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.
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Commentary
Proper 29C
Commentary: This text thrives on a couple of significant contrasts: negligence vs. diligence and shepherd vs. king. Negligence and Diligence The first image this text offers us is of a shepherd who has become derelict in his responsibilities. Some texts translate the Hebrew to say he destroyed the flock. Robert Alter is content with a…
Isaiah 65:17-25
Commentary
Proper 28C
Heaven is a Place on Earth A lot of ink has been spilled in scholarly spaces debating the nature of the New Jerusalem that Isaiah celebrates here in this passage. Some say the New Jerusalem will be an eternal heavenly reality after this earth is destroyed, first by human hands until, finally, (as though mercifully)…
Haggai 2:1-9
Commentary
Proper 27C
Names and Dates Haggai is a short book, wedged between Zephaniah and Zechariah, toward the end of the 12 books of the Minor Prophets. With just three chapters, you might say that Haggai is more minor than most! Using the dating scattered through the book like a modern-day time stamp, we learn that Haggai only…
Isaiah 1:10-18
Commentary
Proper 26C
Commentary: As Worship Sourcebook: While the point Isaiah is making is that Israel’s worship is unacceptable to God because it does not match their behavior toward the most vulnerable in society, this text is also — kind of accidentally — a primer on the central aspects of worship among the faithful in Jerusalem. We can…
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Commentary
Proper 25C
Dialoguing with God This text—not just the parts chosen by our Lectionary editors but the whole chapter—offers a beautiful example of God and God’s people in relationship, dialoguing and talking out their differences. In this case (and, to be honest, most cases), their difference of opinion shows up over sin, over human failure to keep…
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Commentary
Proper 24C
New Covenant For Christian readers, this Lectionary selection emerges out of Hebrew Scripture as though with giant flashing arrows and neon signs lighting up the name: “JESUS!” Here he is and here is the goal of his ministry laid out neatly before us. This notion of a “new covenant” is laid out and explained in…
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Commentary
Proper 23C
Pen Pal Jeremiah is a compendium of literary genres, as we have already seen a whiplash of sorts from a kind of poetic prophecy to narrative and now to letter. Those of us who read Hebrew Scripture along with the New Testament may not notice how strange it is to find an epistle embedded in…
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Commentary
Proper 22C
So then, What is a Covenant-Keeping God to Do? Elizabeth Achtemeier, in her Interpretation commentary on the book of Habakkuk insists that, while the backdrop of this prophetic book is the disobedience and injustice of God’s people and their subsequent punishment at the hands of an invading Babylonian army, that is not the primary focus…
Jeremiah 32:1-15
Commentary
Proper 21C
“A Little Book of Consolation” For those who have been tracking in Jeremiah with me through this season of Lectionary readings, be warned! This week’s lectionary text switches from poetry to narrative and left me quite disoriented. How can both the apocalyptic lament and the story of a land purchase both be Jeremiah? Let me…
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Commentary
Proper 20C
Illustration: The Emperor’s New Clothes is a wonderful parable for explaining the prophet’s task. The prophet is not the only person who knows or notices what is true. The prophet is the one who foregoes pretense and is unafraid to say the quiet part out loud. In the classic children’s story, it is a young…
About Meg Jenista