Go, Tell It
On the Mountain
Pastor Mathew Magera –
12/25/16 – Sermon 202
St. Thomas Lutheran Church,
Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Though Isaiah 52 does not
relate specifically to the Christmas story it describes for us a person who
carries the good news with them to many places. Last week at bread crumbs we
talked about Isaiah 52:7 and we talked about feet and how feet could possibly
be beautiful, especially the feet of those in Bible times who would walk
everywhere, get dirty, sweaty and stinky. Where is the beauty in that?
With that in mind, I want to
take a journey this morning to discover such beauty while following the story
of a popular Christmas carol. Our journey takes us to the mid-1800s in the
slave fields of the south. A hot day, sweat pouring, hands torn, feet worn,
eyes tired and whips burning one after another. I want you to imagine Isaiah
preaching this message to the slaves in the field. “How beautiful are the feet
of those who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" I don't know if Isaiah would get much
reaction from a sermon like this. The slaves he would be preaching to would see
no beauty in their feet, just the dirt, grime, thorns, scrapes, callouses, and
scars of the forced labor they endured. These slaves he would be preaching
peace to do not know peace. They know nothing but pain and suffering. These slaves
he would be preaching good tidings to would have no good tidings of their own,
but only despair and depression. These slaves he would be preaching salvation
to might scoff at him as they carry on in captivity. Your God reigns! Oh yeah,
then why are we suffering like this? Isaiah's message would be easily
unwelcome.
But, we know that slaves
were able to find some encouragement along the way. As they worked, they sang.
They sang the Scriptures. There are plenty of songs that are sung today in
churches that come from the slave fields, including one particular well known
Christmas carol. The thing about African American spiritual songs that came
from this time period is that a majority of them were not preserved. It's a
wonder anything was preserved from this time period because slaves likely could
neither read nor write. Imagine the number of Christmas carols we might know if
they had all survived over time. Still, one carol made its way through, grew
roots and began to grow. One carol of inspiration and encouragement once sung
in the fields is now being sung in churches around the world.
It all started at a time not
long after the Civil War. A man named John Wesley Work was the choir director
of an African American church in Nashville, Tennessee. He had a passion for
music that defined the experience of African Americans in the south, including
during the times of slavery, which was most of that experience. He was music
scholar and his passion was fueled by the desire to influence a new generation
of African American living in the United States by introducing them to the
spirituality songs of their slave ancestors. Some of Work's choir members were
part of an acapella group, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, as nearby Fisk University.
Work influenced the members of this group with his music and they, in turn,
would take these spiritual songs on tour with them around the world. The music
itself provided a new purpose for life that few people had ever experienced and
it highlighted African American talents.
Work's son, John Work II,
took his father's love of music on for himself in professional ways and, along
with his brother Frederick, kept spiritual music burning brightly during that
time. While John II is the one who gets the credit for publishing this
particular Christmas Carol, Frederick is credited with discovering it. They
kept the lyrics the same but changed the music a bit to be fit for choirs. The
Fisk Jubilee Singers were the first to sing it publicly in the 1880s. The story
within this song gave the lyrics themselves their power. The faith that was
necessary for shepherds to believe the frightening image of the angels, to
leave their fields and go and find a baby. Yet, it is in their moment of true
faith beside the manger that they find the understanding they had not had
before. Growing in popularity, it was finally published for the first time in
1909.
In the middle of the Great
Depression, John Work III took another look at it and reworked it again into
the version that we know today and it was re-published in 1940. During the time
since its publishing this song's melody is "infectious, but it is the
spirit of the words that seem to provide the song's real power. As an unknown
slave revealed in his own prayers and faith, he had little knowledge that the
inspiration he felt - probably the only thing of value he ever possessed -
would eventually touch millions around the world."[1]
While we do not know where
this African American spiritual carol came from exactly, it almost seems like
it would come from this passage in Isaiah. Coupled with the story of the
shepherds, Isaiah paints the image clearly for us, the image of carrying God's
good news to the many places we are able. The slave that first sang this carol
likely never envisioned it going anywhere beyond earshot of those he was
working near but the inspiration that came from this song caught on, the
encouragement it gave was shared, it was preserved and if this person were
alive today would likely not believe the lengths to which it spread. In fact,
it would be as if the words of the song were true, that even though he was a
slave working in a field, the message he brought through song was most
definitely told on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. This person
contained the very characteristics described here in Isaiah. For those who find
joy and inspiration in this song, we might lift up Isaiah's message, how
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news,... though dirty, chained,
far from peace, in depression and captivity, there was still hope.
When we think about sharing
the good news of Christmas, we might feel burdened by needing to tell everybody
in the entire world when we might be restricted in various ways. Though we may
not be slaves, we may not have the physical capabilities of long distance
travel or even short distance travel for that matter. The story behind “Go,
Tell It On the Mountain” encourages us that even when restricted, if you are
sharing the story, the Holy Spirit will carry it. Though you may not be able to
get over that mountain in your way, you're tagging the next person ahead of you
with this great news and that story is being shared on the mountain, over the
hills and everywhere. The shepherds that witnessed Jesus in the manger shared
what they could but then others took over. And others after them. Your parents
or other family or friends gave you the good news and you took their place in
carrying that Word. You pass that news to your children or other friends and
family and they carry it. Christmas is a generational journey much like the
music we sing. Therefore, hearing the words of Isaiah, how beautiful on the
mountains are the feet of those who bring good news... that was the feet
shepherds, that was the feet of the early Christian church fathers, that was the
feet of your family member or friend, and now, it is you. Of course, it is not
a physical beauty, though, perhaps some of you take pride in how good looking
your feet are. The beauty in the feet that Isaiah talks about comes from the
message itself that is carried by those feet and shared. The power of this
message is that it can overcome odds through faith because it is the good news
of Jesus Christ. We have been given that Gospel. We have been given Jesus and
it is now our turn to go and tell it on the mountain. To God be the glory, now
and always. Amen.
[1]
Collins, Andrew. “Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas.” Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 2001. Pg. 52.