Queer Theology

What does the Palm Sunday story have in common with ACT UP and Queer Nation? How is Palm Sunday similar to political protest? Brian and Fr. Shay queer a familiar passage and talk about the implications for queer and trans organizing. The post Jesus Steals a Donkey – Matthew 21:1-11 appeared first on Queer Theology.

This week Brian and Fr. Shay tackle a well known passage from Ezekiel. What does this text have to say about queer and trans bodies? How can we queer this passage? All this and more on this week’s podcast! Read the transcript (PDF) Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones. He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry. He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?” I said, “Lord God, only you know.” He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Dry bones, hear the Lord’s word! The Lord God proclaims to these bones: I am about to put breath in you, and you will live again. I will put sinews on you, place flesh on you, and cover you with skin. When I put breath in you, and you come to life, you will know that I am the Lord.” I prophesied just as I was commanded. There was a great noise as I was prophesying, then a great quaking, and the bones came together, bone by bone. When I looked, suddenly there were sinews on them. The flesh appeared, and then they were covered over with skin. But there was still no breath in them. He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, human one! Say to the breath, The Lord God proclaims: Come from the four winds, breath! Breathe into these dead bodies and let them live.” I prophesied just as he commanded me. When the breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, an extraordinarily large company. He said to me, “Human one, these bones are the entire house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely finished.’ So now, prophesy and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: I’m opening your graves! I will raise you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to Israel’s fertile land. You will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from your graves, my people. I will put my breath in you, and you will live. I will plant you on your fertile land, and you will know that I am the Lord. I’ve spoken, and I will do it. This is what the Lord says.” The post Bodies Matter – Ezekiel 37:1-14 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Brian and Fr. Shay talk about what it means to be Children of Light. How do we reclaim a text that people could say condemns queer and trans people? How does shining a light on our queerness alleviate shame? In this week’s podcast we queer and reclaim a text in a powerful way. Here’s the Awake O Sleeper video Brian talked about in the episode: Photo Credit: rishibando The post Children of Light – Ephesians 5:8-14 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Brian and Fr. Shay tackle the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. What does this story tell us about the Kingdom of God and the mission of Jesus? How do we push past a trite reading of the passage? This week’s podcast raises questions of inclusion, pushing boundaries, and preaching hard truths. John 4:5-42 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food. The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.) Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!” Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.” The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.” “You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.” The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship him this way. God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.” The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.” Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus. In the meantime the disciples spoke to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” The disciples asked each other, “Has someone brought him food?” Jesus said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me and by completing his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then it’s time for harvest’? Look, I tell you: open your eyes and notice that the fields are already ripe for the harvest. Those who harvest are receiving their pay and gathering fruit for eternal life so that those who sow and those who harvest can celebrate together. This is a true saying, that one sows and another harvests. I have sent you to harvest what you didn’t work hard for; others worked hard, and you will share in their hard work.” Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.” The post The Kingdom is Bigger – John 4:5-42 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Brian and Shay take a look at a comforting passage from the Psalms and share what it has meant to them on their own journey. Then they raise the question, “What might we be inspired to do if we believed God is on our side?” Read the transcript (PDF) The post God Is On Our Side – Psalm 121 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Brian and Shay tackle the temptation of Jesus and what it means to us today. What do these temptations have to say to the church? Are the temptations personal or political? Does buying into the system protect us? All this and more on this week’s podcast. The post The Temptation of Christ (and Us) – Matthew 4:1-11 appeared first on Queer Theology.

Brian and Shay talk about Jesus’ Transfiguration and what it means. If the Transfiguration is Jesus’ coming out moment, what comes next? How can the Transfiguration be read in a queer way? The post Jesus Comes Out – Matthew 17:1-9 appeared first on Queer Theology.

What does it mean to be God’s Temple? Is the way to honor God’s temple simply not smoking, drinking or having sex? Brian and Shay queer a popular passage from 1 Corinthians and show how it can be read in a whole new way. Photo by shrff14 The post God’s Temple – 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 appeared first on Queer Theology.

With this week’s podcast Brian and Shay pull back the curtain and reveal some of the inner motivations that led to the creation of Queer Theology and why they do things the way they do. What does it mean for theology to be “devotional”? What issues are “queer issues”? They tackle these questions and more. Get queer-inclusive affirmations delivered to your inbox daily Learn more about Spit & Spirit The post Feeding the Head & the Heart appeared first on Queer Theology.

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be a “Christian in public”? Brian and Shay tackle these questions (and also recount their stories of “See You At the Pole”) in this week’s podcast. Photo by @Doug88888 The post Salt of the Earth – Matthew 5:13-16 appeared first on Queer Theology.