Rev. Meg Jenista Kuykendall lives in Philadelphia, PA and is an ordained minister in the Reformed tradition. She earned her M.Div at Calvin Theological Seminary (2008) and her ThM, also at CTS (2019). She spent 15 years pastoring churches in Kalamazoo, MI, and Washington DC. Currently, Meg is studying for her PhD in public theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, with a particular focus on the intersection of political discipleship and pulpit ministry. She balances out her PhD research by reading Sandra Boynton and Mo Willems books with her young son, cooking with her husband, and exploring their new home of Philadelphia.
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Commentary
Epiphany 7C
It matters how you tell the story. After chapters and chapters of some narrator telling us Joseph’s story, with very few places where Joseph, himself, gives meaning to the unfolding events. After the most recent three chapters where we experience the brothers living out their story until, two weeks ago, Judah finally spilled the whole…
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Commentary
Epiphany 6C
Tie-In Across Lectionary Texts Sometimes, especially with the Hebrew Scripture text, our best bet is to read it as supplement and complement to the other texts chosen on a given Sunday. This week’s lectionary readings lend themselves that way this week. Across all the lectionary readings this week, with the possible exception of the epistle,…
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Commentary
Epiphany 5C
Illustration: It Doesn’t Get Better Than This As a graduate student, I am currently in a season of studying for my comprehensive exams. A couple months ago, I took my reading lists, a calendar and opened a brand new spreadsheet on my computer. I took the afternoon to create a weekly calendar and scheduled my…
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Commentary
Epiphany 4C
Commentary: Why Does God Prefer the Cotton-Mouthed? The keen reader of Scripture might wonder, when reading this week’s Hebrew Scripture text, “where have I heard that before?” In response to God’s call, Jeremiah protests, “I know not how to speak,.” Both Moses and Isaiah claimed the same malady but neither of them got out of…
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Commentary
Epiphany 3C
Commentary: Nehemiah, in General Since we are just dropping into the text for a moment this week, it might make sense to broaden our perspective to what the whole of Nehemiah wants us to know and learn. The NIBC commentary observes that “Ezra-Nehemiah is the Old Testament equivalent of the Acts of the Apostles —…
Isaiah 62:1-5
Commentary
Epiphany 2C
Embarrassingly Loved If you blush easily, prepare yourself for this week’s lectionary text out of Hebrew Scripture! After all the desolations of the early chapters of Isaiah, we saw the turn last week with Isaiah 43. Less than 20 chapters later, reading Scripture can feel almost like eavesdropping the sweet nothings of young lovers or…
Isaiah 43:1-7
Commentary
Epiphany 1C
Illustration/Image: One of the blockbuster movies from this past holiday season for a movie adaptation of the musical, Wicked, the story of The Wizard of Oz as told by the “wicked” witch of the West. In both the original musical and this latest spin-off, the presence of the Wizard looms large. He is lauded with…
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Commentary
Christmas 2C
Illustration: Imagine the crankiest person you know. Don’t say their name out loud. Perhaps it is a character from fiction: Eeyore, Ron Swanson, Debbie Downer or the Grinch. Perhaps someone in real life like Simon Cowell on America’s Got Talent. Now imagine Eeyore with a smile, Ron Swanson giggling, Debbie Downer with a soundtrack of…
I Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Commentary
Christmas 1C
Acknowledging that the Hebrew Scripture text may not be everyone’s immediate choice for the Sunday after Christmas, I want to use this text as a lens on the others or, perhaps, to demonstrate reverberations and harmonies between this text and the others as a way of deepening your engagement with all the texts together. Commentary:…
Micah 5:2-5
Commentary
Advent 4C
Illustration: Depending on how churches structure their worship services for the holidays, this may function as a kind-of Christmas preview or, at least, one last Sunday before the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day celebrations. So you might riff on those expectations a bit. If you have the opportunity to solicit answers and foster a bit…
About Meg Jenista