Queerying 10th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she lamented over her husband. After the period of mourning was over, David sent and had her brought into his palace; she became his wife and she bore him a son. But the Becoming One was displeased with what David had done, and sent Nathan to David.

Nathan came to him and said, “There were two humans in the same city, one rich and one poor. The rich one had very large flocks and herds, but the poor human had only one little ewe lamb that they had bought. They tended it and it grew up together with them and their children: it used to share their morsel of bread, drink from their cup, and nestle in their bosom; it was like a daughter to them.

“One day, a traveler came to the rich human, but they were loath to take anything from their own flocks or herds to prepare a meal for the guest who had come to them; so they took the poor human’s lamb and prepared it for the traveler who had come to them.”

David flew into a rage against the rich man, and said to Nathan, “As the Becoming One lives, the human who did this deserves to die! They shall pay for the lamb four times over, because they did such a thing and showed no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “That man is you!

“Thus said the Becoming One, the God of Israel: ‘It was I who anointed you king over Israel and it was I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and possession of your master’s wives; and I gave you the House of Israel and Judah; and if that were not enough, I would give you twice as much more.

“‘Why then have you flouted the command of the Becoming One and done what displeases Femme? You have put Uriah the Hittite to the sword; you took his wife and made her your wife and had him killed by the sword of the Ammonites. Therefore the sword shall never depart from your House—because you spurned Me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite and making her your wife.’

“Thus said the Becoming One: ‘I will make a calamity rise against you from within your own house; I will take your wives and give them to another human before your very eyes and she shall sleep with your wives under this very sun. You acted in secret, but I will make this happen in the sight of all Israel and in broad daylight.’”

David said to Nathan, “I stand guilty before the Becoming One!”

Queeries for the text:
Who is the unnamed woman at the beginning of this text?
What is her name?
What is David's crime?
Why might God's "punishment" be ineffective?
Why does the nation care about David's sex life?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 6:24-35
²⁴So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his chosen family were still with them, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for everlasting life, which the Human One will give you. For it is on Them that God the Caregiver has set Femmes seal.”

²⁸Then they said to Jesus, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one whom Femme has sent.”

³⁰So they said to Jesus, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? ³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘Femme gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³²Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Caregiver who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴They said to him, “Leader, give us this bread always.”

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Queeries for the text:
What did we miss?
What is hide and seek like with Jesus?
What loaves?
What food endures?
What is Femmes seal?
When is work faith? When is it not?
When did they eat manna? Why?
What gives life to the world?
Who is hungry?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 13th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 18:1-11
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Becoming One:

“Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will impart my words to you.”

So I went down to the house of a potter, and found her working at the wheel. And if the vessel she was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s hands, she would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make.
Then the word of the Becoming One came to me:

O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?—says the Becoming One. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel! At one moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed; but if that nation against which I made the decree turns back from its wickedness, I change my mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it. At another moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be built and planted; but if it does what is displeasing to me and does not obey me, then I change my mind concerning the good I planned to bestow upon it. And now, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus said the Becoming One: I am devising disaster for you and laying plans against you. Turn back, each of you, from your wicked ways, and mend your ways and your actions!

Queeries for the text:
Where else do potters show up in the Tanakh?
How do you make pottery?
How was pottery used during this time period?
Where else does God change hir mind?
Where today do we hear the message that change is possible?
How can we (white u.s.ians) repent of our past ways?
What do we (white u.s.ians) need to repent of in our ways and actions?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus;

and he turned and said to them,

²⁶“Whoever comes to me

and does not hate parents of all genders,
spouse and children,
siblings of any gender,
yes, and even life itself,

cannot be my disciple.

²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me

cannot be my disciple.

²⁸For which of you,

intending to build a tower,

does not first sit down and estimate the cost,

to see whether you have enough to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, when you have laid a foundation
and are not able to finish,

all who see it will begin to ridicule you, ³⁰saying,

‘This person began to build and was not able to finish.’

³¹Or what king,

going out to wage war against another king,

will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand

to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²If he cannot,

then, while the other is still far away,

he sends a delegation
and asks for the terms of peace.

³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple

if you do not give up all your possessions.

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
What does it mean to hate family?
What about Christian Family Values™?
What does it mean to carry the cross?  What does it not mean to carry the cross?
What happens when tariffs are imposed mid-build?
What is being built now?  Will it be finished?
What about seeking peace if we have the 20,000?
Is Jesus a socialist?
What can happen when you don't finish?


What are your queeries?

19th after pentecost year b - mark

Mark 9:38-50
³⁸John said to Jesus,
     “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,
     and we tried to stop them,
          because they were not following us.”
³⁹But Jesus said,
     “Do not stop them;
          for no one who does a deed of power in my name
               will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
          ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is for us.
     ⁴¹For truly I tell you,
          whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
               because you bear the name of Christ
                    will by no means lose the reward.

⁴²“If any of you put a stumbling block
     before one of these little ones who believe in me,
          it would be better for you
               if a great millstone were hung around your neck
               and you were thrown into the sea.
⁴³If your hand causes you to stumble,
     cut it off;
          it is better for you to enter life maimed
               than to have two hands
               and to go to hell,
                    to the unquenchable fire.  
⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to stumble,
     cut it off;
          it is better for you to enter life lame
               than to have two feet
               and to be thrown into hell.  
⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to stumble,
     tear it out;
          it is better for you to enter the dominion of God with one eye
               than to have two eyes
               and to be thrown into hell,
                    ⁴⁸where their worm never dies,
                    and the fire is never quenched.

⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire.
     ⁵⁰Salt is good;
          but if salt has lost its saltiness,
               how can you season it?
          Have salt in yourselves,
               and be at peace with one another.”

Queeries for the text:
Who else have disciples tried to stop from doing ministry in Jesus' name?
What is the reward?
What are today's stumbling blocks?
Who is placing the stumbling blocks?
How are Jesus' hyperboles harmful to others?
What does this have to do with what's going on today?
What hell is Jesus talking about?
Is being at peace with ourselves a prerequisite to being at peace with one another?
Does salt only work when it's angry?
If bodies are mostly water, what's our salt content?

What are your queeries?