12.13.20 Sermon—Shouts of Joy—Isaiah 61:1-4; Psalm 126
(Isaiah 61) The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
(Psalm 126) When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb. May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
This Advent, we are focusing each week on a Christmas Carol and it’s history. Today, we take a look at “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” The catalogue of classic or traditional Christmas songs is almost unanimously European in origin. This also includes several of the American classics, with those writers coming from European descent, so it’s particularly exciting to come by a lively Christmas with a different kind of story behind it. It’s outside the European borders that we find “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
Like many spirituals and folk songs, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” has a pretty murky origin. The song likely dates back to the mid-19th century, but spirituals were passed from plantation to plantation orally, without sheet music, let alone recordings, making them difficult to date accurately. The person responsible for making a Christmas classic out of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a Nashville-born collector of spirituals named John Wesley Work, Jr. Work’s life-long love for music started at a young age. His father was the director of their church’s choir, and though Work Jr. studied Latin and history at Fisk University, he organized singing groups as well. He combined his passions for history and music into his search for African- American spirituals, and with the help of his brother Frederick Jerome Work and wife Agnes Haynes, he compiled their findings and published them in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1901, and New Jubilee Songs and Folk Songs of the American Negro in 1907, which featured the first publication of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
This is where the importance of the Fisk Jubilee Singers comes in. The school’s a cappella ensemble would tour across the United States to fundraise for the college, a tradition Fisk University continues today. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were hugely important to the introduction of spirituals and African American folk music to white audiences in the 19th century.
These performances were the first time many people heard spirituals, having been unaware of their existence before, and the first time many white audiences were exposed to black music actually sung by black people, instead of the minstrel shows where white performers used black face and racist caricatures to entertain white audiences. Among many other now-famous spirituals popularized by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” became popular and over time, it became a Christmas staple.
Though the song’s pre-recording success can be credited to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the recorded renditions took on a life of their own. The first recording by a major singer was from gospel and jazz singer Mahalia Jackson in the 50s, and this version is more or less the one we know today. It has been recorded countless times since then by artists like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Simon and Garfunkel, and a surprising number of country artists like Garth Brooks and Little Big Town.
In 1963, folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary rewrote the song, releasing it as “Tell It On the Mountain.” This version shifts its focus from Christmas to Exodus, replacing a lyric with Moses’ call “Let my people go,” a clear commentary on the civil rights movement in the early 60s. Two years after that album’s release, this version of “Tell It On the Mountain” was sung by protestors who were marching with Dr. King in the historic march to Selma, Alabama in the recording we just heard. But shifting the focus from Christmas to God’s deliverance of Israel really isn’t as much of a change as it might seem. You see, all of Advent is about God delivering humanity from our struggles. The third Sunday in Advent is the Sunday of “Joy.” It’s our call to lift up our joyful praise, to proclaim all the good that God has done, and to celebrate. But it’s also a call that acknowledges Christmas isn’t here, yet. That’s why it follows the candle of hope and the candle of peace—it’s joy that’s founded not in our present circumstances, but in the promise of the good to come. It’s a call made while it is still night, while we are still in the midst of darkness, as we can just begin to see the first glow of the sun peeking out over the horizon.
Go Tell It on the Mountain was written by men and women whose entire lives were spent in slavery. I can’t imagine a much darker existence than that. But I also can’t imagine a better reason to cling to the promises of Advent. That God was sending one who would bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; the one who would finally comfort all who mourn.
In their reality, these enslaved men and women knew something that many of us still struggle to understand. Emmanuel has come. And yet we still experience pain. Jesus is at work in our midst. And yet we still battle injustice. The Light has come, but there is still so much darkness.
Beloved of God, 2020 has been an Advent year. We find ourselves in a holding pattern, waiting for deliverance, waiting for all that is wrong to be put right. And yet, even in the midst of this, we can rejoice. This Advent, may you remember that the dawn is coming. Beloved, May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Because Those who go out weeping, shall come home with shouts of joy. That’s the promise that you can shout from the mountaintop, even—or especially—in 2020.