Birmingham Cathedral

Early yesterday morning, I caught the train down to Birmingham for the princely sum of twelve pounds. Unfortunately, my accommodation was not so great a bargain, for those ubiquitous, sprawling rows of wooden huts known as 'Christmas markets' were filling every street. The city is the second largest in England and it is truly a mix of architectural styles, mainly courtesy of those twin opponents of urban beauty and heritage, German bombs and British town planners. All manner of strange buildings co-exist with the classical and the traditional (see below). I essentially came down to see the cathedral, St Philip’s, so I could tick it off my list. Essentially a glorified parish church, it did not take long to look around, the Dean and Chapter quite rightly imposed no charge.

It is from the early eighteenth-century, and is rather ostentatious, reflecting the fashions of Rome, where the architect, Thomas Archer, had visited before working at Birmingham in 1711. So though it might be modest by cathedral standards, as a parish church it was one of the grandest and most fashionable in the land. When it became a Cathedral in Edward VII’s reign, it was beautified by a number of Burne-Jones stained-glass windows which I thought rather tasteful.

The most remarkable detail to assail my imagination, however, was the cost of construction. The estimate was £20,000, but the actual cost only came to £5,012. We are used to budgets being exceeded as prudence gives way to profligacy, carefulness to incompetence and integrity to dishonesty as firms vying for custom deliberately minimise costings. Many of the building materials for St Philip's were freely donated and transported at the donors’ own expense, which allowed a wonderful saving of nearly 75% of the budget.

When the Saviour advised His hearers to count the cost before following Him, He was really inviting the pretended believer to understand that the pain of persecution was too great to bear, and the genuine believer to grasp that whatever trouble he had in this life, the next would more than compensate. Truly, whatever you spend following Jesus Christ will always come 'under budget', as He showers His loved ones with glory and riches upon their arrival home. Even should we find ourselves losing our homes, or, God forbid, our lives, the cost-benefit analysis would always point in favour of Christ. We cannot out-give God, and nor can we out-serve Him. What He has done for us is always more than we might do for Him; what he awards us on that great day will always outshine any act of service we render Him. Even the holy martyrs arrive at heaven’s gate 'under budget', realising that their ordeal could have been worse, but Jesus Christ could never have been better.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Luke 14:28

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:7