Queerying 9th after Pentecost C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40
Jesus said:
³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Caregiver’s good pleasure to give you the reign. ³³Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your wealth is, there your heart also will find itself.

³⁵“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶be like those who are waiting for their enslaver to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those people who are enslaved whom the enslaver finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If the enslaver comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those people who are enslaved.

³⁹“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, they would not have let their house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Human One is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Queeries for the text:
Who has a little flock?
When else does Jesus promise us influence over our hearts?
How do you dress for action?
What happens if we are not hypervigilant?
Who else has their lamps lit?
Do enslavers ever serve people who are enslaved?
Who stays out all night for weddings?
When do thieves come?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 9th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 2 Samuel 11:1-15
At the turn of the year, the season when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him, and they devastated Ammon and besieged Rabbah; David remained in Jerusalem.

Late one afternoon, David rose from his couch and strolled on the roof of the royal palace; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and the king sent a man to make inquiries about the woman. He reported, “She is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.” David sent messengers to fetch her; she came to him and he "lay" with her—she had just purified herself after her period—and she went back home.

The woman conceived, and she sent word to David, “I am pregnant.”

Then David sent a message to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me”; and Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab and the troops were faring and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.” When Uriah left the royal palace, a present from the king followed him.

But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace, along with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When David was told that Uriah had not gone down to his house, he said to Uriah, “You just came from a journey; why didn’t you go down to your house?”

Uriah answered David, “The Ark and Israel and Judah are located at Succoth, and my master Joab and your majesty’s men are camped in the open; how can I go home and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As you live, by your very life, I will not do this!”

David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you off.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. The next day, David summoned him, and he ate and drank with him until he got him drunk; but in the evening, Uriah went out to sleep in the same place, with his lord’s officers; he did not go down to his home.

In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, which he sent with Uriah. He wrote in the letter as follows: “Place Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest; then fall back so that he may be killed.”

Queeries for the text:
What happened to Bathsheba?
How might she recover today?
Who were the Hittites?
Who else has died for another's sins?
How do these dynamics play out today?
Where is God in this?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 6:1-21
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jewish people, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

⁷Philip answered Jesus, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”

⁸One of his chosen family, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a child here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”

¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”

¹³So the chosen family gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. ¹⁶When evening came, his chosen family went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.

²⁰But Jesus said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they wanted to take Jesus into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Queeries for the text:
After what?
What and when is Passover?
Where don't we acquire bread for these people to eat?
How much is 6 months' wages?
What is food among so many people?
What is lost today?
Why twelve baskets?
How did the chosen family expect Jesus to catch up?
How does travel change?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 4th after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was important to his ruler and high in his favor, for through Naaman the Becoming One had granted victory to Aram. But the man, though a great warrior, was a leper. Once, when the Arameans were out raiding, they carried off a young girl from the land of Israel, and she became an attendant to Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “I wish Master [Namaan] could come before the prophet in Samaria; he would cure Naaman of his leprosy.” Naaman went and told his ruler just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

Then the king of Aram said, “Go to the king of Israel, and I will send along a letter.” Namaan set out, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read: “Now, when this letter reaches you, know that I have sent my courtier Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and cried, “Am I God, to deal death or give life, that this fellow writes to me to cure a man of leprosy? Just see for yourselves that he is seeking a pretext against me!”

When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you rent your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angered and walked away. “I thought,” he said, “he would surely come out to me, and would stand and invoke the Becoming One his God by name, and would wave his hand toward the spot, and cure the affected part. Are not the Amanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? I could bathe in them and be clean!” He stalked off in a rage. But his servants came forward and spoke to him. “Sir,” they said, “if the prophet told you to do something difficult, would you not do it? How much more when he has only said to you, ‘Bathe and be clean.’” So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a little boy’s, and he was clean.

Queeries for the text:
Where was Aram? When did this story take place? Were there ruling powers even over these kings when this story took place? How would that change the power analysis in this story?
What does it mean for a child to be enslaved? What kinds of labor do u.s.ians expect from children today?
What is the significance of the prophet in Samaria? What does it imply about when this took place or when it was written?
How do we expect healing and labor from people without recognizing the great cost that often comes with being a healer?
Why was the King of Israel so upset at the King of Aram's demand? What does this tell us about the power dynamics at play?  Who has the geo-political power?
Why does Elisha have a better relationship with the Monarchs than Elijah? What parts of the story have been omitted that helped that happen?
In which other traditions is water a gift from the divine(9-11)?  Does that giftedness change if God is not invoked in the cleansing bath?
If you were retelling this story in a modern setting, what details would you change, and how? Which ones would you keep the same, and why?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
After this the President appointed seventy others
and sent them on ahead of him in pairs

to every town and place where he himself intended to go.

²Jesus said to them,

“The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few;

therefore ask the CEO of the harvest

to send out laborers into the harvest.

³Go on your way.

See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
⁴Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals;

and greet no one on the road.

⁵Whatever house you enter,

first say, ‘Peace to this house!’

⁶And if anyone is there who shares in peace,

your peace will rest on that person;

but if not, it will return to you.

⁷Remain in the same house,

eating and drinking whatever they provide,

for the laborer deserves to be paid.

Do not move about from house to house.

⁸Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you,

eat what is set before you;
⁹cure the sick who are there,
and say to them, ‘The nation of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you,

go out into its streets and say,

¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet,

we wipe off in protest against you.

Yet know this: the nation of God has come near.’

¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me,
and whoever rejects you rejects me,

and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying,

“President, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

¹⁸Jesus said to them,

“I watched the Prosecutor fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.

¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions,

and over all the power of the enemy;

and nothing will hurt you.

²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this,

that the spirits submit to you,

but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?  What does Sodom have to do with hospitality?
Why 70?  Why pairs?
Did Jesus end up going everywhere he intended?
What would u.s. culture be like if hospitality were so reliable?
Why can't they greet anyone on the road?
How much peace is available to share?  What about freedom?
How much are the laborers paid?
What does it mean to wipe dust from feet?
Does the reign of God come near whether or not we welcome it?
Why are the 70 still so excited about the power?  Where are our priorities?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 3rd after Pentecost C

Periodic queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 3-5, 6-14

When the Becoming One was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,
Elijah and Elisha had set out from Gilgal.
Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Becoming One has sent me on to Bethel.”
“As the Becoming One lives and as you live,” said Elisha, “I will not leave you.”
So they went down to Bethel. 

Disciples of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Becoming One will take your master away from you today?” 
Elisha replied, “I know it, too; be silent.” 
Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Becoming One has sent me on to Jericho.” 
“As the Becoming One lives and as you live,” said Elisha, “I will not leave you.” 
So they went on to Jericho. The disciples of the prophets who were at Jericho came over to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Becoming One will take your master away from you today?” 
He replied, “I know it, too; be silent.” 

Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Becoming One has sent me on to the Jordan.”
“As the Becoming One lives and as you live, I will not leave you,” he said, and the two of them went on.
Fifty men of the disciples of the prophets followed and stood by at a distance from them as the two of them stopped at the Jordan. Thereupon Elijah took his mantle and, rolling it up, he struck the water; it divided to the right and left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry land. As they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
Elisha answered, “Let a double portion of your spirit pass on to me.”
“You have asked a difficult thing,” he said. “If you see me as I am being taken from you, this will be granted to you; if not, it will not.”
As they kept on walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “Oh, father, father! Israel’s chariots and horsemen!” When he could no longer see him, he grasped his garments and rent them in two. He picked up Elijah’s mantle, which had dropped from him; and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Taking the mantle which had dropped from Elijah, he struck the water and said, “Where is the Becoming One, the God of Elijah?” As he too struck the water, it parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

Queeries for the text:
Which other stories is this reminiscent of?
Does God play hide and seek?
Why is the trip from Bethel to Jericho omitted from the pericope?
How does God speak in this passage? What does God look like?
What is a mantle?
Is God's existence dependent on each person? How is Elisha's experience of God different from Elijah's? What are the theological implications?
Who could the false prophets be today?
Where else do prophets strike water?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Luke 9:51-62
⁵¹When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up,

he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him.

On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans

to make ready for Jesus;

⁵³but they did not receive him,

because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw it,

they said, “Master, do you want us to command fire

to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁶Then they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were going along the road,

someone said to Jesus,

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to them,

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests;

but the Human One has nowhere to lay their head.”

⁵⁹To another Jesus said,

“Follow me.”

But they said,

“Master, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But Jesus said to them,

“Let the dead bury their own dead;

but as for you,

go and proclaim the reign of God.”

⁶¹Another said,

“I will follow you, Master;

but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

⁶²Jesus said to them,

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back

is fit for the reign of God.”

Queeries for the text:
How do you set your face?
Which messengers did Jesus send?
Why do James and John want to command terrible weather?
Why are we so inclined towards increased vengeance?
Did the "someone" know what they were proposing?
What is it like for Jesus to be without home
How does Jesus feel about family?
What happens when you look back while plowing?  What if you want to plow in a curve?

What are your queeries?

Remembering Pulse: Words at a Vigil

Below are my words from the Pulse Vigil that took place this evening at The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines.  I was one of three speakers and simultaneous translation and interpretation were provided in Spanish and ASL, so I only have the English below.

-----

Buenas noches.  Good evening.

I'm Pastor Emily Ewing and I'm the Social Justice Pastor at Trinity las Américas United Methodist Church.  My pronouns are they/them/theirs, elle.

Today, my queerly beloved, we gather on land originally inhabited by the Ioway, Sauk, and Meskwaki peoples to remember violence perpetrated on the land of the Seminole people.

The attack on Pulse night club on Latinx night was a decidedly “American” attack—born from a country that weds the dominant religious ideology and white supremacy.  This country combines the evils of racism and queer- and transphobia and in recent years has been even more explicitly encouraging them.

The ways this country has historically and still today perpetuated and even created newly horrific forms of racism, queerphobia and transphobia, especially under the name of Christianity and “religious freedom” are sin.  Racism is sin.  White supremacy is sin.  Queerphobia is sin.  Transphobia is sin.  Heterosexism and cisgenderism are sin.

They harm everyone.

Just as immigration and the evils of ICE and Border Patrol don’t just impact those living along the borders, what happened at Pulse is not restricted to Orlando.  White supremacists and neo Nazis have been physically disrupting Prides this year.  In recent months we have heard again of Black trans women being killed in Dallas, of yet another Latina trans woman dying in detention while seeking asylum, and this is all to say nothing of the murders that don’t make our news.

And so we gather.

Again and again we gather.

We gather to support and encourage each other.

We gather to remember the lives we have lost—the ones unjustly taken from us.

We gather to challenge the powers and principalities that seek to do harm—to oppress, divide, and diminish especially the most marginalized among us.

In my Lutheran tradition, when someone is baptized or confirmed—recommitting themselves to their faith journey—we celebrate and we also make space to renounce the forces that divide and harm us and the world.  So, if you are willing, please join me when appropriate by responding to my questions with “I renounce them.”  Not every renunciation will apply to each one of us gathered here, but especially when it comes to systems and powers that you benefit from or that you want tonight to commit to challenging, please join in the renunciation.  The decision is entirely yours to do as you feel moved.

Do you, my queerly beloveds, renounce queerphobia, homophobia, and biphobia?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce racism, white supremacy, and xenophobia?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce transphobia, cisgenderism, and the gender binary?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce all forms of religious bigotry, religious extremism, and religious supremacy?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the shame that others impose and use to condemn?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the powers and principalities that attempt to divide and conquer us?

I renounce them.

Recommitting ourselves to the work of justice, of love, and of peace takes all of us—calling each other in when we mess up, supporting and carrying each other when we cannot go it alone, ensuring the most vulnerable among us are safe and centered in the work we do, and also celebrating both when there are victories and when the victory is simply that we are still here to fight another day—celebrating even in the face of those who would seek to harm us.

So, to you my queerly beloveds,

who come from the rich, nourishing dirt of the earth

and the brilliant, sparkling stardust scattered throughout the cosmos

you, who bear the divine image, love, and wonder in all of who you are,

and in all of who you are becoming:

May you remember and work to honor those no longer with us—

from the early resisters, rioters, and brick throwers

like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson

to those whose lives were taken at Pulse
to those who are killed still today—

may your living do them justice and honor them

May you know that you are loved—oh so very loved—

that you are lovable,
and that you are capable of so much love.

May you know sacred spaces throughout your life—

from queer bars to faith communities,
from parks and coffee shops to gardens and shelters.

May you always know that you belong,

that you are valid,

and that your existence in the world is important.

Amen.

Queerying Advent 4 Year C

Our reading from the Tanakh is queeried by periodic queerier River Needham.

Micah 5:2-5a
And you, O Bethlehem of Ephrath, least among the clans of Judah, from you one shall come forth to rule Israel for me—one whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. Truly, ze will leave them helpless until she who is to bear has borne; then the rest of hir countryfolk shall return to the children of Israel. Ze shall stand and shepherd by the might of the Becoming One, by the power of the name of the Becoming One hir God, and they shall dwell secure. For lo, ze shall wax great to the ends of the earth; and that shall afford safety.

Queeries for the text:
What does it mean to be least or most?
Who rules the days? What is happening to these days during this time?
Who rules Israel? Why does the ruler need to be replaced?
Who is the ancient one? Who bears hir?
Why does the ruler leave them helpless?
Who is divine in this text? Where does it change through the passage?
How does a ruler make people safe?
Where are the ends of the earth? Where else do they come up in Tanakh?
How do Jewish people respond to Christian appropriation of this text?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeried the gospel reading.

Luke 1:39-45[46-55]
³⁹In those days Mary set out

and went with haste to a Judean town

in the hill country,

⁴⁰where she entered the house of Zechariah

and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,

the child leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

⁴²and exclaimed with a loud cry,

“Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

⁴³And why has this happened to me,

that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

⁴⁴For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting,

the child in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵And blessed is she

who believed that what the Becoming One said to her

would be accomplished!”

⁴⁶And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Becoming One,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸who has looked with favor on me,

a lowly servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is God's name.

⁵⁰God's mercy is for those who fear Them

from generation to generation.

⁵¹God's arm is filled with strength,

scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

⁵²God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

⁵³God has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴God has helped Their servant Israel,

in remembrance of mercy,

⁵⁵according to the promise God made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Queeries for the text:
Where does Mary's song come from?
Why was Mary in such a hurry?
Who is Elizabeth?
What happens in a person's body when the fetus is in the sixth month?
Why do Elizabeth's words sound so familiar?
Who is the she who is blessed and believed?
Which powerful need to be brought down?  When?
How does God lift up the lowly?
Who are Abraham's descendants?
Where is Love?

What are your queeries?

all saints day year b - john

 

John 11:32-44
³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him,

she knelt at his feet and said to him,

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping,

and the Judeans who came with her also weeping,

he was greatly disturbed in spirit

and deeply moved.

³⁴Jesus said,

“Where have you laid him?”

They said to him,

“Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus began to weep.
³⁶So the Judeans said,

“See how he loved him!”

³⁷But some of them said,

“Could not the one

who opened the eyes of the blind man

have kept this man from dying?” 

³⁸Then Jesus,

again greatly disturbed,

came to the tomb.

It was a cave,

and a stone was lying against it.

³⁹Jesus said,

“Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man,

said to him,

“Lord, already there is a stench

because he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone.

And Jesus looked upward and said,

“Father, I thank you for having heard me.

⁴²I knew that you always hear me,

but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

so that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³When he had said this,

he cried with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴The dead man came out,

his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to them,

“Unbind him,
and let him go.”

Queeries for the text:
Who is Jesus weeping for?
How did Jesus love Lazarus?
Why do they call Jesus Lord so many times?
How often are our prayers for the sake of the crowd? Can they be for us and the crowd?
Does Jesus know something about Lazarus that we don't?
How is the church bound?
What did Lazarus think about coming back from the dead?  What did he say?
How did the religious authorities respond to this?
How many saints have been killed by guns and hatred this year?

What are your queeries?

17th after pentecost year b - isaiah

Special thanks to guest queerier, River Needham!  

Isaiah 50: 4-9a  
⁴The Becoming One has given me
    The tongue of those who are taught,
    That I should know how to sustain with words the one who is weary;
    Who awakens morning by morning,
    Who awakens my ear
    To hear as they who are taught.
⁵The Becoming One has opened my ear,
    And I was not rebellious,
    Nor turned away backward.
⁶I gave my back to the smiters,
    And my cheeks to the ones that plucked off the hair;
    I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
⁷For The Becoming One will help me;
    Therefore have I not been confounded;
    Therefore have I set my face like a flint,
    And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
⁸Xe is near who justifies me;
    Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together;
    Who is my adversary? Let Xem come near to me.
⁹Behold, the Becoming One will help me; 
    Who is the one who shall condemn me?

Queeries for the text:
Can tongues be transplanted?
How can words sustain us? Teach us?
What is ear opening? How would you respond to ear opening?
What does plucking out hair have to do with anything? What about spitting?
What does it look like when the Becoming One helps? How does it prevent being confounded?
What is justification in this passage; how does Xe enact it?
Is The Becoming One simultaneously justifier and adversary?
How does The Becoming One protect against condemnation?

What are your queeries?

holy trinity sunday year b - romans

Romans 8:12-17

¹²So then, siblings, we are debtors, 
     not to the flesh, 
          to live according to the flesh—
               ¹³for if you live according to the flesh, 
                    you will die; 
     but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, 
          you will live.
               ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
                    ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, 
                         but you have received a spirit of adoption. 
          When we cry, “Abba! Papa!”
               ¹⁶it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit 
                    that we are children of God, 
                         ¹⁷and if children, then heirs, 
                              heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—
                                   if, in fact, we suffer with Them
                                        so that we may also be glorified with Them.

Queeries for the text:
Are our only options Spirit or flesh?  What do those words even mean?  What are the deeds of the body?
What is a spirit of slavery?
How does fear control us?
What is a spirit of adoption?
Who are children of God?
If we're heirs, what do we inherit?
Is suffering with Christ our inheritance?

What are your queeries?