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 Narrative Lectionary 130

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary.

Matthew 18:1-9
Shortly after the transfiguration on the mountain top, the twelve chosen family members came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the G.O.A.T.–greatest of all time–in the kin-dom of heaven?" ²Jesus called out to a nearby child and brought the child among the chosen family ³ and said, "I tell you the truth: unless you transform and become like children, you will never enter the kin-dom of heaven. ⁴Whoever humbles themselves to be like this child is the G.O.A.T. in the kin-dom of heaven. ⁵Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name welcomes me.

⁶If any among you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to miss the mark, it would be better if you had a great stone chained to your neck and you were thrown into the depths of the sea to drown! ⁷Woe to the world for all the systems that create and cause sin! These things are always going to come, but woe to the one and the systems through whom they come! ⁸If your hand or your foot or any other appendage causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter enter life without that appendage than for you to have all your appendages and be thrown into the never ending fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, rip it out and throw it away; it is better for you to be missing that eye than for you to have both eyes and be thrown into the hell of never ending fire."

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
What is disability theology?
How can we help protect children?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 119

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Matthew 1:1-17
¹The family tree of Jesus the Anointed One, the descendent of David and Bathsheeba, and of Abraham and Sarah.

²Abraham and Sarah were the parents of Isaac, and Isaac and Rebecca the parents of Jacob, and Jacob and his wives the parents of Judah and his siblings, ³and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, ⁴and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶and Jesse the father of King David.

And David and Bathsheba were the parents Solomon, ⁷and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, ⁸and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, ⁹and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, ¹¹and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his siblings, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is called the Anointed One.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham and Sarah to David and Bathsheeba are fourteen generations; and from David and Bathsheeba to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of the Anointed One, fourteen generations.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
What is skipped over?
Who are the women named in the genealogy? Why are so few named?
What is the importance of genealogy and ancestry?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Christmas Eve and Narrative Lectionaries 117 and 118

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative and Revised Common Lectionary Gospel.

Luke 2:1-14[15–20]; Luke 2:8-20
¹Emperor Augustus Caesar, known as Octavian (who reigned from 27 BCE-14 CE) made a decree throughout the entire Roman empire that everyone should be counted in a census. ²This was the first census that was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria (Quirinius was governor from 6-12CE). ³All people throughout Judea went to their towns to be registered for the census. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went there to be registered with his fiancee, Mary, who was pregnant. ⁶While in Bethlehem it came time for her to give birth to the child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in blankets and laid him in a feeding trough as there was no place for them in the upper dwelling of the family home.

⁸As Bethlehem was rural, it was surrounded by fields where shepherds would keep watch over their flock by night. ⁹An angel of the Becoming One suddenly stood before these shepherds, and the glory of the Becoming One shone brightly around them. The shepherds were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid. Look! I'm bringing you great news of abundant joy for you and for everyone! ¹¹Born today in the city of David is the Anointed One, the Savior, a Master and Teacher for us all. ¹²This is the sign for you to know the child when you see him: you will find an infant wrapped in blankets lying in a feeding trough." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel the entire multitude of the heavenly army, praising God/ess and singing,

¹⁴"Glory to God/ess throughout the cosmos,

and to all inhabitants on the planet Earth, peace for God/ess favors you!"

¹⁵When the angels had left them and returned to the ether, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Becoming One has made known to us." ¹⁶So they quickly went into the town and found Mary, Joseph, and the infant lying in the feeding trough. ¹⁷When they saw this, they told Mary, Joseph, and everyone they encountered what had been told to them about the infant. ¹⁸All who heard the news were amazed at what the shepherds had told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them deeply in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned to the fields, glorifying, singing, and praising God/ess for all they had experienced, as it had been told to them.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
How are censuses used for harm? How are they used for good?
How is God's glory experienced throughout the cosmos?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 4A and Narrative Lectionary 116

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative and Revised Common Lectionary Gospel.

Matthew 1:18-25
¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus, the Anointed One, took place in this way: when Jesus' mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, she was found to be with child (from the Holy Spirit). This was before they lived together or had sexual relations. ¹⁹Mary's husband, Joseph, was self-righteous and unwilling to expose himself or Mary to public disgrace, so he decided to break off the engagement quietly. ²⁰But just as he had decided to do this on his own, an angel of the Becoming One appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, scion to David, do not be afraid. Take Mary as your wife, for the fetus within her was conceived through the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you both are to name him Jesus, from the Hebrew Yehoshua for God saves, for he will save his people from their sins." ²²All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Becoming One through the prophet Isaiah:

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel (from the Hebrew for God is with us)."

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Becoming One had commanded him to do: he married Mary, ²⁵but he did not have sex with her until she gave birth to the promised son, and they named him Jesus.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying Narrative Lectionary text?
Where is this headed?
How is Matthew using or misusing the Isaiah quote?
What is the importance of names?
What do dreams mean for us?
What was wrong with Joseph's 'righteous' plan?
How do you experience the promise that God is with us?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 115

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Isaiah 42:1-9
¹Yo, look! It's my servant that I hand picked!

My chosen servant, in whom I find deep joy;

I have put my spirit upon her;

She will inspire and bring justice to all nations.

²She will not cry out or shout

Or try to call attention to herself in the streets!

³She will not even break a twig that's barely hanging on to the branch,

and she will not put out even the faintest flame on the wick:

She will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴But neither will she grow faint or be crushed

until she has established justice in all corners of the earth;

and the coastal areas will wait upon her teaching.

⁵Thus says God/ess, the Becoming One,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

⁶I am the Becoming One, I have called you in righteousness;

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as an unfailing, everlasting promise to the people,

a lighthouse for all nations to sail and navigate safely by,

⁷to bring wholeness and healing to those broken or in need,

to set the prisoners free, just and unjustly imprisoned alike,

for all prisons are unholy and broken.

⁸I am the Becoming One, that is my name;

my glory is mine alone,

no idols deserve the praise belonging to me.

⁹See, the old ways have died,

"a new, more glorious dawn awaits,"

before the sun rises on this dawn,

I am telling you of the wonderful things to come.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this headed?
What does a "new, more glorious dawn" entail?
Who is the suffering servant?
What needs to die in order to give birth to new life?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 114

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Esther 4:1-17
¹When Mordecai learned all that had been done--King Xerxes and the noble person Hamman had decided to kill the Jewish people because Mordecai, who was Jewish himself, was not paying appropriate tribute to Hamman--Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, as you do, and went through the city, crying, wailing, and weeping bitterly. ²He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate half naked like he was, donned only in his sackcloth ³In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree about sending the Jewish people to death came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴Esther's handmaidens and castrated servants came and told her what was going on with Mordecai half naked outside the gate. The queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth and be able to enter the king's gate; but he would not accept them. ⁵Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s castrated servants who had been appointed to serve her, and Esther ordered them to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why. ⁶Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, ⁷and Mordecai told them all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jewish people. ⁸Mordecai also gave them a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jewish people so that Hathach might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and hopefully get him to change his mind on behalf of her people.

⁹Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathach and told them to reply to Mordecai with the following: ¹¹"Everyone knows, from the king's slaves to the nobility, that if anyone goes to the king inside the inner court without being summoned by him, there is but one law—all are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come into the king's chamber for a month." ¹²When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, ¹³Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Even in the king's palace and as his wife, don't think you will have a better chance of escaping his genocide than the rest of the Jewish people. ¹⁴For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will still rise up for the Jews from another path, but you and your extended family will still perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come into your place as queen in the palace for just such a time as this." ¹⁵Then Esther replied to Mordecai, ¹⁶"Go, gather all the Jewish people to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf. Do not eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my servants will also fast as you do. After those three days have passed, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law; and if I am murdered, I am murdered. So be it." ¹⁷Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had requested of him.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this text headed?
Who was Esther?
What are different models of leadership? What makes a good leader?
How can you be an ally to a marginalized and/or oppressed group with your power?
What is genocide?
What can you do in such a time as this?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narative Lectionary 113

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Habakkuk 1:1-7; 2:1-4; 3:[3b-6], 17-19
^1:1The message that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

Habakkuk's request to God:
²Hey Becoming One, how long shall I beg for help,

and you won't listen to me?

Or like cry out to you "Look at this violence!"

and you will not bring salvation?

³Why do you make me see all these awful things, all this suffering

and make me look at trouble?

Destruction, devastation, and violence are all before me;

turmoil, violent divisions, keep arising.

⁴So the laws meant to protect people are ignored

and justice never prevails.

The wicked, the oppressors, the evil surround the righteous–

therefore judgment, what little there is, comes forth broken and incomplete.

God's response to the prophet:
⁵Look at all of the nations and see what is happening!

Be astonished! Be astounded!

For a work is being done right now in your very lifetime

that you would not believe is happening even if you were told.

⁶For I am rousing the Chaldeans from their slumber,

that fierce and anxious nation,

who march through the entirety of the known earth

to seize and colonize lands that are not their own.

⁷Indeed, they bring dread and fear wherever they go;

they put the law into their own hands and bring honor only to themselves.

[…]

Habakkuk responded:
^2:1I will stand at my watch-post,

and keep watch on the ramparts;

I will keep watch to see what Shee will say to me,

and what She will answer concerning my complaint.

²Then the Becoming One answered me and said:
Write this vision down,

meme-ify it and post it to the socials

so that anyone even scrolling through their feeds will be able to read it.

³For there is still a vision for the time to come that I have appointed

it speaks of the end of all things and it does not lie.

Even if it seems like the appointed time is forever away, wait for it anyway;

it will surely come, I promise. It will not be delayed.

⁴Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right within them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

[…]

[^3:3bGod's glory covered the cosmos,

and the ground beneath us was full of Her praise.

⁴The brightness was so bright, it was like the surface of the sun;

rays of sunlight came forth from the Becoming One's hand,

where Her power lay hidden behind the light.

⁵Before the Becoming One went out a plague,

and in Her footsteps was left a pandemic.

⁶She stopped and Her stopping shook the entire earth;

with one look all the peoples of all the nations trembled in fear.

The tallest mountains were shattered;

along the ancient pathways,

the everlasting hills sank to the ground.]

[…]

¹⁷Though the fig tree is not in bloom,

and there are no fruit on the vines;

though the olive trees aren't bringing forth olives

and the fields aren't giving forth food;

though the flock appears lost and cut off from the herd

and there are no animals in the stalls,

¹⁸I will still rejoice in the Becoming one;

I will find joy in the God/ess of my salvation.

¹⁹God/ess, the Becoming One, is my strength;

She makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

and allows me to tread upon the cliffs with no fear of falling.

To the leader: with stringed instruments.

Queeries for the text: What is this building on?
What is missing from this passage?
What is the companion text?
Where is this headed?
What does it mean to put the law into your own hands?
How does one watch and wait for the divine?
Why does a pandemic follow in the footsteps of the divine?
How bright is the light of the sun?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 111

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary readings.

Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; then Isaiah 2:1-4
^36:1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria rose up against all the defended cities of Judah and captured them all. ²The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish with a massive army to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stood waiting by an entry to the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ³And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, all came out to him.

[…]

¹³Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, ‘Hear the words of the great king of Assyria! ¹⁴Thus says the king: “Do not let your lowly King Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the Becoming One by saying, The Becoming One will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁵Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will be free to eat the fruits of your labor and till your own land and drink your own water, ¹⁷until I colonize your land and take you instead to a land like your own land, but my land, but do not worry, it will still be abundant in fruit and fields and water. ¹⁸Do not let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, the Becoming One will save us. Have any of the gods of the other nations I've colonized saved their land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰Who among all the gods of these countries have saved their countries and kept them out of my hand, that the Becoming One you worship should save Jerusalem out of my hand?”’

[…]

^37:1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Becoming One, (which was a thing people apparently did in this time period to show humility before the Becoming One, like, this wasn't just Hezekiah having strange vibes). And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them covered with their matching sackcloth aesthetic, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ³They said to him, ‘Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children are about to be born, and yet there is no strength leftover to raise them. ⁴It may be that the Becoming One the Divine heard the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Becoming One the Divine has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’
⁵When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶Isaiah said to them, ‘Say to your master, “Thus says the Becoming One: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷I myself will put a defeating spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and while there, I will cause him to be taken out by the sword in his own land.”’

[--]

^2:1The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In the days to come

the mountain of the Becoming One's house

shall be made to be the highest of all the mountains

and shall be raised above the hills,

and all the nations shall be like a river running toward it.

³Many people will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Becoming One,

to the house of the God of Jacob, Rebecca, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah,

that Xe may teach us Xyr ways

and that we may journey along Xyr paths."

For the law shall flow out from Zion,

and the word of the Becoming One shall pour out from Jerusalem.

⁴The Divine shall judge between the nations,

and provide guidance between people for all disputes;

all people will beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation will no longer fight against nation,

and nations will learn war no more.

Queeries for the text:
What is this building on? What is missing from this passage? Why was it left out and why the strange ordering?
What is the companion text?
Where is this headed?
What does it mean for children to be born with no strength left to raise them?
How is water important for the future of Zion?
What would a future without war look like?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 107

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary readings.

2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27; 12:1-9
¹Kings often went out to battle in the spring, so King David sent Joab with his officers and all of Israel to ravage the Ammonites and besiege Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem while his army went off to fight his battles. ²Late one spring afternoon, David rose from his settee and went for a walk on the roof of the palace. While on the roof he saw a woman bathing and thought she was very beautiful. ³David sent someone to find the identity of the woman. The person reported, "This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite." ⁴So David sent messengers to bring her to him, and she came to him, and he raped her while she was in the stage of purifying herself after menstruation. Then she returned to her house. ⁵Bathsheba conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant."

[…]

²⁶When Bathsheba heard Uriah, her husband, was dead, she grieved for him. ²⁷When the official period of mourning was over, David sent and brought Bathsheba to his house and married her. She gave birth to a son.

But the Becoming One saw what David had done to Bathsheba and became upset, ^12:1and the Becoming One sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan came to him and said, "There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had many herds of animals and many sheep, ³but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of the meager food he could provide and drink from his cup, and lie in his house, and the ewe was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now a traveler came to the rich man. The rich man didn't want to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, so he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him." ⁵David became greatly angered against the man in the story. He said to Nathan, "As the Becoming One lives, the rich man who has done this deserves to die; ⁶he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."

⁷Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Becoming One, the God/ess of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; ⁸I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your heart, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if all of that had still been too little, I would have added as much more. ⁹Why have you despised the word of the Becoming One, to do what is evil in my sight? You have purposefully caused Uriah the Hittite to be struck down with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

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Psalm 51:1-9

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had raped Bathsheba.

¹Have mercy on me, O divine one,

as your love is steadfast

and your mercy overflows in abundance

erase the harm I've done.

²Bathe me so that my inequity may be washed away,

and cleanse me from the harm I've done.

³For I know my transgressions,

and my harm is ever before me.

⁴Against you, you alone, have I caused harm,

and I have done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are justified in your punishment

and without blame when you pass judgment on me.

⁵Indeed, I was born guilty,

a sinner when my mother conceived me.

⁶You long for a truthful heart,

so teach me wisdom in my deepest, most secret part of me.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

Look away from the harm I've done,

and erase my inequities.

Queeries for the text:
What is this building on?
What is missing from this passage? Why was it left out?
What is the companion text?
Where is this headed?
Who has agency in this story?
What makes sex consensual?
Who did David commit sin against?
What is holy about blackness? What is sinful about whiteness?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 106

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Joshua 24:1-15
Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders and commanders, magistrates and officers; and they presented themselves before God. Then Joshua said to all the people, “Thus said the Becoming One, the God of Israel: In past times, your ancestors—Terah, father of Abraham and father of Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan and multiplied his offspring. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with the wonders that I wrought in their midst, after which I freed you— I freed your ancestors—from Egypt, and you came to the sea. But the Egyptians pursued your ancestors to the Sea of Reeds with chariots and horses. Your ancestors cried out to the Becoming One, and Xe put darkness between you and the Egyptians; then Xe brought the sea upon the Egyptians, and it covered them. Your own eyes saw what I did to the Egyptians.

“After you had lived a long time in the wilderness, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They battled you, but I delivered them into your hands; I annihilated them for you, and you took possession of their land. Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, made preparations to attack Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you, but I refused to listen to Balaam; he had to bless you, and thus I saved you from him.

“Then you crossed the Jordan and you came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho and the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought you, but I delivered them into your hands. I sent a plague ahead of you, and it drove them out before you just like the two Amorite kings—not by your sword or by your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labor and towns which you did not build, and you have settled in them; you are enjoying vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.

“Now, therefore, revere the Becoming One and serve Xyr with undivided loyalty; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the Becoming One. Or, if you are loath to serve the Becoming One, choose this day which ones you are going to serve—the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or those of the Amorites in whose land you are settled; but I and my household will serve the Becoming One.”

Queeries for the text:
What is this building on?
What is the companion text?
Where is this headed?
Who is missing from this text?
Who are the other gods that we serve?
How is darkness holy?
What does it mean to annihilate a people?
What must be done with the land stolen by God?
Where are other gods treated more favorably?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative Lectionary 105

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

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

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

[…]

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

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

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative 102

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Genesis 12:1-9
Now the Becoming One said to Abram, “Go from your country and your people and your parent's house to the land that I will show you. ²I will make a great nation out of your descendants, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

⁴So Abram went up and left as the Becoming One told him to, and his nephew Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the slaves they had stolen from their families in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were native to the land and called it their home. ⁷Then the Becoming One appeared to Abram and said, “Let's make this destiny manifest–I'll just rob this land from their people and give it to your offspring.” Abram built there an altar to the Becoming One, who had appeared to him. ⁸From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and made camp, between Bethel and Ai, and there he built an altar to the Becoming One, calling out Xyrs name. ⁹And Abram continued on his journey slowly toward the Negeb.

Queeries for the text:
What is this passage building on?
What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this headed?
Why would God give Abram an already occupied land?
Who else has used the image of God gifting occupied land for their own benefit?
What does it mean to be heirs of a stolen land?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative 101

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17
^6:5The Becoming One saw that evil had infected humankind's hearts, ever increasing as it forced wickedness against other humans and the earth. ⁶And the Becoming One became remorseful that Xe had created humanity on the earth, and Xe grieved this in Xyrs heart. ⁷So the Becoming One said, "I will blot out from the earth the humans I have created–people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air–for I am bitterly hurt that I made them." ⁸But Noah found favor in the sight of the Becoming One.

⁹These are the offspring of Noah. Noah was righteous, blameless among his generation of wicked humans; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹Now the earth was polluted in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw that the earth was corrupt, for all humankind had polluted its ways upon the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end to all living things, for the earth is filled with violence and pollution because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof for the ark and finish it to a cubit above, and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷For my part, I am going to bring a great flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under the sky all living things in which is my breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be a reproducing pair. ²⁰Of the bird according to their kinds and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in with you, to keep them alive. ²¹Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up, and it shall serve as food for you and for them." ²²Noah did all this; he did all that God commanded him.

[…]

^8:6At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷and sent out a raven, and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸Then Noah sent out the dove to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground, ⁹but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to Noah to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. ¹⁰Noah waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark, ¹¹and the dove came back to him in the evening and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹²Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove, and it did not return to him anymore.

[…]

^9:8Then God said to Noah and to his family with him, ⁹"As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰not just with the humans, but with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall I destroy all living things by waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the entire earth." ¹²God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature, for all generations: ¹³I have set my weapon, a bow, down upon the clouds over the earth and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and all the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and all living creatures, and the waters shall never become a great flood that destroys all life. ¹⁶When my weapon, the bow, is laid to rest in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all kinds that is on the earth." ¹⁷God finished speaking to Noah, saying, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all living things upon the earth."

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this headed?
Why didn't Noah argue back against God?
What ways do floods harm the environment and humans?
How are humans wicked against the earth today?
What else does a rainbow symbolize?

What are your queeries?

Noah’s Ark
Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César, Kingdom of Jerusalem (Acre) before 1291
British Library, Additional 15268, fol. 7v