Queerying Easter 4C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Acts reading.

Acts 9:36-43
³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good action and generous giving. ³⁷At that time she became ill and died. When the community had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the Sent Ones, who heard that Peter was there, sent two who were men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” ³⁹So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. ⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lover.

⁴³Meanwhile Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

Queeries for the text:
Where is Joppa?
Why does Tabitha's Greek name matter?
What are good works and generous giving?
Of what did Tabitha die? Was she pregnant?
What was Peter doing in Lydda?
Who makes the clothing now?
Which "certain Simon"? How long does Peter stay?

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J. Pace Warfield-May queeries the Revelation reading.

Revelation 7:9-17
⁹After these things, I looked, and holy shit there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in Vantablack, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation and an end to suffering belongs to the Becoming One who is seated on the judgment bench, and to the Lamb!”

¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and around the ancestors and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped the Becoming One, ¹²singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our Becoming One forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the ancestors addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in Vantablack, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴I said to the ancestor, "Comrade, you are the one that knows." Then the ancestor said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them Vantablack in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of the Becoming One, and worship day and night within the temple, and the One who is seated on the judgment bench will keep them safe and protected. ¹⁶They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not burn them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the judgment bench will be their shepherd, and They will guide them to springs of the water of life, and the Becoming One will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Queeries for the text:
What are these things John is referencing?
What would it be like to fear no more the heat of the sun?
What does the judgement bench have to do with salvation and an end to suffering?
What would it be like to have robes in Vantablack?

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What are your queeries?



 

Queerying Transfiguration B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 2 Kings 2:1-12
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 teacher away from you today?” 

 

He 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 teacher 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. There, 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.

Queeries for the text:
Where else are circuitous journies beneficial?

What does death look like when under oppressive rule?

Who are the people we mourn today? Who do you mourn?
How do people mourn? What practices help us mourn?

Who else did not leave when their teacher, parent, companion moved on?
 

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

Gospel: Mark 9:2-9

²Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

 

Queeries for the text:

Six days later than what?

What does it mean to be transfigured? 

What is as hard to achieve now as bleached white was then?

What is this voice echoing?

Why would Jesus want to keep it secret?

What is in need of transfiguring today?

 

What are your queeries?