Audience of One

Jesus' blood never failed me yet

In 1971 the composer Gavin Bryars was given a recording of a homeless man singing a song, not too many weeks before he died. Bryars discovered that he was remarkably in tune, and that the song was emotionally powerful (see his own story on the subject). He orchestrated and harmonised the song, creating a piece of music entitled “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”. Three days ago this piece was performed by Gavin Bryars and the university symphony orchestra and choral society, in a version approximately half an hour long. The day before, Bryars had given a lecture in the music department, and had said the following about the piece (not a precise quote; I can only partially remember it):

I found the words the homeless man sung to be terribly ironic; after all, if anyone had been failed, this man had.

The song’s lyrics are as follows:

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet; never failed me yet.
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet.
There’s one thing I know: for he loves me so.

I was saddened by Bryars’ comment, because of course he has missed the whole point of the homeless man’s song. Yes, he has been failed by everything else: in his late seventies, living on the streets, about to die. But Jesus’ blood will never fail him. In the midst of all the rubbishness of this man’s life, there was one thing he could hold onto: that he was loved by Jesus, whose blood was shed for him.

The piece of music is incredibly moving, particularly the longer version. Towards the end of last week’s performance, as the instruments dropped out gradually, the lights went dimmer, until they went out completely and only the violins were left. Afterwards, as the lights came back up and the audience applauded, you could see that many of them had been crying. I, too, had been incredibly moved, but for reasons beyond what most people there understood. Jesus’ blood never fails. As Paul writes:

What a wretched man I am! Who will save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25a, NIV.)

Or the writer to the Hebrews:

[Jesus] did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Emphasis mine, Hebrews 9:12, NIV.)

Whatever I do, however wretched I am, I am forgiven and washed clean by Jesus’ blood, and that will never change.

Afterwards I went up to the composer, wanting to explain what the man had been singing about. I stood around awkwardly, a mere undergraduate wanting to approach a famous composer. Eventually I went up to him, but didn’t take the chances I had to mention it to him, because one of my lecturers (another well-known composer) was also there. I left, having missed my chance, but went back ten minutes later to see if I could catch him before he left – only to have him raise a hand and wave from the seat of his car as he drove off.

I felt my failure to speak quite deeply – who could say if anyone would have a chance to talk to this guy about the real Jesus ever again? Why do I not feel that with my friends – that same sense of urgency? Why did I not take the chance later, as my friends who’d been in the orchestra discussed the concert in a pub afterwards, to explain to them why the piece was even more powerful than they knew? Jesus’ blood never failed me yet; it never will fail me. How do I know God loves me? By looking at the cross of Christ. That’s how much he loves me. Why do I not speak more of this?

Matthew @ 14:34, May 5, 2008 to Discussions | Comments (1)