Grace is God's Refrain

Just think of what a refrain will do – consider some examples.

Fred Craddock in one of his famous stories reminds us of the old saloon song “Frankie and Johnny.” Listen to the function of the refrain.
Frankie, she was a good woman, and Johnny, he was her hand. He was her man, but he done her wrong. Frankie and Johnny went walking, Johnny wore a new linen suit. ‘Cost me a hundred,’ said Frankie, ‘but don’t my Johnny look cute?’ He was her man, but he done her wrong. Frankie went down to the corner, and she ordered a thimble of gin. She said to the fat bartender, ‘Has my lovin’ Johnny been in?’ He was her man, but he done her wrong. ‘Ain’t gonna tell you no story, ain’t gonna tell you no lie. Johnny was here about an hour ago with a floozy named Nellie Bly’. He was her man, but he done her wrong.

I’m not going to go through the entire song – it’s in the Methodist Hymnal, so you can find the words. The refrain, though, creates anticipation; it builds to the fact itself. Think of the refrain preaching of Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream,” over and over and over until “Let freedom ring!”

In a matter of a few minutes, the speech of one man to a large crowd became the speech of a large crowd to the world. And how is it done? By refrain.

The task of the refrain is to move the burden of the speech away from the speaker and onto the listener so that the listener is in on the secret. It gives the listener a window into a world that is just beyond them.

Grace offers us a window of what eternity looks like. Grace opens our minds and sends our hearts forward with anticipation.

But what is grace?

Frederick Buechner says, “Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace.”

Interestingly, a crucial peculiarity of the Christian faith is the affirmation that people are saved by this grace.

Buechner continues:
The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love you.

Good Christians never forget this truth. Good Christians find ways to listen to the refrain of their lives. Because when you do, you find God right beside you whispering, “You are my beloved. In you I am well pleased.”

Grace is God’s refrain for our lives.

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