Queerying 4th after Epiphany B

River Needham, MA queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Moses continued:
The Becoming One your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your own people, like myself; hir you shall heed. This is just what you asked of the Becoming One your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear the voice of the Becoming One my God any longer or see this wondrous fire any more, lest I die.” 

Then the Becoming One said to me, “They have done well in speaking this. I will raise up a prophet for them from among their own people, like yourself: I will put My words in hirs mouth and xe will speak to them all that I command hir; and if anybody fails to heed the words xe speaks in My name, I Myself will call hir to account. But any prophet who presumes to speak in My name an oracle that I did not command hir to utter, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.”

Queeries for the text:
Who are the prophets of our day?

Where are the prophetesses?

Where is Horeb?

Why did the people not want to hear from The Becoming One anymore?
Does death seem an appropriate penalty? Why or why not?

 

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

 

 

Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

²¹Jesus, Simon, Andrew, James, and John went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. ²²The crowd was astounded at his teaching, for Jesus taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 

 

²³Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 

 

²⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 

 

²⁶And the unclean spirit, convulsing the man and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! This one commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸At once Jesus' fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

 

Queeries for the text:

What is authority? Who has it?

Why do names matter? How?

How does fame impact people?

What is unclean?

What happens on the sabbath today?

Who destroys? What is saved?

 

What are your queeries?

 

 

Queerying 5th after Epiphany A

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

Tanakh: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

Cry with full throat, without restraint; raise your voice like a ram’s horn! Declare to my people their transgression, to the House of Jacob their sin.

To be sure, they seek me daily, eager to learn my ways. Like a nation that does what is right, that has not abandoned the laws of its God, they ask me for the right way, they are eager for the nearness of God: “Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did you pay no heed?” Because on your fast day you see to your business and oppress all your laborers!

Because you fast in strife and contention, and you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such as to make your voice heard on high. 

Is such the fast I desire, a day for humans to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush and lying in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call that a fast, a day when the Becoming One is favorable? 

No, this is the fast I desire: to unlock fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke.

It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to ignore your own kin.

Then shall your light burst through like the dawn and your healing spring up quickly; your vindicator shall march before you, the Presence of the Becoming One shall be your rear guard. 

Then, when you call, the Becoming One will answer; when you cry, She will say: Here I am. If you banish the yoke from your midst, the menacing hand, and evil speech, and you offer your compassion to the hungry and satisfy the famished creature— then shall your light shine in darkness, and your gloom shall be like noonday.

The Becoming One will guide you always; She will slake your thirst in parched places and give strength to your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose waters do not fail. 

People from your midst shall rebuild ancient ruins, you shall restore foundations laid long ago. And you shall be called “Repairer of fallen walls, Restorer of lanes for habitation.”

Queeries for the text:
What fills the throat when crying out?
What's the problem with starving one's body?
Who is still working to be set free today?
Who are the kin being ignored?
Why are parts of the passage optional?
Where are there springs with unfailing waters?
Who are the repairer of fallen walls today?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said:
¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Parent in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the reign of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the reign of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the reign of heaven.

Queeries for the text:
How does salt lose its taste?
What does salt do to the earth?  To snow?  To soil?
Why build a city on a hill?
What kind of light?  Is light always good?
What does it mean to fulfill the law and prophets?
How do people teach others?
How can we be more righteous?
In what ways are scribes and Pharisees righteous?  How can we learn from them?

What are your queeries?