Kim McGovern: Recent Episodes
Kim McGovern
Journey to Jesus through songs found in the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel and discover Emanuel (God with us) through fresh eyes. You will receive a devotion by email each Sunday of Advent and one final devotion on Christmas Eve.
THE GOD WHO SINGS – A CHRISTMAS DEVOTION
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." John 3:16 (MSG)
God With Us
The longed-for Messiah had arrived and with Him His kingdom. While the world was busy with its concerns, He slipped into the world as a babe on a silent night. And as He did, a host of angels, some 60,000, gathered to sing of His great glory and gift of peace.
They sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV)
The angels sang to an insignificant group of shepherds in the middle of nowhere. No fanfare. No parade. No fireworks. Just a chorus of angels echoing the love of God for the world that would come through a baby boy called Immanuel – God with us.
Theologian Karl Barth says, “‘God with us’ means more than God over or side by side with us, before or behind us. It means more than His divine being in even the most intimate active connection with our human being otherwise peculiar to Him. It means that God has made Himself the One who fulfills His redemptive will. It means that God has become man in order to take up our case… God Himself intervenes as man.”
God with us is God for us in Jesus Christ.
John speaks of this, and its fulfillment brought through a baby destined to die on a cross.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.” (John 3:16-17, The Message)
It was all love, and the angels gathered to sing of it.
God Sings Over Us
God’s angels and God’s people singing songs of praise to Him after momentous events is a fairly common occurrence in scripture. But did you know that God sings too?
Some would argue technicalities to discredit His voice, but I believe God sings. Whether you think He does or not might depend on your understanding of song. The difference between speech and song is continuity. Speech is interrupted by breaks in the sound. Song, on the other hand, is marked by a continual, uninterrupted flow of sound.
God’s message is one of uninterrupted flow. The message of His song is love – a kind of love that also flows uninterrupted. It would seem right that we call it singing.
But did you know that God sings this song of love over you? He does. His immense love for you causes Him to sing. His song is not based on what you have done but on what He did through Jesus. Through Jesus, He sings an uninterrupted stream of compassion, mercy, and grace over you.
“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior Who saves! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in silent satisfaction, and in His love, He will be silent and make no mention of past sins, or even recall them; He will exult over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 Amplified Bible).
God’s song is not just an uninterrupted flow but and uninterruptible flow of love. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
God Sings So We Can Sing
We sing of His love for us because He first sang over us - in the person and work of Jesus. His love transforms us, and in turn, it changes our song.
Do you hear the music?
God sings,
“Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them.” Psalm 106:4 ESV
The God Who Keeps His Promise
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
The Promise Keeper
For years, the priest Zechariah, carried the heavy burden of Israel's longing for promised rescue with him as he performed his temple duties. Was freedom from the oppressive government of the day on the horizon? Zechariah had no way of knowing at the time the extent of the transformation that God would bring through His coming incarnation.
Zechariah also waited for another promise of God to be realized — one made to him and his wife, Elizabeth. They were promised a son who would make way for the coming of the promised Messiah. Zechariah struggled to believe this message to be true, so much so, he was rendered mute as a consequence and would be unable to speak until the birth of his son.
There was much rejoicing on the day of his birth, as the once barren couple received the boy with gladness — into their hearts and home. Eight days later, on the infant's day of circumcision, the happy parents announced the child’s name. To the dismay of friends and neighbors, Elizabeth declared he would not be named after his father but would be called John — which means “God is gracious." The child would give knowledge of salvation to God's people. (Luke 1:77)
And Zechariah, in agreement, scrawled on his writing tablet, “His name is John.” Instantly, his speech returned and he blessed God. What began as a consequence of Zechariah’s lack of belief becomes a sign that God is coming with transforming grace. And Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied in song.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:68-79 (ESV)
THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,for he has visited and redeemed his people69 and has raised up a horne of salvation for usin the house of his servant David,70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,71 that we should be saved from our enemiesand from the hand of all who hate us;72 to show the mercy promised to our fathersand to remember his holy covenant,73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,might serve him without fear,75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,77 to give knowledge of salvation to his peoplein the forgiveness of their sins,78 because of the tender mercy of our God,whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Reflection:
What exactly was the promise God was actively fulfilling through the birth of John and Jesus?
It was a promise as old as the original garden, made to Adam and Eve after the serpent deceived them and death entered the equation for all humankind. In Genesis 3:15, God promised to send an offspring that would crush the head of the serpent and restore life to those that now knew death because of sin.
We see this promise echoed throughout the Old Testament. To Abraham, God swore in a blood covenant that it would be so (Genesis 15). To King David came His assurance that through his offspring, God’s house would be built, and a savior and king would come to rule and reign (2 Samuel 7). And Isaiah prophesied of the promised seed too.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.
“Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them.” Psalm 106:4 (ESV)
“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more …” – Dr. Seuss –
Journey to Jesus: Advent Through the Songs of Luke's Gospel - An Introduction
Journey to Jesus through songs found in the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel and discover Emanuel (God with us) through fresh eyes.