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?

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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 Baptism of Jesus B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 1:1-5

When God began to form the heavens and the earth.
The earth, unformed and empty, with darkness over the surface of the deep, felt wind from God's breath blowing over the water. 

God said: Let there be light!
And there was light.

God saw the light was good, so She pulled the light apart from the dark and separated them. 

God called the light Day, and the darkness, She called Night. And there was evening and morning, a first day.

Queeries for the text:
When does God begin to form?
What does unformed and empty mean?
How are breath and wind different?
How is light formed?
Where is Day celebrated? What about the (longest) Night?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: Mark 1:4-11

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to John, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷John proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of this one's sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but the one to come will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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.”

Queeries for the text:

Where have I read some of this before?

What sins need to be confessed?

What happens after repentance?

What do we proclaim?

What do shoes have to do with anything?

What do heavens torn apart look like?

When else are divisions torn apart?

What has Jesus done to deserve divine pleasure?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying Epiphany B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 60:1-6

Get up, for your light has dawned; The Becoming One's essence has shined on you!
Look! Darkness shall cover the earth, the peoples will be covered with thick clouds; But upon you the Becoming One will shine, and Her presence be seen over you. Nations shall walk by your light, sovereigns, by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about: they have all gathered and come to you. Your sons shall be brought from afar, your daughters like babes on shoulders. As you behold, you will glow; your heart will throb and trill—for the wealth of the sea shall pass on to you, the riches of nations shall flow to you. Dust clouds of camels shall cover you, the camels of Midian and Ephah. They all shall come from Sheba; they shall bear gold and frankincense, and shall herald the glories of the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:

What is the light that has dawned?
How is it the Becoming One's essence?

When else did darkness cover the earth?

What do sons and daughters refer to?
What is the wealth of the sea?
Where is Sheba?

Who heralds the Becoming One today?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

 

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, witches from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born ruler of the Jewish people? For we observed their star at its rising, and have come to pay them homage.’ 

 

³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 

 

⁵They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
⁶ “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

7 Then Herod secretly called for the witches and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then Herod sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found her, bring me word so that I may also go and pay her homage.’ ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 

¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, the witches were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered the child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the witches left for their own country by another road.

Queeries for the text:

Who are the witches? What impact does gender have?

Why is Herod frightened?

Who are the religious leaders quoting?  What was it really about?

How do stars guide? When do stars move?

How old was Jesus when the witches arrived?

Why myrrh?

How do encounters change us? Our paths?

What happened next?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

 

Queerying 3rd after Epiphany A

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

Tanakh: Isaiah 9:1-4

The people that walked in darkness have seen a brilliant light; on those who dwelt in a land of gloom light has dawned.
You have magnified that nation, have given it great joy; they have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at reaping time, as they exult when dividing spoil.
For the yoke that they bore and the stick on their back— the rod of their taskmaster— you have broken as on the day of Midian. Truly, all the boots put on to stamp with and all the garments donned in infamy have been fed to the flames, devoured by fire.

Queeries for the text:
How is this text different if the first verse reads, "The people who walked in light have seen a calming darkness; on those who dwelt in a land of brightness, dusk and fallen?"
Does light exist without darkness?
How do you magnify a nation?
Who rejoices at reaping time?
When did the rod of their taskmasters get broken?
What garments were donned in infamy?
Why are the garments devoured by fire?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.


Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23

¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the reign of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Queeries for the text:
Why was John arrested?
Why would Jesus withdraw?
Where have I heard "Repent, for the reign of heaven has come near"?
How much does Jesus like the oppor-tuna-ty to cast out puns?
Why would anyone leave home and family?
How do you cure the sickness of white supremacy?
How do you cure the sickness of capitalism?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Christmas 2A

River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 31:7-14
 
For thus said the Becoming One: cry out in joy for Jacob, shout at the crossroads of the nations!
Sing aloud in praise and say: Save, O Becoming One, your people, the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them in from the northland, gather them from the ends of the earth —
   the blind and the lame among them, those with child and those in labor —
   in a vast throng they shall return here. They shall come with weeping,
and with compassion will I guide them. I will lead them to streams of water, by a level road
where they will not stumble. For I am ever a Parent to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.
Hear the word of the Becoming One, O nations, and tell it in the isles afar.
Say: The one who scattered Israel will gather them, and will guard them as a shepherd her flock.
For the Becoming One will ransom Jacob, redeem him from one too strong for him.
They shall come and shout on the heights of Zion, radiant over the bounty of the Becoming One —
over new grain and wine and oil, and over sheep and cattle. They shall fare like a watered garden,
they shall never languish again. Then shall maidens dance gaily, young and old alike.
I will turn their mourning to joy, I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief.
I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall enjoy my full bounty —
declares the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:
What is the crossroads of the nations?
Which remnant of Israel is Jeremiah talking about here?
How does the way we talk about people with disabilities matter?
Why are they weeping when they return?
Where else are Shepherds in the Prophets?
Where else does mourning turn to something joyful?
Why is fatness important? What connotations came with fatness?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 1:[1-9] 10-18

[¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The Word was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through Them, and without Them not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in the Word was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
  ⁶There was a person sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸John himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.]
  ¹⁰The true light was in the world, and the world came into being through Them; yet the world did not know Them. ¹¹The light came to what was Their own, and Their own people did not accept Them. ¹²But to all who received the light, who believed in Their name, the light gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
  ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen the glory of the Word, the glory as of a parent’s only child, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified to the Word and cried out, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks ahead of me because they were before me.’”) ¹⁶From the Word's fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Child, who is close to the Parent’s heart, who has made God known.

Queeries for the text:
Who is the Word?
How does Word become flesh?
What is true light?
What is the law?
How do we testify?

What are your queeries?