Queerying 4th after Epiphany C

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The word of the Becoming One came to me:
Before I created you in the womb, I selected you;
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.

I replied:
Ah, Becoming Itself!
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.
And the Becoming said to me:
Do not say, “I am still a boy,”
But go wherever I send you
And speak whatever I command you.
Have no fear of them,
For I am with you to deliver you
—declares the Becoming One.

The Becoming One put out Her hand and touched my mouth, and the Becoming One said to me: Here, I put My words into your mouth.
See, I appoint you this day
Over nations and kingdoms:
To uproot and to pull down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.

Queeries for the text:
What nations does this author refer to?
Who are the prophets?
What is God saying today?
What can we build and plant?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30
²¹Then Jesus began to say to the crowd gathered in the synagogue, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²All spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

²³Jesus said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

²⁴And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

³⁰But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Queeries for the text:
Which scripture?
Who is spoken well of today? Who speaks well of others?
What expectations do we place on helpers?
What did God do in Zarephath?
What did God do to Namaan?
How do some people fill with rage so quickly?
How do people pass through the midst of crowds? 

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 10th after Pentecost C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 12:49-56
Jesus said:
⁴⁹“I came to bring fire to the earth,

and how I wish it were already kindled!
⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized,

and what stress I am under until it is completed!

⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division!

⁵²From now on five in one household will be divided,

three against two and two against three;
⁵³they will be divided:

father against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴Jesus also said to the crowds,

“When you see a cloud rising in the west,

you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’;

and so it happens.

⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing,

you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’;

and it happens.

⁵⁶You hypocrites!

You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky,

but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?  Why do we keep skipping verses?
Was Jesus a pyro?  How is fire helpful?
When are families divided?
Does Jesus bring the division or shed light on it?
What can we interpret from earth and sky?
What is in the present time?
What stress does baptism cause?
How are we divided?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 2nd after Pentecost C

Periodic Queerier, River Needham, queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 1 Kings 19:1-4 [5-7] 8-15
When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.”
Frightened, Elijah fled at once for his life.
Elijah came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; Elijah himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. Elijah came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die.
“Enough!” he cried. “Now, O Becoming One, take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. 
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 

He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Becoming One came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”

He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb.
There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night.
Then the word of the Becoming One came to him. Ze said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the Becoming One, the God of Angel Armies, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
“Come out,” Ze called, “and stand on the mountain before the Becoming One.”
And lo, the Becoming One passed by.
There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Becoming One; but the Becoming One was not in the wind.
After the wind—an earthquake; but the Becoming One was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake—fire; but the Becoming One was not in the fire.
And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?” He answered, “I am moved by zeal for the Becoming One, the God of Angel Armies; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
The Becoming One said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and on to the wilderness of Damascus.

Queeries for the text:
Who was Jezebel?
Where else do prophets call out for God to take their life?
Why do we think the angel is not a necessary part of the story? Where else do we edit out people? Does the meaning of the text change with or without the italicized portion?
What meaning does the number 40 have?
What does it mean to come out?
Where is God in natural disasters?
How does God speak today?
Where all did Elijah travel?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39
²⁶Then Jesus and the disciple arrived at the country of the Gerasenes,

which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷As Jesus stepped out on land,

a person of the city who had demons met him.

For a long time they had worn no clothes,
and they did not live in a house but in the tombs.

²⁸When they saw Jesus,

they fell down before him
and shouted at the top of their voice,

“What have you to do with me,

Jesus, Child of the Most High God?

I beg you, do not torment me”—

²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit
to come out of the person.

(For many times it had seized them;
they were kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles,

but they would break the bonds
and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

³⁰Jesus then asked them,

“What is your name?”

They said,

“Legion”;

for many demons had entered them.

³¹The demons begged Jesus not to order them to go back into the abyss.

³²Now there on the hillside

a large herd of swine was feeding;
and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these.

So Jesus gave them permission.

³³Then the demons came out of the person
and entered the swine,
and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake
and was drowned.

³⁴When the swineherds saw what had happened,

they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
and when they came to Jesus,

they found the person from whom the demons had gone

sitting at the feet of Jesus,

clothed and in their right mind.

And they were afraid.

³⁶Those who had seen it told them

how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.

³⁷Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes

asked Jesus to leave them;

for they were seized with great fear.

So Jesus got into the boat and returned.

³⁸The one from whom the demons had gone begged

that they might be with Jesus;

but Jesus sent them away, saying,

³⁹“Return to your home,
and declare how much God has done for you.”

So they went away,

proclaiming throughout the city

how much Jesus had done for them.

Queeries for the text:
Why did people let the person live without clothes in a tomb?
Who else is bound?  With chains and shackles?
Who else is driven into the wilds?
What does "Legion" represent?
Who is Legion today?
What's the difference between the abyss and drowning in a lake?
Why does someone in their right mind spark fear?
Why and how are we afraid of healing? How do we encounter healing?
Why does Jesus send the person away?

What are your queeries?