Queerying 12th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Hear the word of the Becoming One, O House of Jacob, Every clan of the House of Israel!

Thus said the Becoming One: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they abandoned me and went after delusion and were deluded?

They never asked themselves, “Where is the Becoming One, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land no human had traversed, where no human being had dwelt?”

I brought you to this country of farmland to enjoy its fruit and its bounty; but you came and defiled my land, you made my possession abhorrent. The priests never asked themselves, “Where is the Becoming One?” The guardians of the teaching ignored me; the rulers rebelled against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed what can do no good.

Oh, I will go on accusing you —declares the Becoming One— And I will accuse your children’s children! Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look, send to Kedar and observe carefully; see if anything like this has ever happened: has any nation changed its gods even though they are not gods? But my people have exchanged their glory for what can do no good. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be horrified, utterly dazed! —says the Becoming One.

For my people have done a twofold wrong: they have forsaken me, the fount of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, which cannot even hold water.

Queeries for the text:
Why does God make this announcement?
Who is the voice of God?
How does the Becoming One deal with abandonment?
Where is the land no human had traversed and no human had dwelt?
How does land become defiled?
Who was Baal?
Why is the Becoming One accusing and commanding the heavens to be horrified?
How does the Becoming One justify Hir anger?
What is a cistern?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
On one occasion
when Jesus was going to the house

of a leader of the Pharisees
to eat a meal on the sabbath,

they were watching him closely.

⁷When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor,

he told them a parable.
⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,

do not sit down at the place of honor,

in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host;

⁹and the host who invited both of you

may come and say to you,

‘Give this person your place,’

and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.

¹⁰But when you are invited,

go and sit down at the lowest place,

so that when your host comes,

your host may say to you,

‘Friend, move up higher’;

then you will be honored

in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.

¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,

and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹²Jesus said also to the one who had invited him,

“When you give a luncheon or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors,

in case they may invite you in return,

and you would be repaid.

¹³But when you give a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

¹⁴And you will be blessed,

because they cannot repay you,

for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?  What's missing?
How often did Jesus eat with Pharisees?
Who were watching Jesus closely?
How was honor important?
How do we exalt ourselves?
How are relationships transactional?
Are the categories as simple as Jesus claims?  Is Jesus creating a false binary?
Is this a parable or advice?  How has Jesus' advice caused harm to poor and/or disabled people?
What about upward mobility?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 8th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Hosea 11:1-11
God Said:
I fell in love with Israel when he was still a child; I have called him my son ever since Egypt. Thus were they called, but they went their own way; they sacrifice to Ba'als and offer to carved images. I have pampered Ephraim, taking them in my arms; but they have ignored my healing care. I drew them with human ties, with cords of love; but I seemed to them as one who imposed a yoke on their jaws, though I was offering them food. No! They return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria is their king. Because they refuse to repent, a sword shall descend upon their towns and consume their limbs and devour them because of their designs. For my people persists in its defection from me; when it is summoned upward, it does not rise at all. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah, render you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart, all my tenderness is stirred. I will not act on my wrath, will not turn to destroy Ephraim. For I am God, not human, the Holy One in your midst: I will not come in fury. The Becoming One will roar like a lion, and they shall march behind Hir; when Ze roars, Hir children shall come fluttering out of the west. They shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows, from the land of Assyria like doves; and I will settle them in their homes —declares the Becoming One

Queeries for the text:
Where else is God jealous?
What do we know about jealousy today?
How do religious expression and intimate partner violence interact?
Who can you turn to if you are experiencing intimate partner violence?
What happened to Admah and Zeboiim?
What cycle stages are happening toward the end of the passage?
What flutters?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
¹³Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But Jesus said to them,

“Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to the crowd,

“Take care!

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;

for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶Then Jesus told them a parable:

“The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
¹⁷And he thought to himself,

‘What should I do,

for I have no place to store my crops?’

¹⁸Then the rich man said,

‘I will do this:

I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,

and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul,

‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years;

relax, eat, drink, be merry.’

²⁰But God said to the rich man,

‘You fool!
This very night your life is being demanded of you.

And the things you have prepared,

whose will they be?’

²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves

but are not rich toward God.”

Queeries for the text:
Why would(n't) a sibling share the inheritance?
When do we set the wrong people up to be judge?
How many kinds of greed are there?
Why is it "his crops" when the land is the one to produce?
Is a famine coming?  Is the rich man planning for climate change?
Why does size matter to the rich man?  Is bigger actually better?
Can goods last for many years?
Why is the rich man talking to his own soul?  Is he Voldemort?
What is demanding his life?
Where do our treasures go?


What are your queeries?

Queerying 6th after Epiphany year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus says the Becoming One:

Cursed is the one that trusts in a human,

and makes flesh their arm,

and whose heart departs from the Becoming One.

For they shall be like a tamarisk in the desert,

and shall not see when good comes;

but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,

a salt land and not inhabited.

Blessed is the one that trusts in the Becoming One,

and whose trust the Becoming One is.

For they shall be as a tree planted by the waters,

that spreads out its roots by the river,

that shall not see when heat comes,

and its foliage will be luxurious;

it shall not be anxious in the year of drought,

Neither will it cease from yielding fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and it is exceedingly weak—who can know it?

I the Becoming One search the heart,

I try the reins,

even to give every one according to their ways,

according to the fruit of their doings.

Queeries for the text:
What does it mean to be cursed? What curses follow us today?
Is the text pointing back to Judges? Does Hosea point back here? What do our hearts lust after today?
What is a tamarisk? Does it show up elsewhere in the Tanakh?
Is good a person? How does good come?
What is a blessing? Who is blessed? How many are there?
What is luxurious foilage? How could we reinterpret this metaphor for today?
How is the heart weak and deceitful?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 6:17-26
¹⁷Jesus came down with the twelve

and stood on a level place,

with a great crowd of his disciples

and a great multitude of people

from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁸They had come to hear Jesus

and to be healed of their diseases;

and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

¹⁹And all in the crowd were trying to touch Jesus,

for power came out from him and healed all of them.

²⁰Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the dominion of God.

²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.

“Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when people hate you,

and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you

on account of the Human One.

²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,

for surely your reward is great in heaven;

for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

²⁴“But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

²⁵“Woe to you who are full now,

for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you who are laughing now,

for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you,

for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."

Queeries for the text:
Where did Jesus come down from?
How does power come out from a person to heal?
Who are poor?  Hungry?
Who weeps?
Who is hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed?
What do our ancestors do to the prophets?
Who are rich?  Full?  Laughing?
How do we speak well?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 2nd after Epiphany

This week, we're dedicating Queerying The Text to the memory of the Rev. Gordon Straw. Rev. Straw, an enrolled member of the Brothertown Indian Nation and an ever-growing force in Lutheran theological education, influenced both of us: Emily as a mentor and colleague and River as a professor and trusted mentor. You might notice Rev. Straw's influence flowing through our Queeries this week.

-Emily and River

-----

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

Tanakh: Isaiah 62:1-5
For the sake of Zion I will not be silent,

for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still,

till her victory emerge resplendent and her triumph like a flaming torch.

Nations shall see your victory, and every ruler your majesty;

and you shall be called by a new name

which the Becoming One herself shall bestow.

You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Becoming One,

and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

Nevermore shall you be called “Forsaken,”

Nor shall your land be called “Desolate”;

But you shall be called “I delight in her,”

and your land “Espoused.”

For the Becoming One takes delight in you, and your land shall be espoused.

As a youth espouses a maiden, your sons shall espouse you;

and as a bridegroom rejoices over their bride,

so will your God rejoice over you.

Queeries for the text:
Who is Jerusalem fighting?
Where else might we use flaming torches today?  How are flaming torches harmful?
Which nations are treated unfairly today?
How are new names important?
What is a diadem?
Who is desolate, or has been forsaken? How does God delight in them?

-----

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

Gospel: John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,

and the mother of Jesus was there.

²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

³When the wine gave out,

the mother of Jesus said to him,

“They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus said to her,

“Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?

My hour has not yet come.”

⁵Jesus' mother said to the servants,

“Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars

for the Jewish rites of purification,

each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷Jesus said to the servants,

“Fill the jars with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸Jesus said to them,

“Now draw some out,

and take it to the chief steward.”

So they took it.

⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine,

and did not know where it came from

(though the servants who had drawn the water knew),

the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him,

“Everyone serves the good wine first,

and then the inferior wine

after the guests have become drunk.

But you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus did this,

the first of his signs,

in Cana of Galilee,

and revealed his glory;

and his disciples believed in him.

Queeries for the text:
On which third day?
Who was getting married in Cana?  How were Jesus, his mom, all the disciples and the wedding couple connected?  What other connections were there?
How did the mother of Jesus know he could fix the wine problem?
Who were the servants?  What was Jesus' mom's role at the wedding?
How much is 20-30 gallons?
What is the chief steward's role?
Is it good to have good wine late?  Why does it matter?
How many other signs are there?
Why does it matter that it was in Cana of Galilee?  How is location important?
Why is belief connected to the wine?
What is glory?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 1 Year C - Jeremiah

This text was queeried by periodic queerier, River Needham

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

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

What are your queeries?



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

We Are Church Confessing

On Sunday, an ecumenical group called We Are Church Confessing gathered at Cowles Commons in Des Moines to confess together the ways that we as the church, particularly the predominantly white churches, have not responded adequately to the injustices being perpetrated in the united states.  You can find the video of our gathering here.  This gathering occurs the first Sunday of the month at 1pm.
 

The Lutherans hosted this event and I wrote the liturgy with collaboration from Rev. Minna Bothwell and periodic contributor River Needham.  Below is the liturgy as it was written, designed for about a 20 minute service.  Each person received a large paper that was a bulletin on one side and had space to write a confession and a prayer on the other, so that is referenced during the liturgy.  Communal responses are in bold.

If you are interested in using or adapting this liturgy, please comment on the blog or contact me directly.

Gathering

If you haven’t done so already, please write out a confession specific to you around power or privilege and a prayer specific to you for the world as it could be.  Liturgy is the work of the people and the work in this liturgy is complicated, heavy, and important.  As we work through this liturgy, you may find yourself to be among those who are oppressed by what we are confessing.  When that is the case, use your discretion to participate or refrain as appropriate.  

For those who hold identities of privilege and power, especially as relates to different points of confession, even if you don’t think you have specifically done what we are confessing, I invite you to recall not only active ways you may have oppressed others, but also the ways that you may not be aware of, by which you have contributed to others’ oppression and in that sense, please join in on the responses to confess our sins as a whole church.

Confession

People of faith, we gather on land originally inhabited by the Báxoj'e, or Ioway Nation, and the Sauk and Meskwaki peoples. People who were systematically targeted by white settler colonialism for extermination.  In the 1800s, through treaties, some of which were fraudulent and all of which were made under duress, the united states government took all of the Ioway and Sauk and Meskwaki lands and forced the tribes onto reservations.

Colonizers selected Two Spirit people, who were oftentimes held in places of high esteem within their tribes, as the first targets for extermination.  White settler colonialism still celebrates “Columbus Day” and calls Turtle Island the “new world.”   The genocide perpetrated against Native Peoples and their forced removal to reservations, justified by the Church’s Doctrine of Discovery, was a model for Hitler in the Holocaust.  We continue to destroy this land out of greed for oil, money, and power.  We join in Indigenous struggles for sovereignty only after we recognize how eminent domain abuse harms us.  

We pretend to celebrate Native peoples through hypersexualized costumes of Pocahontas who was kidnapped, raped, and died in another land at the age of 21.  We do not teach the history of the lands we live and worship on.  We do not acknowledge, let alone honor, respect, or learn from, the original inhabitants of this land we now occupy, pollute, and exploit.

These are sins of the Church. 

So, dear people,

do you confess? 

We confess that we have supported settler colonialism and native erasure by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. We are sorry for the harm this has caused and we repent.

People of faith, many of us trace our faith traditions back to the Protestant Reformation and, especially for Lutherans, Martin Luther.  Antisemitism and anti-Judaism are a part of our histories we would prefer to deny or excuse.  Martin Luther was antisemitic.  Churches have participated in and actively supported pogroms and the Holocaust, and the Inquisition and Crusades before that.  In Christianity’s push for power, we allied ourselves with Empires and remain tethered to our places of power. 

When we read Jesus into the Hebrew Bible, our supersessionism harms and undermines the faith of Jewish people.  When we set Jesus against faithful Jewish people, maligning Pharisees and Jewish leaders, we hide and yet reinforce our anti-Judaism.  When we refuse to honor the holy days of other faiths, allowing Christian holidays to be the standard for elected officials, school systems, and government schedules, our Christian supremacy harms and marginalizes people of every other faith and no faith—all in exchange for power and privilege.

The attack on the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh and the vandalism that has taken place at synagogues before and since are our responsibility to atone for as the Church. 

These are sins of the Church. 

So, dear people,

do you confess? 

We confess that we have supported antisemitism, anti-Judaism and Christian supremacy by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. We are sorry for the harm this has caused and we repent.

People of faith, the same doors to church buildings that welcomed and were built by our immigrant ancestors now close and lock themselves off from immigrants whose skin is darker, whose language is different, who haven’t met the recent, unrealistic standards for official u.s. documentation.  

We eat and drink from what immigrants grow and harvest, yet we will not share a Table together.  We take mission trips to places we say we love and then demonize people from those same countries when they come here seeking a better life, fleeing violence, often a result of military dictatorships propped up by our own government.  

We lift up Jesus and the Holy Family as refugees and immigrants in Egypt, pretending our churches have never turned away immigrants or looked down on those from different cultures than our own.  We refuse to acknowledge our connections to people of other cultures and faiths, and by our silence we allow the demonization and encourage harmful stereotypes of Muslims from this country and around the world as well as immigrants from throughout the colonized parts of this world.

These are sins of the Church. 

So, dear people,

do you confess? 

We confess that we have supported xenophobia and Islamophobia by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. We are sorry for the harm this has caused and we repent.

People of faith, the Church legitimized slavery, institutionalizing racism in this country.  The church abused sacred scriptures to keep people of color, particularly people of African descent, as well as Native peoples oppressed and enslaved.  The church has worshiped whiteness and power instead of the God of the Oppressed.  We have whispered #BlackLivesMatter, if we’ve said anything at all.   

We have not stopped racist policing.  We remain oblivious to the ways whiteness makes life easier.  We do not put forth the effort to pronounce Laquan or Juliana that we do Dvořák.  We assume people of color are not from here.  We allow classism and racism to divide all who need economic justice from each other.  We reproduce images of God and Jesus as white and lift up whiteness as purity and cleanliness while calling darkness dirty and scary.  We perpetuate racism.

These are sins of the Church. 

So, dear people,

do you confess? 

We confess that we have supported racism and white supremacy by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. We are sorry for the harm this has caused and we repent.

People of faith, Christianity has created and enforced transphobia and cisheteronormativity as standard and “faithful.”  The church has and continues to persecute queer people throughout the world, both actively with violence and through more subtle means.  Churches support conversion therapy, bathroom bills, and book burnings.

Our worship spaces and liturgies are not accessible.  Churches refuse to hire or call queer and trans people, especially women, femmes, and nonbinary folks, into leadership positions; support discriminatory organizations like Focus on the Family and Thrivent Financial; segregate bathrooms and groups according to the false gender binary; and make unclear statements of “all are welcome.”  These contribute to the erasure, oppression, and hatred queer people experience in the church.  

These are sins of the Church. 

So, dear people,

do you confess? 

We confess that we have supported transphobia and transmisogyny and cisgenderism by what we have done and by what we have failed to do. We are sorry for the harm this has caused and we repent.

As you gathered you took time to write your own individual confessions and prayers on the sheets of paper that you have. At this time I invite you to state your confession aloud and after each confession we will join together to respond with “we confess”.

Forgiveness

Dear people of God, we are all caught up in systems of oppression and violence. Our sins are both corporate and individual. Intentional and unintentional.  Yet God comes into the midst of it all with this good news: through the power of Christ, death, sin, violence, and oppression no longer have power over us. By the power of the Spirit, I now declare to you, the entire forgiveness of all your sins. 
Amen.

Song and Offering “There is More Love Somewhere” 

[Our offering went to Iowa's American Friends Service Committee, specifically to support DACA recipients as well as family reunification for families separated at the border] 

Renunciations

Drawing on the Lutheran baptismal tradition, we will now enter into a time of renunciation—naming that which opposes the God whom 1 John 4 calls Love and renouncing it, turning away from it and towards Love.  When asked, please respond: I renounce them. 

Evil manifests itself in many ways: implicit bias, harmful stereotypes, ignorant questions, comments, and expectations, fear and perceived scarcity, and active prejudice and violence against others.

Do you renounce these manifestations of evil and all the forces that defy the God who is Love?

I renounce them.

Evil is insidious and works within systems and institutions to oppress and marginalize.  Evil manifests itself in the ongoing legacy of colonialism, slavery, and queerphobia perpetrated by this country and the church.  These evils, along with xenophobia and Islamophobia have been encouraged through the current administration and strengthened in legislation, policies, and plans put forward in governments and churches throughout this country and world.

Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against the God who is Love?

I renounce them.

We understand sin as separation—from the Divine, from each other, and from Creation.  Sin keeps us focused inward on ourselves, ignoring or fearing any who we deem as “Other,” putting our wants before others’ needs, and isolating ourselves.

Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from the God who is Love?

I renounce them.

Prayers for Help

Creator God, your sacred nature is in all things.  Help us to honor, respect, and support the Native peoples of this land and protect the earth and all its inhabitants.

Help us, O God.  Your mercy is great.

Holy One, you are worthy of praise.  Help us to affirm, celebrate, and support people of all faiths, especially Jewish people and Muslims, challenging antisemitism and Islamophobia whenever we encounter it.

Help us, O God.  Your mercy is great.

Sojourning God, you come to us as the stranger and foreigner.  Help us to create sanctuary for immigrants, provide for those in need, and challenge the fears of ourselves and others.

Help us, O God.  Your mercy is great.

God of the Oppressed, you join with the oppressed in life and death.  Help us to recognize your image in Black and Brown bodies, confront racism, and destroy white supremacy.

Help us, O God.  Your mercy is great.

Transgressing God, you break binaries between human and Divine, sinner and saint.  Help us to celebrate queer and gender expansive understandings of scripture, protect the rights and existence of trans and gender expansive people, and challenge gender segregation in every space.

Help us, O God.  Your mercy is great.

Liberating God, we need you.  We need your help to live into your liberating power, into the vision you cast of a world free from oppression.  We now lift up our prayers, those we have written down and those on our hearts. At this time I invite you to state your prayers aloud, ending each prayer with “Help us, O God,” to which we will join together to respond with “Your mercy is great.”

[Leader will end the prayer time with the following] 
God of hope, may all you know is needed be done, we pray in your holy and precious name.  Amen.

Benediction (Blown byGod toward Newness by Walter Brueggemann)

The news is that God’s wind is blowing.

It may be a breeze that

cools and comforts.

It may be a gust that

summons you to notice.

It may be a storm that blows you where you have

never been before.

Whatever the wind is in your life,

pay attention to it…

…Go in peace.  Live into God’s liberation.

Thanks be to God.

23rd after pentecost year b - mark

Mark 10:46-52
⁴⁶As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho,

Bartimaeus son of Timaeus,

a blind beggar,

was sitting by the roadside.

⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,

Bartimaeus began to shout out and say,

“Jesus, Son of David,

have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many sternly ordered Bartimaeus to be quiet,

but he cried out even more loudly,

“Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said,

“Call him here.”

And they called the blind man,

saying to him,

“Take heart;

get up,

he is calling you.”

⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak,

he sprang up

and came to Jesus.

⁵¹Then Jesus said to him,

“What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said to him,

“My teacher, let me see again.”

⁵²Jesus said to him,

“Go;

your faith has made you well.”

Immediately he regained his sight

and followed Jesus on the way.

Queeries for the text:
Why do names matter?
What does mercy look like today?
Who is sternly ordering others to be quiet today?  Who is crying out today?
How do personhood and identity interact?
Does Bartimaeus have a flare for the dramatic?  Did he miss his calling to theater?
What would Jesus do if Bartimaeus had wanted others to create more accessible spaces instead?
Why does Bartimaeus get to keep following Jesus when others couldn't?
How much faith is needed to make our world well?

What are your queeries?

21st after pentecost year b - amos

This text was queeried by periodic queerier River Needham with collaboration from Rev. Emily E. Ewing.

Verses bracketed in Italics are omitted from the assigned reading.

Amos 5:6-7 [8-9] 10-15
Seek the Becoming One, and you will live, else She will rush like fire upon the House of Joseph and consume Bethel with none to quench it. Ah, you who turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground! [Who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the earth— Her name is the Becoming One! It is She who hurls destruction upon strongholds, so that ruin comes upon fortresses!] They hate the arbiter in the gate, and detest her whose plea is just. Assuredly, because you impose a tax on the poor and exact from them a levy of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted delightful vineyards, but shall not drink their wine. For I have noted how many are your crimes, and how countless your sins—you enemies of the righteous, you takers of bribes, you who subvert in the gate the cause of the needy! Assuredly, at such a time the prudent one keeps silent, for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live, and that the Becoming One, the God of Angel Armies, may truly be with you, as you think. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; perhaps the Becoming One, the God of Angel Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Queeries for the text:
How are darkness and light dependent on each other?
How does justice become wormwood?
What does prudence mean? Should we be prudent?
What does God of the Angel Armies mean? What might that mean for peace in our time?
What would Amos have called the constellations? What might this mean for followers of the stars?  Why were two verses dropped in the middle of this text?
What are these financial practices called today?
What is the gate? What does justice at the gate look like? How are the needy cared for?

What are your queeries?

7th after pentecost year b - mark

Mark 6:1-13

Jesus left that place and came to his hometown,

    and his disciples followed him.

    2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue,

         and many who heard him were astounded.

         They said,

              “Where did this man get all this?

              What is this wisdom that has been given to him?

              What deeds of power are being done by his hands!

                   3Is not this the carpenter,

                        the son of Mary

                        and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon,

                             and are not his sisters here with us?”

                                  And they took offense at him.

4Then Jesus said to them,

    “Prophets are not without honor,

         except in their hometown,

         and among their own kin,

         and in their own house.”

    5And he could do no deed of power there,

         except that he laid his hands on a few sick people

         and cured them.

              6And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then Jesus went about among the villages teaching.

    7He called the twelve

         and began to send them out two by two,

         and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

     8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff;

         no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;

              9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.

10He said to them,

    “Wherever you enter a house,

         stay there until you leave the place.

              11If any place will not welcome you

              and they refuse to hear you,

                   as you leave,

                        shake off the dust that is on your feet

                             as a testimony against them.”

12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.

    13They cast out many demons,

         and anointed with oil many who were sick

              and cured them.

Queeries for the text:
Did Jesus' hometown ever end up embracing him after he came out?
Can you ever be viewed as an adult in the faith community you grew up in?
What are Jesus' sisters' names???
How much can anyone be known by way of their family?
How are people offended by Jesus' ministry?
How much does intention matter in power and healing?
What did Jesus teach in the villages?
What would happen if people took nothing for a journey today?
How often did they shake off the dust?
How many ways are there to give a testimony?
What should we repent of?

What are your queeries?