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.
I Samuel 16:1-13
Commentary
Lent 4A
A Moment of Clarity Up until this point in the narrative, the narrator has most often relied on Samuel’s reports of God’s messages instead of, as we saw in his call story (I Samuel 3) God’s direct speech. A snippet of direct speech breaks through when Samuel first sees Saul and understands God’s intention to…
Exodus 17:1-7
Commentary
Lent 3A
Pastor’s Cut It is almost too bad that we are expected to preach this text to our congregations because, really, this is a story for pastors. Pastors following God’s guidance (wishing the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night was still a thing) in order to get God’s people where they are supposed…
Genesis 12:1-4
Commentary
Lent 1A
Illustration In chapter 12 of the book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller tells the story of his friend Jason. Jason and his wife had a 13-year-old daughter. And their 13-year-old daughter had pot stashed in her closet. She had a boyfriend too. And she had a father who was terrified of…
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Commentary
Lent 1A
Illustration One of the most compelling recent apologetics for sin comes, ironically, from Francis Spufford’s book, Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense. Emerging from a long line of once-skeptical British intellectuals returning to Christian faith and finding that it does, in fact, “make surprising emotional sense.” In his second chapter,…
Exodus 24:12-18
Commentary
Transfiguration Sunday
Worship Connection Transfiguration Sunday offers a bridge every year from Epiphany, the season of light, to Lent, the season of Ash. What light and ash have in common is fire, which creates both. Although the Transfiguration Gospel text from Matthew doesn’t name fire as an element in the Transfiguration of Christ, many of the images…
Isaiah 58:1-12
Commentary
Epiphany 5A
Because I prepare about a month early, I am reading these words against the backdrop of ICE raids, of terrorized people and extrajudicial killing in detention facilities and on the streets of Minneapolis. As I settled into my seat to review the text before diving into commentaries, I read these words and my body tensed,…
Micah 6:1-8
Commentary
Epiphany 4A
We all know what the key verse in the text is. The real star of the show shows up in verse 8, words set to music, memorized and printed on mission trip t-shirts: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to…
Isaiah 9:1-4
Commentary
Epiphany 3A
Illustration It may feel strange to be preaching Isaiah 9—a quintessentially Christmas text—a full month after the holiday has passed. Surely decorations are put away, the tree is in a woodchopper somewhere, making mulch for next spring and our lives have gone back to “normal,” whatever that means. But, rereading Isaiah 9 in late January…
Isaiah 49:1-7
Commentary
Epiphany 2A
Illustration “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists in two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” Knowledge of God, of course, sounds noble enough but that knowledge of ourselves? Does it strike you as a little pop-psychology? Kind-of self-help-y and postmodern? Where does that quotation…
Isaiah 42:1-9
Commentary
Epiphany 1A
Illustration As a matter of visuals in the sanctuary or maybe as content for a children’s message, consider bringing in a bouquet of flowers in a vase, but bending one so that it sticks out at a strange angle. Perhaps consult with a florist in your congregation on methods they can use to support a…
About Meg Jenista