Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” –Isaiah 40:9
Good news is hard to keep quiet. How many of us, when something good happens in our lives, can’t wait to call our best friend to share the news? And how many of us have been tempted to spill the beans out of giddiness and excitement about a pregnancy, or an engagement, or a job promotion? Good news fills us with joy, and joy is uncontainable.
In Isaiah 40, Isaiah is filled with such joy that can’t be contained. The Israel people have been living in exile for years. They have felt distant from God, cut off from God’s presence. They had wondered how long they would have to live without a word from God. Isaiah comes to them with a word of joy. “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God,” Isaiah exclaims. “The Lord comes with might,” and “he will feed his flock like a shepherd.” God is near, and this good news brings Isaiah so much joy that he can’t contain it. He tells his readers to get to a mountaintop and tell the whole world that God is near.
I love the Christmas song that echoes Isaiah’s words. This song, Go, Tell It on the Mountain (#251), sends Christians to mountaintops to proclaim the good news that God has come near in Jesus Christ. It goes like this:
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.
Like the people of Isaiah’s day, our world is hungry for the good news that God is near. People in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our schools are hungry to know that God became a human in order to offer then a better life. People are hungry to know that God loves them and has come near to them. Today I invite you to go and tell the good news about Jesus on the mountain – go tell it where it will be heard. Lift up your voice with strength, do not fear, and proclaim with Isaiah “Here is your God!”
Advent Blessings,
Laura
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