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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.
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Commentary
Proper 23B
Image: It’s been over four years since the world learned the technology of online meeting software. And still, not a meeting, class, or conversation goes by without someone saying, “whoops, you’re muted.” And sometimes all it takes is a simple click to unmute. Sometimes the discovery that we can’t hear someone leads to a whole…
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
Commentary
Proper 22B
Once Upon a Time… Love it or hate it, Job rarely allows a neutral reading. However, we can, perhaps, safeguard against the worst interpretations by stopping at the outset to clarify the text’s genre. According to Hebrew scholar, Robert Alter, the interpretive key may be found in the very first verse: “A man there was…
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22
Commentary
Proper 21B
Wisdom Personified Personified In her commentary on Esther for the Africana Bible Commentary, Dorothy Bea Akot identifies the genre of this text as a royal court intrigue or a Sophia/Wisdom tale. For those of us following the Lectionary texts of Hebrew Scripture. I am, on occasion, critical of what the Lectionary has chosen to leave…
Proverbs 31
Commentary
Proper 20B
Content Warning Because the Biblical text overwhelmingly centers male characters in a way that is unsurprising for ancient near-eastern literature, every women’s devotional writer and preacher tasked with a Mother’s Day sermon takes a turn with Proverbs 31. The result is over-used and over-wrought exegesis. Unfortunately, far too many women and girls in our churches…
Proverbs 1:20-33
Commentary
Proper 19B
Wisdom Personified Tackling this week’s lectionary text from the first chapter of Proverbs, with next week’s text from the last chapter in mind, it may be worth considering making a short series out of the two together. The first thing that holds them both together is the theme of wisdom and, particularly, the way wisdom…
Isaiah 35:4-7
Commentary
Proper 18B
Is the Anger of God Good News? All the way back in Isaiah 27, the sword of the Lord’s wrath is brought out. We are told in verse 4 that thorns and briers will war against Israel’s enemies, that unless there is peace, God will bring judgment. All of these images are picked back up…
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Commentary
Proper 17B
Commentary: Hear and Live “Hear” is a key word in all of Hebrew Scripture, most notably in the Shema, which is the central prayer of Judaism. Perhaps Christians might think of it also as a credal formulation. It goes like this: “hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love…
Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18
Commentary
Proper 16B
Worship Idea: This reading from Hebrew Scripture is a key example of the ancient near-eastern tradition of covenant renewal. It comes at a wonderful spot on the calendar as students in many places are returning to the classroom and folks are finding the rhythm of the school year again. This is a great time to…
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Commentary
Proper 15B
Sermon Illustration: This might work well in the space of a children’s sermon because (speaking from personal experience) kids spend more time dreaming of what they would do with magical wishes in a way that adults — with home repairs, deadlines at work, kids dental work to save for — have moved past. If a…
1 Kings 19:4-8
Commentary
Proper 14B
Sermon Illustration: During the recent Paris Olympics, I was reminded again of the acronym: G.O.A.T., which stands for Greatest of All Time. While many athletes have claimed the title and a few of them have even earned it, I think the GOAT-iest GOAT in sports is American gymnast, Simone Biles. Her gold medals in Paris…
About Meg Jenista