Devotional Thoughts Based on the Glory to God Hymnal

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and after blessing it, he broke it, gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” Then he took a cup and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Matthew 26:26-30

It is Christmas Eve! What hospitality did you show Santa? Did you leave Santa some cookies and milk? Were you one who left Coca Cola or hot chocolate and some other snack? Did you leave an apple or a carrot for Rudolf?

It is early morning Christmas Day. There is not even a crumb left on the cookie plate. The milk and Coca Cola must have hit the spot as there is not even a drop in the glass and just a smidgen of cocoa residue in the mug. The apple and the carrot are gone too! That is proof positive that Santa and Rudolf have been there, even though you did not see them!

In today’s hymn, Here, O Our Lord, We See You face-to-face, the text addresses how the bread and the cup make Christ’s presence with those communing more tangible. This hymn has five verses appearing in Glory to God, which is only half of that hymn.

The commentator wrote:

These stanzas are selected from a ten-stanza hymn written in 1855 to serve as a monthly post-communion reflection for the member of St. Andrew’s Free Church, Greenock, Scotland.

Stanza 4 affirms how the communal experience and going out into the world reveal Christ’s presence with us and His abiding love. Listen:

Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear. The feast, though not the love, is past and gone; the bread and wine remove, but you are here, nearer than ever, still our shield and sun.

Prayer

Dear God, we thank You for the outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grace … water for baptism and the bread and the wine for participation in Holy Communion. These signs help us to understand great mysteries. Grant that each time we eat of the bread and drink of the cup we see You more clearly. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.