“All Praise to You, O Lord” (LBW 78)
Devotion
All praise to you, O Lord,
who by your mighty pow'r
did manifest your glory forth
in Cana's marriage hour.
You speak, and it is done;
obedient to your word,
the water redd'ning into wine
proclaims the present Lord.
Oh, may that grace be ours,
in you fore'er to live,
and drink of those refreshing streams
which you alone can give.
So, led from strength to strength,
grant us, O Lord, to see
the marriage supper of the Lamb,
the great epiphany.
Verse two of this hymn speaks of the wine at Cana's wedding as "proclaiming the present Lord." In mid-November, the wicker basket filled with our vast collection of Christmas tapes and CD's comes up from the basement (that's right—tapes and CD's!). When the voices of Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, the Ray Conniff Singers or Kenny Rogers fill our home, the memories begin to flow—memories of Christmas from my youth; memories of our first Christmases with our own children; memories from the quiet moments late in the evening sitting in the dim light of the Christmas tree and listening to the music.
The power of this music is that it combines the emotion and the message of the season. Into the darkness of our world, the darkness of our lives, comes the light of the world. Christ, our "present Lord," a holy sign of God's presence with us.
Prayer
Fill our lives with your presence, God, the presence of your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.