Queerying 20th after Pentecost B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 10:17-31
¹⁷As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?”

¹⁸Jesus said to the rich man, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘You shall not take another's life; you shall not harm your romantic and sexual partners through non-consensual infidelity; you shall not take what you did not earn; you shall not manipulate the truth to harm others; you shall not misrepresent yourself to others; honor your caregivers as they're instructed to honor you.’”

²⁰The rich man said to Jesus, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”

²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” ²²When the rich man heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

²³Then Jesus looked around and said to his chosen family, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the reign of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the reign of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the reign of God.”

²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

²⁸Peter began to say to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or siblings or parents or caregivers or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, siblings, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come everlasting life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Queeries for the text:
What do people inherit?
Which commandments are these? In what order?
What does it mean to honor another?
How do we gain treasure today?
How is grief connected to action? What did the rich man end up doing?
Who has wealth today?
Upon whom does salvation rely on?
What must we leave to follow Jesus?
Who has to balance family and persecution? 

What are your queeries?

 

Queerying Lent 2A

Rev. Emily E. Ewing and River Needham, M.A. queery the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 3:1-17
¹Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Judeans. ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

³Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the reign of God without being born from above.”

⁴Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the parent’s womb and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the reign of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Human One. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in Them may have everlasting life. ¹⁶For God loved the world in this way: that God gave Their only Child, so that everyone who believes in Them may not perish but may have everlasting life. ¹⁷Indeed, God did not send the Child into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Them.”

Queeries for the text:
What happened to the Pharisees?
What else happens at night?
How else can someone experience the reign of God besides sight?
Who else has a womb besides a mother?
How else is love expressed?
Who is condemned?  How might they be saved?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 2 Year C

This week all three Advent queeries are gathered in one spot!

Today's text from the Tanakh was queeried by periodic queerier River Needham.

 

 
Tanakh - Malachi 3:1-4
Behold, I am sending my messenger to clear the way before me, and the ruler whom you seek shall come to faer Temple suddenly. As for the angel of the covenant that you desire, they are already coming. But who can endure the day of faer coming, and who can hold out when fae appears? For fae is like a smelter’s fire and like fuller’s lye. Fae shall act like a smelter and purger of silver; and fae shall purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they shall present offerings in righteousness. Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Becoming One as in the days of yore and in the years of old.

Queeries for the text:
Who is the ruler this text seeks?
What is an angel of the covenant?
What covenant? Who desires it?
Where else is silver in the Minor Prophets?
Why just Levi's descendants?
Why are Judah and Jerusalem placed in opposition?
Why is it important to separate Jesus from this text?

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Today's special guest queery of Philippians is brought to you by Katy Wallace with collaboration from Rev. Emily Ewing.

Philippians 1:3-11
³I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, ⁵because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Queeries for the text:
What does sharing in the gospel look like?
What is the good work brought to completion and who began it?
How does imprisonment impact grace?
What is God witnessing in Paul's longing?  What does God witness in us?
How does God's compassion show up throughout the bible?
What does it mean to share in the defense and confirmation of the gospel?  How does it relate to love and longing?
How does love overflow with knowledge?
What does it mean to be pure and blameless?
What does a harvest of righteousness look like?

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Today's queery from the Gospel is brought to you by Rev. Emily E. Ewing.

Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius,

when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,

and Herod was ruler of Galilee,

and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis,

and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,

²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,

the word of God came to John

son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

³John went into all the region around the Jordan,

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

⁴as it is written

in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out

in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Becoming One,

make straight the paths of God.

⁵Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Queeries for the text:
Why does Luke care so much about the people in power?
Who else was John son of?
What did Zechariah have to say about his son?
What was John already doing in the wilderness?
Why is the Jordan so important?
What public testimonies of repentance like John's baptism are happening now?
How is Isaiah calling us to increase accessibility in communities?
What if God doesn't want to be straight?  What if God is crooked?
What is the salvation of God like?
Where is Peace?

What are your queeries?