Ribbons of Grace

Ribbons of Grace

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

I’m comin’ home, I’ve done my time

Now I’ve got to know what is and isn’t mine

If you received my letter telling you I’d soon be free

Then you’ll know just what to do

If you still want me.

Tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree

It’s been three long years, do you still want me?

If I don’t see a ribbon round the ole oak tree

I’ll stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me

If I don’t see a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree.

            Tony Orlando told this story in a 1973 song written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown.  The singer has been in prison.  He’s paid his debt and now it’s time to rejoin society.  There’s only one problem—does society want him back?  There’s one person who means more to him than anyone else.  Specifically, does this person want him back?

            It’s a woman—a woman with whom he had a relationship before he got in trouble with the law.  A sweetheart?  A wife?  We don’t know.  We only know he still cares—cares very much.  He says, I’m really still in prison, and my love she holds the key.  But how does she feel about him?  Does she want to see him?  After three long years is there still a spark?    He has no way of knowing short of showing up and seeing what happens.

            But he has a plan—an idea that will save her confronting him if she’s no longer interested, and save him at least a little agony.  He writes and asks for a sign.

“If you still love me, tie a yellow ribbon around the oak tree.  If I don’t see the ribbon I’ll know it’s over between us.  It will still hurt, but at least we won’t have to see each other.  We can let the relationship fade away.  You can go on with your life, and I’ll try to build a new one.”

What will she do?

Now the moment of truth is approaching.  The bus is nearing his stop.  He wants to look but is afraid of what he’ll see—or won’t see.  He asks the bus driver to look for him, to tell him if his love wants him back.  Here’s her answer.

Now the whole [darned] bus is cheerin’

And I can’t believe I see

A hundred yellow ribbons round the ole oak tree.

That’s grace.  There’s nothing obligating her to welcome him back except her love for him.  Nothing else that says she has to tie that ribbon around the tree.  His question: “Do you love me enough to take me back even though I’m damaged goods?”  Her answer: “I have not one ribbon worth, but a hundred ribbons worth of love.  Is that enough?”

Paul understood grace.  He’d received it from God on the Damascus road.  He had persecuted the followers of Jesus.  Could Jesus forgive him for that?  Jesus’ answer: “I have more love for you than you can possibly imagine, and I have grace to cover whatever you’ve done—and more!”

As a result, Paul’s letters are full of grace.  He begins many of them with the words, “Grace and peace to you.”  It’s not enough for him to have received grace.  He wants to pass it along to others.  He tells the Corinthians how grateful he is to God for the grace they have received through Jesus Christ.  Later Paul will chastise them for the un-Christian things they are doing, things that upset Paul and harm the fellowship of the church.  But before he does, he assures them of many, many ribbons of God’s grace. 

This is going to be a tough letter.  Paul knows it when he begins, but he first reassures them that God is faithful, and God’s grace will keep them in fellowship. 

That’s grace.