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.
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…
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Commentary
Advent 3C
A Pastoral Word: The Christmas season can be difficult for those grieving, lonely, struggling financially. In fact, any time of year is difficult for those in distress. But the particular difficulty of Christmas is the temptation to throw tinsel and lights on the outside without attending to the realities on the inside. For this reason,…
Malachi 3:1-4
Commentary
Advent 2C
Commentary: Advent is most commonly referred to as a season of waiting. But the minor prophets don’t let us off that easy. They rightly point out that there is a world of difference between waiting and preparing.As little kids, we thought the waiting was the hard part. As adults, we’ve learned that waiting around with…
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Commentary
Advent 1C
In Those Days… The first Sunday in Advent welcomes us into the work of waiting. The first Sunday of Advent can often feel like a rude awakening. In the US context, those who hold to a no-Christmas-music-until-after-Thanksgiving have likely already heard their favorite carols blaring over the loudspeakers at the shopping mall. They may have…
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Commentary
Proper 29B
Commentary: How are we meant to read the text of Daniel 7? Is it a history book, a mystery novel, an algebra equation? Or is it poetry? Well, how would Daniel’s original audience have received the vision? Context Daniel wrote for Israelites in Babylonian exile, about 600 years before Christ’s birth. They knew the story…
Daniel 12:1-3
Commentary
Proper 28B
Where and What Is It? Imagine my surprise as I went to my trusty 3-volume commentary on Hebrew Scripture written by Jewish scholar, Robert Alter and couldn’t find the book of Daniel. Obviously, I pulled his volume on the prophets but the book of Daniel was not where it belonged! So I opened his book…
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Commentary
Proper 27B
Commentary on Ruth 3: Sunday School may not have given us exactly the right idea about what is going on in Ruth chapter 3. In our Sunday School imaginings, Ruth may seem to have more in common with a Disney princess than a desperate and resourceful Moabite widow in Israel. Her first day in the…
Ruth 1:1-18
Commentary
Proper 26B
The next two Sundays create a wonderful opportunity for reflection on harvest, on reliance on God in the hard times and gratitude to God who provides — wonderful themes for the Thanksgiving season. Illustration The Bechdel Test is a way of evaluating film content named for its creator, Alison Bechdel. It is an informal way…
Job 38:1-6, 10-17
Commentary
Proper 25B
In one way, this sequence of lectionary readings have been helpful: setting up a premise — unjust suffering that God’s people throughout history and geography will relate to, Job’s honest response, God showing up and putting the present moment in context and, finally, this week, Job’s acceptance of God’s power and wisdom. On the other…
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Commentary
Proper 24B
Image: To begin as a kind of summary of where Job has been, we might turn to that sage philosopher in black, Johnny Cash. In his song, I Won’t Back Down, Cash sings: I won’t back down. No, I won’t back down. You can stand me up at the gates of hell But I won’t…
About Meg Jenista