The Pinnacle of the Temple

The Pinnacles
Hopefully by the time you read this the sixty tons of scaffolding will have finally been dismantled from the tower of St Andrew's and the restored and repointed tower will, night (in floodlight) and day look resplendent after the first major make-over in nearly 200 years. The observant among you will notice a difference; the tower will be seen as it hasn't been seen in living memory. Four new pinnacles have risen up on the stumps of the old ones which were removed nearly one hundred years ago. When the Church was built in 1829 it boasted a full set of pinnacles not only on the tower but also on the walls each side pf the Church. The impressive new ones (and they do look stylish! are exact copies of the originals taken from an old etching of the Church. However one of the pinnacles is different. One has a face carved into it (there are some original interesting carved faces still surviving) which looks out to the South casting a proprietary eye over the churchyard. Some say that the stonemasons had a particular person in mind when they carved the face! Have a look for yourselves.(you will need binoculars)

Jesus refused the offer
In Matthew's Gospel the Devil offered Jesus the opportunity not to be carried on the pinnacle of the Temple, but to do a sort of bungee jump off it: 'The devil took him to the Holy City and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written (Matthew 4.5-6) 'God will command his angels to bear you up'. Jesus declined the Devil's offer. He refused to be cast in the role of religious stuntman for he knew that people would marvel at the stunt rather than follow in His way of Love and self-sacrifice.

Enjoy, but...
The story of Jesus and the Temple pinnacles is one we read in Lent (begins Ash Wednesday on February 22nd). It has a salutary lesson for all of us who love old Churches. Enjoy and admire them by all means. But the job of those pinnacles is to point us to a higher truth, that God cannot be contained in stones and mortar. He is present where just two or three are gathered together in His Name and we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Peter