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 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…
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Commentary
Christmas 2A
Commentary: A Bittersweet Moment The first Sunday of the new year can feel like a bittersweet time for people who have just prepared for Christmas—baking, hosting, buying, wrapping, sending—within an inch of their lives. I’m mindful of empty nesters whose homes were a little less empty. For families who rarely see one another traveling, being…
Isaiah 63:7-9
Commentary
Christmas 1A
How Can I Keep from Singing? The Sunday after Christmas is, especially for those who have (mostly) kept Christmas at bay with Advent hymns, a chance to sing all the Christmas carols that wouldn’t fit into a Christmas Eve or Christmas morning service. Unfortunately, once we get to January, people have turned the calendar page….
Isaiah 7:10-16
Commentary
Advent 4A
Backs Against the Wall The text of Isaiah 7:10-16 (well, really, verse 14) is embedded in the Christian imagination as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ from the Virgin Mary. But, before it served that purpose, it had another. Taking in the context of the first 9 verses of chapter 7, here’s the…
About Meg Jenista