Queerying 16th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Proverbs 1:20-33
Wisdom cries aloud in the streets,
raises her voice in the squares.

At the head of the busy streets she calls;
at the entrance of the gates, in the city, she speaks out:

“How long will you simple ones love simplicity,
you scoffers be eager to scoff, you willfully ignorant hate knowledge?

You are indifferent to my rebuke;
I will now speak my mind to you, and let you know my thoughts.

Since you refused me when I called,
and paid no heed when I extended my hand,

you spurned all my advice,
and would not hear my rebuke,

I will laugh at your calamity,
and mock when terror comes upon you,

When terror comes like a disaster, and calamity arrives like a whirlwind,
When trouble and distress come upon you.

Then they shall call me but I will not answer;
they shall seek me but not find me.

Because they hated knowledge,
and did not choose fear of the Becoming One;

They refused my advice,
and disdained all my rebukes,

They shall eat the fruit of their ways,
and have their fill of their own counsels.

The tranquillity of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of the willfully ignorant will destroy them.

But she who listens to me will dwell in safety,
untroubled by the terror of misfortune.”

Queeries for the text:
Who is Wisdom?
What advice and rebukes are being rejected and ignored?
What is the terror of misfortune?
Does God punish us?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
²⁷Jesus went on with his chosen family to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his chosen family, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸And they answered Jesus, “John the Baptizer; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”

³⁰And Jesus sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹Then Jesus began to teach them that the Human One must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the religious authorities, and the legal authorities, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him.

³³But turning and looking at his chosen family, Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

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

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
Why John the Baptizer, Elijah, or one of the prophets?
What is a messiah?
Who "must" undergo great suffering?
What does it mean to deny yourself and take up your cross?  What doesn't it mean?
Who gains the world to lose life?
What does it mean to be ashamed?  What doesn't it mean?

What are your queeries?

 

Queerying 15th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Repute is preferable to great wealth,
Grace is better than silver and gold.

Rich human and poor human meet;
The Becoming One made them both.

[...]

The one who sows injustice shall reap misfortune;
Their rod of wrath shall fail.

The generous one is blessed,
For she gives of her bread to the poor.

[...]

Do not rob the wretched because ze is wretched;
Do not crush the poor human in the gate;

For the Becoming One will take up their cause
And despoil those who despoil them of life.

Queeries for the text:
What is missing? Why?
What is grace?
When will the rich and poor meet?
What does it mean to give bread to the poor?
Who are the poor and wretched?
What gates are crushing the poor?
What does it mean to despoil of life?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37
²⁴From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about Jesus, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸But she answered Jesus, “Your Honor, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then Jesus said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

³¹Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³²The crowd brought to Jesus a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³Jesus took the man aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

³⁶Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “Jesus has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Queeries for the text:
Who else cannot escape notice?
Who are syrophoenicians?
Who else are dogs?
Who bests whom in this battle of wits?
Who brought the deaf man to Jesus?
When do we need privacy?
When do we respond with challenge?
How is society responsible for ableism?
Who is stuck with crumbs today?

What are your queeries?

13th after pentecost year b - proverbs

Special thanks to friend of the blog and guest queerier this week: River Needham!

Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house,
she has hewn her seven pillars.  
²She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine,
she has also set her table.
³She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls
from the highest places in the town,  
⁴“You that are simple, turn in here!”
To those without sense she says,  
⁵“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.  
⁶Lay aside immaturity, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”

Queeries for the text:
What does it mean that wisdom has build a complete house?
Who is simple? Who is without sense?
How would a biblical wine cocktail taste?
How do immaturity and insight coexist?
What does it mean to be a strong, powerful, independent woman?
Where do the servant girls go?  Was Hagar an early type of the servant girl?
What is significant about slaughtering her animals?  Does she kill all of them?
How is wine mixed?
Is this different from a homeless shelter or other charity?
How can Christians name Wisdom today?

What are your queeries?