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.
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Commentary
Proper 22A
Leaving Out the Hard Bits Reading through the Lectionary selection this week, I had the feeling I get when my pre-schooler, who is playing in the other room, suddenly goes quiet. Immediately suspicious, I want to know what he’s up to. So, similarly, it might be important to investigate the quiet bits, the parts the…
Exodus 17:1-7
Commentary
Proper 21A
Leadership Called into Question In recent years, scandals have unmasked and dethroned many charismatic (personality temperament, not denomination) leaders in the church. My brain quickly recalled these stories as I read Moses’ reply to God’s people who are—yet again–complaining about conditions in the wilderness. In verse 2, Moses dresses the people down for questioning him….
Exodus 16:2-15
Commentary
Proper 20A
Illustration I was recently watching a TV show with my 4-year-old and, at one point, an item begins to ring. The main character picks up the top part, connected to the bottom part with a curly wire and speaks into it. On the main, bottom part, there is a circle with numbers, almost like a…
Exodus 14:19-31
Commentary
Proper 19A
Illustration The story of the exodus is a potent motif for shaping the story of oppressed people. In the US context, we know this from the way the story was used in songs written by enslaved people. “Go down Moses and tell old Pharaoh, ‘let my people go.’” Harriet Tubman, who famously led hundreds to…
Exodus 12:1-14
Commentary
Proper 18A
Illustration Back-to-School season has evolved since my day. A trip to Walmart for a Trapper-Keeper and new colored pencils, maybe a special new outfit has been elaborated with specific first-day-of-school social media posts, maybe a clap-in at school, a “Blessing of the Backpacks” at church. None of it is wrong … it’s just become elaborate,…
Exodus 3:1-15
Commentary
Proper 17A
From the banks of the Nile to a parched mountain (the literal translation of Horeb), we find Moses settled into the humble lifestyle of a nomadic shepherd just about as far from Pharaoh’s court as humanly possible. The King James tells us that, as the curtain rises on this scene, Moses is hanging out with…
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Commentary
Proper 16A
Image It matters a great deal where you place yourself in the Biblical narrative. Some of our worst theology comes from placing ourselves wrongly: always the hero, never the needy. Always the righteous, never the meanie. Erna Kim Hackett refers to this as “Disney Princess Theology.” “As each individual reads Scripture, they see themselves as…
Genesis 45:1-15
Commentary
Proper 15A
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 3 chapters that focus on the brothers’ strange experience in Egypt, where we get to hear the whole story from…
I Kings 19:9-18
Commentary
Proper 14A
This week, I am mixing it up—because the Lectionary does—by switching to an alternative reading from Hebrew Scripture: The story of Elijah meeting God in a still, small voice. If you are still tracking the story of Genesis, you might see my previous commentary on Joseph here. Commentary The placement of this Elijah narrative matters…
Genesis 32:23-33
Commentary
Proper 13A
Illustration The dark night of the soul is a concept made popular by a book with that title, written by St. John of the Cross in the 16th century. It means something like a sense of soul weariness, helplessness, a persistent and stubborn dismay with self, with others and with God. Although the concept is…
About Meg Jenista