Queerying 19th after Pentecost C

Suzannah Porter and Brooke McLain musically queery the RCL readings.

How does dealing with the past help to move into the future?

How can scripture strengthen against injustice?

How does proof-texting justify harm?

How do you persist for justice?  How does justice persist against you?

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Pace Warfield-May queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 31:27-34
²⁷The days are surely coming, says the Becoming One, when I will plant seeds of humans and animals in the two houses of my people, the houses of Israel and Judah.

²⁸And just as I've tended over them to pluck, break down, overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will continue to tend over them to build up and to plant, says the Becoming One.

²⁹In those days there will no longer be the saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, or the children must have the bad karma of their parents" ³⁰Rather, all shall die for their own harm, the bad apples will remain in the rotten tree that sprouted them."

³¹ The days are surely coming, says the Becoming One, when I will make a new covenant, a new unbreakable promise, with the houses of Israel and Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I, like a gentle lover, held them by their hand to guide them out of the land of Egypt--a promise that they broke, though I was and remain their committed partner, says the Becoming One. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Becoming One: I will write my law within them, bind it to their DNA, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be God, their beloved, and they shall be my people, my beloveds. ³⁴No longer shall they have to teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Becoming One" for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Becoming One; for I will wipe away the barriers that separate them, and remember their harm no more."'

Queeries for the text:
What is the context for this passage?
What is karma?
What would this day to come look like?
What else is written in our DNA?
How does one cheat on God?
What does it mean for God to be your beloved partner?
What barriers separate us from one another?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his chosen family a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³In that city there was a widow who kept coming to the judge and saying, ‘Avenge me against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused; but later the judge said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵yet because this widow keeps coming at me, I will avenge her, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” ⁶And the Leader said, “Listen to what the corrupt judge says. ⁷And will not God avenge her favorites who cry to her day and night? Will she delay long in having patience with them? ⁸I tell you, she will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Human One comes, will they find faith on earth?”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
Whose heart is being lost?
What do judges do?
Who neither fears God nor respects people?
Who annoys the powerful?
What happens when you continually come?
What is justice? Who cries to whom for justice? 

What are your queeries?



 

Queerying Advent 3C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Shout for joy, fair Zion,
cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be glad with all your heart,
fair Jerusalem!
The Becoming One has annulled the judgment against you,
She has swept away your foes.
Israel’s Sovereign, the Becoming One, is within you;
you need fear misfortune no more.
In that day,
this shall be said to Jerusalem:
Have no fear, O Zion;
let not your hands droop!
Your God the Becoming One is in your midst,
a warrior who brings triumph.
She will rejoice over you and be glad,
She will shout over you with jubilation.
She will soothe with Her love
those long disconsolate.
I will take away from you the woe
over which you endured mockery.
At that time I will make an end
of all who afflicted you.
And I will rescue the crippled sheep
and gather the strayed;
and I will exchange their disgrace
for fame and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will gather you,
and at that time I will bring you home;
for I will make you renowned and famous
among all the peoples on earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before their very eyes
—said the Becoming One.

Queeries for the text:
What is crip?
What about crip joy?
How does God love?
How can fame end?
Why must fortunes be restored?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 3:7-18
⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Hagar and Sarah. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked John, “What then should we do?”

¹¹In reply John said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³John said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”

¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?”

John said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of that one's sandals. The one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷The winnowing fork is in hand, to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into the granary; but the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

Queeries for the text:
What's a brood of vipers?
What else comes from stones?
What happens to trees in fire?
Who has two coats? Who has none? How many coats do you have?
Who takes economic advantage today?
What other questions make their home in the heart?
What kind of sandals?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Holy Trinity A

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

Tanakh: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

At the starting point, God formed the cosmos and the earth. The earth did not have shape; and darkness was upon the surface of the deep. God’s breath hovered over the waters on the earth.

God said: Let light be. Then God saw the light and that it was Good. God pulled apart the light and the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness Night. Dusk and Dawn were in there too. The first day came to be. Then, God wanted there to be an atmosphere between the waters. Let the atmosphere divide water from the water. So God made the sky and divided the waters under it from the waters above it. And so it was. God called the atmosphere heaven. There was dusk, then dawn. The second day.

Next, God said: Let the waters below gather together so dry land can appear. And so it was. God called the dry land earth and the gathered waters God called seas. God saw that all this was good. Later, God said: Let the earth produce grass, herbs with seeds, trees that bear fruit. And so it was. The earth produced grass, herbs with seed, trees that bore fruit. God saw that all this was good. There was dusk, and dawn. The third day.

Then, God said “Let the sky have lights to divide the day from the night. Let them move about and distinguish signs, seasons, days, and years. Let them be lights in the atmosphere of the heavens to give light to the earth.” And so it was. So, God made two big lights. The biggest one ruled over the day, and the smaller of the big lights ruled over the night and stars. God set these lights in the atmosphere of the heavens so they could give light to the earth, to rule over the day and the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that all this was good. There was dusk, then dawn. The fourth day.

Next, God said “Let the waters move with collections of living beings. Let birds fly above the earth in the open atmosphere of heaven.” So, God created the great sea creatures, and every creepy-crawly, and the waters were filled with motion; so was the atmosphere of heaven. God saw that all this was good, then God blessed the animals and said “ Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the waters in the seas and let the birds multiply in the earth. There was dusk, then dawn. The Fifth day.

Then, God said “Let the earth create living creatures after it’s kind. Cattle, insects, and beasts of the earth after its own kind.” And so it was. God made living creatures on the ground after its kind, and every insect after its kind. God saw that all this was good. So, God said let us make a human in our image, just like us. Let them have responsibility over the fish of the sea, birds of the air. Over the cattle and all the things on the earth, even the insects. God created the human in their own image. In the image of God they created them. Male, female, between and beyond God created them. Then, God blessed them and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and take responsibility for it, and for the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and for every living thing down to the smallest insect.

God said: Look – I have given you every herb yielding seed which lives anywhere on the earth, and every tree which produces seeds in its fruit. To you, these things are food. Likewise, to every animal on the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth with a lifeforce, I have given every green herb for food. And so it was.

God saw every thing that they had made, and Look! It was very good. Then there was dusk, and there was dawn. The sixth day.

So, the heaven and the earth were finished. The whole project. Then on the seventh day, God finished their work and they rested on the seventh day from all they had made. God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because in it they rested from all their work which God did in the course of creating.

These were the stories of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

Queeries for the text:

Who is the main character in this story?
Why was this creation narrative chosen?
Where is humanity’s responsibility today?
What queeries do you have for this text?
What does it mean for earth to have a start or a birthday?
Are there multiple starting points? What was present at this starting point?
What does it mean to be beyond or between gender?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw Jesus, they worshiped Them; and some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to the disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Provider and of the Prophet and of the Protest, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Queeries for the text:

Which mountain was it?

What are the characteristics of God?  How are our songs about the Spirit disconnected from scriptural references?

What is divine authority like?
How else can we understand the Trinity?

What does it mean for God to be Provider?

What does it mean for God to be Prophet?

What does it mean for God to be Protest?

How is Jesus' great commission problematic?

How is Jesus' great commission comforting?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Easter 5A

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Acts reading.

Acts 7:55-60
⁵⁵But filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” Stephen said, “I see the heavens opened and the Human One standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷But the religious authorities covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against Stephen. ⁵⁸Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Sovereign Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then Stephen knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Becoming One, do not hold this sin against them.” When Stephen had said this, he died.

Queeries for the text:
Who is Stephen?
What prompted this?
From what do we cover our ears?
What happens when crowds get together?  Can good come from groups?
Why are young men dangerous?
Who does Stephen sound like?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 6th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Amos 8:1-12
This is what my Becoming God showed me: there was a basket of figs.
Ze said, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A basket of figs,” I replied.

Then, the Becoming One said to me: “The hour of doom has come for My people Israel; I will not pardon them again. The singing women of the palace shall howl on that day—declares my Becoming God: So many corpses left lying everywhere! Hush!”

Listen to this, you who devour the needy, annihilating the poor of the land,  saying, “If only the new moon were over, so that we could sell grain; the sabbath, so that we could offer wheat for sale, using an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big, tilting a dishonest scale, and selling grain refuse as grain! We will buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.”

The Becoming One swears by the pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their doings.”

Shall not the earth shake for this, and all that dwell on it mourn? Shall it not all rise like the Nile and surge and subside like the Nile of Egypt?

And in that day —declares my Becoming God— I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day.

I will turn your festivals into mourning, all your songs into dirges; I will put sackcloth on all loins, tonsures on every head. I will make it mourn as for an only child, all of it as on a bitter day.

A time is coming—declares my Becoming God—when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Becoming One.

So that they shall possess the rest of Edom and all the nations once attached to my name —declares the Becoming One who will bring this to pass.

Queeries for the text:
Where else do figs show up?
What measures are used today?
What is the pride of Jacob?
When is noon?
How do only children come up culturally?
For what do we repent today?
For what do we repent today?
For what do we repent today?
What are the words of the Becoming One today? What might they mean?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
³⁸Now as the Jesus and the disciples went on their way,

Jesus entered a certain village,

where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

³⁹She had a sister named Mary,

who sat at the Boss’ feet
and listened to what he was saying.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks;

so she came to Jesus and asked,

“Boss, do you not care that my sister has left me

to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me.”

⁴¹But the Boss answered her,

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

⁴²there is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part,

which will not be taken away from her.”

Queeries for the text:
Which "certain village" did Jesus enter?
Why was it Martha's house?  Did she and Mary not share it?  Were they sisters or "sisters"?
Which tasks distracted Martha?  Which tasks distract us?
Is there anything about which Jesus doesn't care?
Did Martha already ask for Mary to help her?
What worries Martha?  What worries us?  Why?
What is the better part for us?  Is it guaranteed the way Jesus guarantees Mary's better part?

What are your queeries?

Palm Sunday year C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

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

going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany,

at the place called the Mount of Olives,

Jesus sent two of the disciples,

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

and as you enter it

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

Untie it and bring it here.

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

just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent departed

and found it as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the colt,

its owners asked them,

“Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵Then they brought the colt to Jesus;

and after throwing their cloaks on the colt,

they set Jesus on it.

³⁶As Jesus rode along,

people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

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

the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully

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

³⁸saying,

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

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

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

“Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”

⁴⁰Jesus answered,

“I tell you, if these were silent,

the stones would shout out.”

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

What are your queeries?

7th after Epiphany year C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 45:3-11, [12-14], 15
Joseph said to eir brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still well?”

But eir brothers could not answer em, so dumbfounded were they on account of em.

Then Joseph said to eir brothers, “Come forward to me.”
Then, when they came forward, ey said:

“I am your brother Joseph, ey whom you sold into Egypt.

Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me to them;

it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.

It is now two years that there has been famine in the land,

and there are still five years to come in which there shall be no yield from tilling.

God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival on earth,

and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance.

So, it was not you who sent me here, but God;

and She has made me a parent to Pharaoh, sovereign of all his household,

and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.

“Now, hurry back to my father and say to him:

Thus says your son Joseph, ‘God has made me lord of all Egypt;

come down to me without delay.

You will dwell in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me—

you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that is yours.

There I will provide for you—for there are yet five years of famine to come—

that you and your household and all that is yours may not suffer want.’

[You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin for himself, 

that it is indeed I who am speaking to you. 

Then, you must tell my father everything about my high station in Egypt and all that you have seen;

and bring my father here with all speed.

With that ey embraced eir brother Benjamin around the neck and wept, 

and Benjamin wept on eir neck.]

Ey kissed all eir brothers and wept upon them; only then were eir brothers able to talk to em.

Queeries for the text:
What does Joseph's first question point to?
Who else in Torah is dumbfounded?
Why does this famine get extensive Biblical coverage? Where are there famines today? What causes the famine?
Is God condoning or partaking in human trafficking?
Why is it important for Joseph's father to come to em?
Where is Goshen?
What happens to all of the people who live in Goshen?
What do Benjamin's tears portray?
What might Joseph's brothers say to em?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Jesus said:
²⁷“But I say to you that listen,

Love your enemies,

do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you,

pray for those who abuse you.

²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek,

offer the other also;

and from anyone who takes away your coat

do not withhold even your shirt.

³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you;

and if anyone takes away your goods,

do not ask for them again.

³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³²“If you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

For even sinners love those who love them.

³³If you do good to those who do good to you,

what credit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same.

³⁴If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive,

what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,

to receive as much again.

³⁵But love your enemies,

do good,

and lend,

expecting nothing in return.

Your reward will be great,

and you will be children of the Most High;

who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

³⁶Be merciful,

just as the One who made you and loves you is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge,

and you will not be judged;

do not condemn,

and you will not be condemned.

Forgive,

and you will be forgiven;

³⁸give,

and it will be given to you.

A good measure,

pressed down,
shaken together,
running over,

will be put into your lap;

for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Queeries for the text:
What does it mean to love your enemy?
How do you pray for those who abuse you?
Why would you offer the other cheek?
Why would you strip naked for someone?
How is our relationship with money life-giving?  How is it life-taking?
When is it not good to do to others as you would have them do to you?
How has this text been harmful?
A good measure of what?

What are your queeries?

22nd after pentecost year b - mark

The sons of Thunder!!!  (or just the cause)

Mark 10:35-45
³⁵James and John,

the sons of Zebedee,

came forward to Jesus and said to him,

“Teacher,

we want you to do for us

whatever we ask of you.”

³⁶And Jesus said to them,

“What is it you want me to do for you?”

³⁷And they said to Jesus,

“Grant us to sit,

one at your right hand and one at your left,

in your glory.”

³⁸But Jesus said to them,

“You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink,

or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

³⁹They replied,

“We are able.”

Then Jesus said to them,

“The cup that I drink you will drink;

and with the baptism with which I am baptized,

you will be baptized;

⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant,

but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹When the ten heard this,

they began to be angry with James and John.

⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them,

“You know that among the Gentiles

those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them,

and their great ones are tyrants over them.

⁴³But it is not so among you;

but whoever wishes to become great among you

must be your servant,

⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

⁴⁵For the Human One came not to be served but to serve,

and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Queeries for the text:
What have we skipped since last week?
What does thunder have to do with this?
Will the disciples *EVER* get it?
How much more entitled could the Sons of Thunder be?
Which baptism was Jesus baptized with?
For whom have those special seats been prepared?
How do rulers today lord their power over others?
Who are the servants among us?  Who are those legally enslaved in the u.s. today?
What does it mean to ransom others?
How is Jesus rejecting the false binaries of ruler/servant and powerful/powerless?

What are your queeries?



If you're interested in checking out the sermon that came out of this queery, you can find a brief description of the sermon and the image here!