Go Tell It!
In the bustle of the Christmas story, Anna often stands quietly at the edges—an elderly prophet, widowed for decades, lingering in the Temple with a life shaped by prayer, fasting, and fierce hope. She is not center stage, yet when Jesus is carried into the Temple, she becomes one of the first to preach Christmas.
Luke tells us that Anna “broke into an anthem of praise to God and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.” Her personal response to encountering Christ is immediate proclamation. She cannot keep the news to herself – she must tell others! Her voice becomes the first echo of what the carol Go! Tell It on the Mountain! invites us to do generations later—announce that something world changing has happened, not in palaces or centers of power, but in a lowly manger and in the lives of ordinary people who dare to hope.
Anna reminds us that good news is not passive. It moves. It travels. It seeks ears that are eager to experience hope. She speaks to “all who were waiting,” because she knows that the Messiah’s arrival is not just a private event to comfort a few but rather a public promise for all who long for freedom, justice, and joy to break into the world.
This Christmas, may we take our place in that long line of story tellers. Like Anna, we have seen glimpses of God’s faithfulness—in answered prayers, in unexpected peace, in communities that hold one another through change and times of hardship. And like the shepherds and the carol that carries their story, we are invited to lift our voices alongside them:
So, go tell it—on the mountain tops where we and our neighbors live, in the valleys of our workplaces, across the plains of our relationships—that Jesus Christ is born!
My greatest desire as your pastor as we come into the home stretch of this Christmas season and consider our priorities in the year to come – is that our lives will be deeply inspired by the songs we have sung together in church and reflected on through our devotional this December -- and heard on the radio (since Thanksgiving!). Together, let us proclaim that hope is here, love has come, and new life in Christ is already stirring in us. To God be the glory!
Reflect on the Word
36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:36 -38 (Message)
Take a Moment to Pray
Holy God,
As this new day begins and the world is still waking, we pause in the soft light of morning to remember Anna — faithful prophet, patient watcher, the one who greeted Your promise at daybreak.
Like her, we bring our whole selves into this moment: our hopes for the year ahead, our weariness from the year behind, our longing for Your presence in all that waits for us today.
As Anna recognized Christ in the smallness of a child, help us recognize You in the small graces of this morning — in breath, in quiet, in the first signs of light. Let her anthem of praise rise in us, steadying our spirits and awakening our joy.
And as the shepherds once hurried from the manger to share what they had seen, send us into this day with hearts ready to proclaim: Love has come. Hope is here. Christ is with us.
May our words, our choices, and our compassion carry the good news into every place we go. Make us bearers of Your light and partners in Your freedom. In the name of Jesus, our Morning Star and our Peace. Amen.
Listen to the Carol
In the Bible, the mountain often represents the holy presence of God. Moses has to go up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and to see the Promised Land. In the Gospel, Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, an event signifying the full embodiment of the divine nature and holiness of Christ. In the Old Testament especially, the mountain is also a place that is set apart – not just everyone can go up the mountain to be in God’s presence. Psalm 24:3 asks, “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?” God’s presence came down to the mountain, and the mountain was the barrier between the Israelites and God’s presence, much like the curtain in the temple dividing the people from the Holy of Holies.
When Christ was born however, God’s presence came down to His people in a new form, in the helplessness of a baby. And the story doesn't end there - Christmas points us to Easter, when Christ ripped the curtain in the temple and became the bridge between us and the Father, God’s holy presence in and among us. When Christ was transfigured, he had with him Peter, James and John. The glory of the LORD was no longer barred from His people. The mountain is no longer a barrier between us and God, but a place to shout the good news of God’s presence among his people in the incarnation of Christ Jesus, to “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
Listen to Go Tell It on the Mountain performed by our very own Sanctuary Choir. Feel free to sing-along -- words are below!
Refrain
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
Verse 1
While shepherds kept their watching o'er silent flocks by night,
Behold thru-out the heavens there shone a holy light.
Verse 2
The shepherds feared and trembled when lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior's birth.
Verse 3
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born,
And God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.