In the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy God, we celebrate the conclusion of another Christmas season. We thank you for these twelve days which cannot begin to exhaust the inexhaustible gift of the Virgin Birth of the World’s Messiah. We thank you that even now the world is being cleansed from the infestation of sin. We give you thanks, blessed Lord, that we have been incorporated into that glorious family of God where Jews and Gentiles, male and female, slave and free are made on. We thank you for love, life, food, drink, Word, sacraments, rituals and fellowship. We thank you for the peace, yes, even the numerical growth you have given us at Providence. And indeed we know that growth can only be sustained as your Gospel and your peace prevails.
May we remember that because of the incarnation, we have life and life more abundantly. Bless our friendships; take joy, O God, in our joy for you created us to reflect the blissful harmony of the Trinitarian community: Father, Son, and Spirit.
We thank you for the wine we will be tasting, for the food we will be enjoying and the love we will share. In the garden, you gave us of all good things, and even though our first parents sinned, yet you continued to bless your righteous servants. We remember that Noah began a new world by planting a vineyard; we remember Isaac who believing he was blessing Esau actually blessed Jacob with “plenty of grain and wine.”
Our God, not only did you create wine, but commanded that it be included as a necessary part of the sacrifices that your people offered (Ex. 29:38, 40;Lev. 23:13;Num. 15:5, 7, 10; 28:7). Wine was part of feasts (Dt. 14:22-26) and a prerequisite to “rejoicing in your presence.” The Psalmist declares that wine is given to gladden our hearts, and indeed may our hearts be glad, for enjoying your good gifts is what we are called to do in this world and for all eternity. Wine even gladdens your own heart, O God, which speaks of how much we resemble our Creator.
With thanksgiving we remember that the greater Noah, Jesus Christ saw fit to turn water into wine, and by doing so making wine the Christian drink in the New Creation. Grant us hearts filled with gratitude for you drank the sour wine at the cross, so that we might drink the sweetness of the wine in the new world you established by your resurrection. For this, we bless you and thank you for no man can take this joy from us, because of our King, Jesus Christ, who was born of a virgin and now rules and reigns with the Father and the Spirit world without end. Amen.
