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Go Tell it on the Mountain: A Christmas Reflection
Mountaintops are amazing places. Certainly they are remote and difficult to access, but once there, great things happen. Perhaps it is a moment to take in the wonder of Creation as one looks across great vistas. Maybe it is seeing how small the buildings and people down on the ground are, and recognizing our humility and place in the world order. It might just be a feeling of achievement or arrival at having made it to the top. It is no wonder that so many important moments in the Bible take place on mountains.
They are a place of direct communication with God, access. They are a place of mystery and transfiguration. They are a place to receive instructions. They are a place to be tempted and to win. The thing in common with mountains is that no one is the same when they return. Something has changed. In the Christmas carol Go Tell it on the Mountain, the singer tells us that the news of the birth of Jesus is so good that we must ascend the heights to shout it out. It is as if the song bursts forth from our souls, needing to be shared with a world in need. What could it be that is so important that it needs to be communicated so urgently?
I have many versions of this famous carol in my Christmas playlist, but it wasn’t until I listened to Mahalia Jackson’s slow, almost bluesy version, that I understood what the real message was. This is not about kingship or messiahship or miracles - the infant born in a manger came to do more than claim his spot of authority. He came to save us from oppression, to begin the change within us that transforms God’s breath of love into an act of redemption in the world. That’s the news that must be shared with a world full of longing.
This is the Christmas Reflection from our 2025/26 Annual Campaign Resources. Download the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Reflections and begin setting the stage for your Stewardship work throughout the year!
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