Go Tell!
“Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.”
~ John W. Work Jr. (Music Adaptor)
It can be demoralizing when good news is met with indifference. Just ask the shepherds who found the Christ Child lying in a manger, as the angel of the Lord had told them. Having seen Jesus, they couldn’t keep what they had witnessed to themselves. They were compelled to go and tell others the wonderful news that the long-awaited Messiah had finally come!
“And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the
Baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known
the saying that had been told them concerning this Child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.”
Luke 2:16-18 ESV
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes “wonder” as “that emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; something that arrests the attention by its novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness.” No doubt, the shepherds told an incredible story that caused people to listen intently. However, according to what we read in Biblical accounts, their wonderous testimony did not spark amazement or seem to cause others to go and find the Promised Messiah for themselves.
Matthew Henry’s Bible commentary states: “They wondered, but never enquired any further about the Saviour, their duty to Him, or advantages by Him, but let the thing drop as a nine days’ wonder. Oh, the amazing stupidity of the [people] of that generation! Justly were the things which belonged to their peace hid from their eyes when they thus wilfully shut their eyes against them.”
Rodney “Gypsy” Smith (1860-1947) directed evangelistic crusades in the United States and Great Britain for over 70 years. A powerful preacher, Gypsy travelled extensively and preached Christ to over a million people globally. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean so often that historians lost track of his exact number of passages. American Baptist minister Vance Havner once said to Gypsy: “I heard you preach over 50 years ago – my, how you blessed my heart then. I have never forgotten it. But again tonight, how my heart was warmed and thrilled! Gypsy, tell me, what’s the secret?” Gypsy answered, “Sir, I have never lost the wonder of it all.”
So then, how can we make Christmas different this year when the season’s customary carols, decorations and traditions take their conventional place? How can we experience the wonder of that well-known Christmas story to the point where we’re compelled to go and tell others about its significance for their lives?
The announcement that the angels declared to the shepherds is still good news for today, and it requires that we go out into all the world to tell others about what we have heard and seen. While many will respond with that same wonder, others will be indifferent to what they hear. However, for those whose hearts are fertile, the wonder will ultimately lead them to seek spiritual truth – that which encompasses the virgin birth, Christ’s sacrificial life and crucifixion, His glorious resurrection and triumphant defeat of sin and death, His awe-inspiring ascension into heaven, and the fact that He will assuredly return to make all things new! Oh, the wonder of it all!
May the true meaning of Christmas – the very essence of our worship before the Heavenly “King of kings” – remain the primary focus of all our festivities during this busy season, and every day of the upcoming new year…extending throughout eternity.
Floyd A. Brobbel
Chief Executive Officer
The Voice of the Martyrs Canada Inc.
