Even though Christmas Day has past, my wife and I like to linger in the moment. We leave our decorations up well past the new year. Why be in a hurry to move on? Plus, since it took so much work to get ready, we enjoy the accouterments of the holiday a bit longer.

One Christmas carol, however, reminds me it’s time to move on. Go Tell It On The Mountain refers to shepherds, who after a searing encounter with an angelic host, left their fields to find a baby. As they ran they shouted to everyone they met: Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! (I like this version of the song, as it captures the enthusiasm of the shepherds).

Go Tell It On The Mountain originated among slaves in the American South, and was first put on paper by John Wesley Work, an African-American collector of Negro spirituals. Even people in bondage, perhaps with more intensity than us today, celebrated the birth of our Savior.

This song reminds us to keep telling. After his death and resurrection Jesus met with his disciples and gave them a mission: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread out across the entire world and make more and more followers of him. In other words, Go Tell It On The Mountain! We follow in the footsteps of angels and shepherds and apostles when we pass on the wonderful news that Jesus Christ is born.

Luke 2:10-12; Matthew 28:18-20

Photo by Thanti Riess