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 2nd after Epiphany C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his chosen family had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

So they took it.

⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the wedding party ¹⁰and said to them, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Queeries for the text:
The third day after what?
Who gets invited to weddings?
What happens when wine runs out?
When is Jesus' “hour”?
What Jewish rites of purification?
What do servants know?
Why does quality matter?
To whom can this text be harmful? 

What are your queeries?

Queerying 8th after Pentecost A

River Needham M.A., queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 29:15-28

Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are kin, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 

Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider. Stay with me.” 

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” Laban gathered all the people of the place and made a feast. When evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and he cohabited with her.— Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.— When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” 

Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.”

Jacob did so; he waited out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife.

Queeries for the text:
Where is God?

What kinds of exchanges occur for weddings?
Who do we call weak? What does weakness mean?

What does a Jewish Wedding look like?

What is agency?

What cultural influences shape weddings today?

What tradition did this story create that continues to this day?

What are your queeries?