?
Why tell a fox? How do foxes respond?
What is impossible?
Who is killing today?
How does a hen gather her brood?
When do we say "blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Becoming One"?

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying Lent 1C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Jesus ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.

³The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Divine Child, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

⁵Then the devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the nations of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Becoming One your God, and serve only Them.’”

⁹Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Divine Child, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written, ‘They will command Their angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ¹¹and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

¹²Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Becoming One your God to the test.’”

¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.

Queeries for the text:
What happened at the Jordan?
How long is 40 days? 
Where is it written?
Who wants to rule?
Where is it written?
Where are these written?
Where is it written?
When is an opportune time?
Why test? 

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying Palm Sunday B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: Mark 11:1-11

When Jesus and the disciples were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of the disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Leader needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” 

 

⁴They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. ⁷Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna! 

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Becoming One! 

¹⁰Blessed is the coming dominion of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Queeries for the text:

What else happens near the Mount of Olives?

How do they know the colt has never been ridden?  

Can a colt actually support Jesus' weight?

When else are bystanders important?

What dominion was already in place? 

When and why else do marches happen?

Why did Jesus go to Bethany?  What happened next? 

What would a Holy Week soundtrack be?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Lent 5B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Look, the time will come, the Becoming One said, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, though I adopted them - says the Becoming One. But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after these days—declares the Becoming One: I will put my teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one another, “Heed the Becoming One”; for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall heed Me—declares the Becoming One. For I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. 

Queeries for the text:
What is a covenant?
What covenants are important today?
Where do Jewish People write God's teaching?
What does it mean to remember sin?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

 

Gospel: John 12:20-33 

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Mister, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Human One to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for everlasting life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Holy Parent will honor.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Holy Parent, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Holy Parent, glorify your name.” 

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Jesus.” 

³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 

Queeries for the text:

Which festival?

Who knew the game of telephone dated back to pre-electricity?

How does wheat grow?  How does it die?

What does it mean to hate?

Who has hope to be saved? Whose hour?

When has God glorified Zer name?

What does God sound like?

What did Jesus' drawing look like?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Lent 4B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Numbers 21:4-9
The Israelites set out from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds to skirt the land of Edom. But the people grew restless on the journey, and the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.” The Becoming One sent flying snakes against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died.

The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned by speaking against the Becoming One and against you. Intercede with the The Becoming One to take away the serpents from us!” Moses interceded for the people.

Then the Becoming One said to Moses, “Make a winged figure and mount it on a standard. If anyone who is bitten looks at it, she will recover.” Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when anyone was bitten by a serpent, she would look at the copper serpent and recover.

Queeries for the text:
Where do snakes fly?
What do we complain about? 

What is biting us today?

Who and where is God amidst the pandemic of flying snakes and coronaviruses?

Where is recovery?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

 

Gospel: John 3:14-21

Jesus said:

¹⁴“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the One Born of Woman be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in the One may have everlasting life. 

 

¹⁶“For God loved the world in this way: Ze gave Zers only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have everlasting life. 

 

¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in the Son are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

 

Queeries for the text:

Who is Jesus talking to?

How did Moses lift up the serpent? Why?

How does and doesn't grammar matter?

What is salvation like today?

Who is light?

What happens with too much light?

What do we hide? Why?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Lent 3B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: John 2:13-22

¹³The Passover of the Jewish people was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. Jesus also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 

 

¹⁷Jesus' disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 

 

¹⁸The Judeans then said to Jesus, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 

 

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

 

²⁰The Jude then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 

 

²¹But Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that Jesus had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

 

Queeries for the text:

Why is this so early in John's gospel?

How long does it take to make a whip of cords?

When is a sanctuary a marketplace?

Where is it written?

Which temple is Jesus talking about?

When was the Temple constructed?

How does memory spark belief?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

 

Queerying Lent 2B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: Mark 8:31-38

³¹Then Jesus began to teach them that the One Born of Woman must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²Jesus said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the One Born of Woman will also be ashamed when they come in the glory of their Father with the holy angels.”

Queeries for the text:

Who is the One Born of Woman?

Who are the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes today?

Who is killing Jesus today?

Who needs rebuke today?

What does it mean to deny myself?  What does it NOT mean?

Who's profiting from the whole world?

What do we give in return for our life? Who do we give in return for our life?

What is the role of shame?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Lent 1B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

 

Gospel: Mark 1:9-15

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. ¹³Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the reign of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Queeries for the text:

Where else are things torn?

How does the Spirit guide in the wilderness? How is the wilderness a gift?

How long does 40 days last?

Which wild beasts?

What did the night sky look like?

Who are the angels today? 

Why was John arrested?

For what do we repent?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Ash Wednesday

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17

“Blow a horn in Zion, sound an alarm on my holy mount! Let all dwellers on earth tremble, for the day of the Becoming One has come! It is close—a day of darkness and gloom, a day of densest cloud spread like soot over the hills. A vast, enormous horde — nothing like it has ever happened, and it shall never happen again through the years and ages. 

[...]

“Yet even now”—says the Becoming One— “Turn back to me with all your hearts, and with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.” Rend your hearts rather than your garments, and turn back to the Becoming One your God. For Ze is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment. Who knows but Ze may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind for meal offering and drink offering to the Becoming One your God? Blow a horn in Zion, solemnize a fast, proclaim an assembly! Gather the people, bid the congregation purify themselves. Bring together the old, gather the babes and breastfeeding children; let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, the bride from her canopied couch. Between the portico and the altar, let the priests, the Becoming One's ministers, weep and say: “Oh, spare Your people, Becoming One! Let not Your possession become a mockery, to be taunted by nations! Let not the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

Queeries for the text:

What is missing from this text?
What is the day of the Becoming One?

Who's getting married now?

How do we turn back our hearts?

What do we turn back our hearts from?

What methods are less helpful today?

What is the portico, and what does it do?

-----

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 Parent 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 Father 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 Father who is in secret; and your Father 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 Father who is in secret; and your Father 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:

What's missing?

What does it look like to practice piety

Who prays at street corners? What is their reward?

How is fasting helpful? Harmful?

What treasures are stored up?

Where do you want your heart to go?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

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?

Queerying Lent 2A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What are your queeries?

Good Friday year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

“Indeed, my servant shall prosper,

be exalted and raised to great heights.

Just as the many were appalled—

so marred was his appearance, unlike any form,

beyond human semblance

just so he shall startle many nations.

Kings shall be silenced because of him,

for they shall see what has not been told them,

shall behold what they never have heard.”

“Who can believe what we have heard?

Upon whom has the arm of the Becoming One been revealed?

For he has grown, by God's favor, like a tree crown,

like a tree trunk out of arid ground.

He had no form or beauty, that we should look at him:

no charm, that we should find him pleasing.

He was despised, shunned by all, a man of suffering, familiar with disease.

As one who hid his face from us, he was despised, we held him of no account.

Yet it was our sickness that he was bearing,

our suffering that he endured.

We accounted him plagued, smitten and afflicted by God;

but he was wounded from our sins,

crushed from our iniquities.

He bore the chastisement that made us whole,

by his bruises we were healed.

We all went astray like sheep, each going their own way;

the Becoming One visited upon him the guilt of all of us.”

He was maltreated, yet he was submissive, he did not open his mouth;

like a sheep being led to slaughter,

like a ewe, dumb before those who shear her,

he did not open his mouth.

By oppressive judgment he was taken away, who could describe his abode?

For he was cut off from the land of the living through the sin of people,

who deserved the punishment.

And his grave was set among the wicked,

and with the rich, in his death—

though he had done no injustice and had spoken no falsehood.

But the Becoming One chose to crush him by disease,

that, if he made himself an offering for guilt,

he might see offspring and have long life,

that through him the Becoming One's purpose might prosper.

Out of his anguish he shall see it;

he shall enjoy it to the full through his devotion.

“My righteous servant makes the many righteous,

it is their punishment that he bears.

Assuredly, I will give him the many as his portion,

he shall receive the multitude as his spoil.

For he exposed himself to death and was numbered among the sinners,

whereas he bore the guilt of the many and made intercession for sinners.”

Queeries for the text:
Who does this text talk about? When has or will this person come?
Who is speaking in this text? Does it matter?
Does this person fulfill a political role, a religious role, or something else entirely?
What kind of healing does Messiah bring?
What is the sin for which Messiah was hurt?
Are the Becoming One's actions justified? Why or Why not?
What kinds of atonement theory are in place in this text? How are they reconciled with belief in a just God?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading, broken into parts as they would be used for a tenebrae service.

Gospel: John 18:1-11
After Jesus had spoken these words,

he went out with his disciples

across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden,

which he and his disciples entered.

²Now Judas,

who betrayed Jesus,

also knew the place,

because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

³So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers

together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees,

and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

⁴Then Jesus,

knowing all that was to happen to him,

came forward and asked them,

“Whom are you looking for?”

⁵They answered,

“Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus replied,

“Here I AM.”

Judas, who betrayed Jesus,

was standing with them.

⁶When Jesus said to them, “Here I AM,”

they stepped back and fell to the ground.

⁷Again Jesus asked them,

“Whom are you looking for?”

And they said,

“Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁸Jesus answered,

“I told you that here I AM.

So if you are looking for me,

let these others go.”

⁹This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken,

“I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter,

who had a sword,

drew it,

struck the high priest’s slave,

and cut off his right ear.

The slave’s name was Malchus.

¹¹Jesus said to Peter,

“Put your sword back into its sheath.

Am I not to drink the cup that the Loving Parent has given me?”

Queeries for the text:
How are soldiers and police connected to religious folks?
What happened to Malchus' ear?  Why was Malchus there?

--

Gospel: John 18:12-27
¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Judean police

arrested Jesus and bound him.

¹³First they took Jesus to Annas,

who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,

the high priest that year.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the religious authorities

that it was better to have one person die for the people.

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.

Since that disciple was known to the high priest,

they went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,

¹⁶but Peter was standing outside at the gate.

So the other disciple,

who was known to the high priest,

went out,
spoke to the woman who guarded the gate,
and brought Peter in.

¹⁷The woman said to Peter,

“You are not also one of this man’s disciples,

are you?”

Peter said,

“I am not.”

¹⁸Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold,

and they were standing around it
and warming themselves.

Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus

about his disciples and about his teaching.

²⁰Jesus answered,

“I have spoken openly to the world;
I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple,

where all the Jewish people come together.

I have said nothing in secret.

²¹Why do you ask me?

Ask those who heard what I said to them;

they know what I said.”

²²When Jesus had said this,

one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying,

“Is that how you answer the high priest?”

²³Jesus answered,

“If I have spoken wrongly,

testify to the wrong.

But if I have spoken rightly,

why do you strike me?”

²⁴Then Annas sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.

Those gathered asked him,

“You are not also one of his disciples,

are you?”

Peter denied it and said,

“I am not.”

²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest,

a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off,

asked,

“Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

²⁷Again Peter denied it,

and at that moment the cock crowed.

Queeries for the text:
Which disciple knew the high priest?  How did they know Caiaphas?
How should police be treated?
Was Peter too cocky during dinner?

--

Gospel: John 18:28-40
²⁸Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters.

It was early in the morning.

They themselves did not enter the headquarters,

so as to avoid ritual defilement

and to be able to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said,

“What accusation do you bring against this one?”

³⁰They answered,

“If this man were not a criminal,

we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate said to them,

“Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”

The Judeans replied,

“We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”

³²(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said

when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters again,

summoned Jesus, and asked him,

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered,

“Do you ask this on your own,

or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵Pilate replied,

“I am not Jewish, am I?

Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.

What have you done?”

³⁶Jesus answered,

“My kingdom is not from this world.

If my kingdom were from this world,

my followers would be fighting

to keep me from being handed over to the Judeans.

But as it is,

my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷Pilate asked him,

“So you are a king?”

Jesus answered,

“You say that I am a king.

For this I was born,

and for this I came into the world,

to testify to the truth.

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸Pilate asked him,

“What is truth?”

After Pilate had said this,

he went out to the Judeans again and told them,

“I find no case against him.

³⁹But you have a custom

that I release someone for you at the Passover.

Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted in reply,

“Not this man,

but Barabbas!”

Now Barabbas was a terrorist.

Queeries for the text:
What is truth?
What does it mean to be called King (of the Jews)?
What kind of terrorists exist today?

--

Gospel: John 19:1-7
Then Pilate took Jesus

and had him flogged.
²And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns

and put it on his head,

and they dressed him in a purple robe.

³The soldiers kept coming up to Jesus, saying,

“Hail, King of the Jews!”

and striking him on the face.

⁴Pilate went out again and said to them,

“Look,

I am bringing him out to you

to let you know that I find no case against him.”

⁵So Jesus came out,

wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate said to them,

“Here is the one!”

⁶When the chief priests and the police saw Jesus,

they shouted,

“Crucify him!
Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them,

“Take him yourselves and crucify him;

I find no case against him.”

⁷The Judeans answered Pilate,

“We have a law,

and according to that law he ought to die

because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

Queeries for the text:
What's the difference between Son of God and child of God?
Why did Pilate have Jesus beaten and mocked when found no case against him? Who is beaten and mocked today?
Where were the rest of the people?

--

Gospel: John 19:8-16a
⁸Now when Pilate heard this,

he was more afraid than ever.

⁹Pilate entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus,

“Where are you from?”

But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰Pilate therefore said to him,

“Do you refuse to speak to me?

Do you not know that I have power to release you,
and power to crucify you?”

¹¹Jesus answered Pilate,

“You would have no power over me

unless it had been given you from above;

therefore the one who handed me over to you

is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus,

but the Judeans cried out,

“If you release this man,

you are no friend of the emperor.

Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

¹³When Pilate heard these words,

he brought Jesus outside
and sat on the judge’s bench

at a place called The Stone Pavement,

or in Hebrew Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover;

and it was about noon.

Pilate said to the Judeans,

“Here is your King!”

¹⁵They cried out,

“Away with him! Away with him!
Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them,

“Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered,

“We have no king but the emperor.”

¹⁶Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Queeries for the text:
What power do we think we have?  Who actually hands Jesus over?
Who is "King" for "Christians"?  What about those who claim to be Queens?

--

Gospel: John 19:16b-22
So they took Jesus;

¹⁷and carrying the cross by himself,

Jesus went out to what is called The Place of the Skull,

which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified Jesus,

and with him two others,

one on either side,

with Jesus between them.

¹⁹Pilate also had an inscription written
and put on the cross.

It read,

“Jesus of Nazareth,

the King of the Jews.”

²⁰Many of the Judeans read this inscription,

because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;

and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,

“Do not write,

‘The King of the Jews,’

but, ‘This man said,

I am King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate answered,

“What I have written I have written.”

Queeries for the text:
How does the Hebrew matter?
Why was the place for the crucifixion of Jesus near the city?
What is the authority of the written word?

--

Gospel: John 19:23-30
²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,

they took his clothes and divided them into four parts,

one for each soldier.

They also took his tunic;

now the tunic was seamless,

woven in one piece from the top.

²⁴So they said to one another,

“Let us not tear it,

but cast lots for it to see who will get it.”

This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,

and for my clothing they cast lots.”

²⁵And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile,

standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother,
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother
and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her,

he said to his mother,

“Woman, here is your son.”

²⁷Then he said to the disciple,

“Here is your mother.”

And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

²⁸After this,

when Jesus knew that all was now finished,

he said (in order to fulfill the scripture),

“I am thirsty.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there.

So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop
and held it to his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus had received the wine, he said,

“It is finished.”

Then Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Queeries for the text:
How have soldiers divided bounty since then?  With what did the soldiers leave Jesus on the cross?
Where's the rest of Jesus' family?  Siblings?
What is finished? What did Jesus give up?

--

Gospel: John 19:31-42
³¹Since it was the day of Preparation,

the Judeans did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath,

especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity.

So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken

and the bodies removed.

³²Then the soldiers came

and broke the legs of the first
and of the other who had been crucified with him.

³³But when they came to Jesus
and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs.

³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear,

and at once blood and water came out.

³⁵(The one who saw this has testified

so that you also may believe.

This one's testimony is true,

and they know that they tell the truth.)

³⁶These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled,

“None of his bones shall be broken.”

³⁷And again another passage of scripture says,

“They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

³⁸After these things,

Joseph of Arimathea,

who was a disciple of Jesus,

though a secret one because of his fear of the Judeans,

asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.

Pilate gave him permission;

so Joseph came and removed Jesus' body.

³⁹Nicodemus,

who had at first come to Jesus by night,

also came,

bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,

weighing about a hundred pounds.

⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus

and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths,

according to the Jewish burial custom.

⁴¹Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified,

and in the garden there was a new tomb

in which no one had ever been laid.

⁴²And so,

because it was the Jewish day of Preparation,
and the tomb was nearby,

they laid Jesus there.

Queeries for the text:
Why was that sabbath so solemn?
How can you be a secret disciple? How much did Nicodemus' myrrh and aloe cost?!
Does it matter if the tomb had been used?  Was it a tomb of convenience?

What are your queeries?