Go Tell It on the Mountain (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 290)
Refrain
Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!
1 While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night,
behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light.
Refrain
2 The shepherds feared and trembled when, lo, above the earth
rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.
Refrain
3 Down in a lonely manger the humble Christ was born;
and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.
Refrain
Text and Music: African American Spiritual; Public Domain
Devotion
A Christmas carol in July? What is she thinking?! Please be patient and keep reading. Each and every carol tells the story of Jesus’ birth. Some continue on and tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” tells the story of Jesus, but then goes beyond, to command that we who know the story share it with others—that we go and tell the story of God’s love as shown to us through Jesus.
In our readings for this week we have also been told to go and tell that there is no other god but the Creator of the universe. We have been told that God adopts us and makes us God’s children and heirs to eternal life. We have learned that our God is patient, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. May we bear witness to that story; may we go and tell this wonderful good news!
Prayer
O God, we come before you with thankfulness and praise. We thank you for creating, redeeming, and sustaining us throughout our lives. We give thanks that you who have adopted each of us are patient, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Amen.