Sermon: Jeremiah 15:15-21, Romans 12:9-end, and Matthew 16:21

Preacher:

Rev Canon Roy Woodhams

Date:

Sunday 30th August 2026

Venue:

Guildford Cathedral

Service:

9.45 Cathedral Eucharist

Readings:

Jeremiah 15:15-21, Romans 12:9-end, and Matthew 16:21

When I presided at the Cathedral Eucharist here two weeks ago, I have to confess that there was a moment during Patrick’s excellent sermon, when my mind ‘wandered off’ a bit (it can happen, even to the best of us!)

The cause of this brief ‘’wandering’, as I sat behind the Nave Altar, was the view in front of me – through the magnificent arches of the nave, out through the West doors, which were wide open, and on to what lay beyond!  In the distance could see some large buildings, which I quickly realised were part of the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

My mind jolted back to the task in hand, but it had set me thinking! 

A hundred years ago there had been considerable debate about where to build the new Cathedral!  Sites in Stoke Park and near the Castle were both considered and rejected, and eventually Stag Hill was chosen, and here we are today!

I know that it was a choice which has received various criticisms over the years, with well-rehearsed arguments about isolation and the need to climb a steep hill to visit, but . . . .

. . . . after I got home that Sunday, my thoughts returned to my brief ‘wandering’, and I began to take a ‘virtual’ walk around the outside of Edward Maufe’s magnificent creation.  From the West door, and that view of the hospital and science park, I ventured clockwise to the North car park, where my mind surveyed the vastness of the University of Surrey, which had not even been conceived when the Cathedral was built.  Then on to the East end, and the great wooden cross, erected even before the laying of the foundation stone, built from timbers salvaged from HMS Ganges.  And beyond the Ganges cross, I was imagining the hustle and bustle of Guildford town centre, with its shops, businesses and ancient buildings.  Then finally to the South door, and the view across Onslow Village, built to complement the Cathedral and, today, providing us with our closest neighbours!

And all of that, even without climbing the two hundred and forty nine steps to the top of the tower to get an even better view of Guildford, the surrounding countryside and on to the county of Surrey, Diocese of Guildford and farther to the City of London!

All of this led me to the conclusion that the final decision to site Guildford Cathedral on Stag Hill, with its commanding view, was a masterstroke of genius, and it was visionary!

And it’s that vision which we are all called to support, a hundred years later as we gather in worship!

All three of our readings this morning had elements to do with ‘calling’:

• Jeremiah, called to preach a difficult message to the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah, and to the surrounding Gentile Nations.  Long before Jesus walked the earth, the prophet was ‘living out’ the tension of ‘taking up his cross’, in a society that thought in a very different way, which left him feeling isolated and broken.

• Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, called for ‘love that is genuine, holding fast to what is good and hating what is evil’, even when the society of that day was looking in the opposite direction.  Here, Paul was presenting an ethical blueprint of what a ‘crucified life’ looked like in real terms! Calling his Roman readers to be ‘patient in suffering’ and to ‘persevere in prayer.’  Mirroring the endurance God demanded of Jeremiah.  And the climax of the passage is the hardest pill of all to swallow.  To ‘Bless those who persecute you... never avenge yourselves . . . . (and) if your enemies are hungry, (to) feed them.’
• And in Matthew’s Gospel, we see this dramatic shift in Peter’s relationship with Jesus.  Just moments after correctly identifying Jesus as the Messiah, Peter tries to call Jesus away from the cross, and Jesus has to forcibly, but lovingly, rebuke Peter and remind him that ‘calling’ doesn’t work like that!  That the way of the cross is overcoming evil with good.  Jesus turns to the crowd and sets the terms of service.   That to save your life, you must lose it. That to truly follow Him, you must take up your cross.

These readings, though very different, in context and content, have the unified message, that being called by God is never going to be a simple or easy experience – it will always require us to step aside from our comfortable lives and to respond! 

So what about us, sitting here in Guildford Cathedral on a Bank Holiday weekend two thousand years later?

We are all here this morning because in some way or other, and it will be different for each of us, have felt the pull of God’s call on our lives.

And a part of that calling has to be to do with why we are here, in this place, which stands as a beacon of hope across all those different bits of Guildford – the hospital, science park, university, commercial town centre and the houses and homes of the eighty thousand or so people who live in Guildford. As well as to the wider world!

This Cathedral Church exists to draw people here, and it’s bells call to them each Sunday (as they have this morning). 

But it’s no good us sitting here each Sunday and just waiting for them to come – the flow has be in two directions – as well as calling people in, we are also called to look, and reach out, to all of those places, with the challenging message of radical love which our faith demands! 

And there are all sorts of ways that we can do that:

• By taking what we do here on a Sunday out into our daily lives.
• By not being afraid to tell the people we meet day by day, why we are Christians and what it means.
• By supporting the Vision and strategy of this place, both financially and with our time and talents.
• And above all, by our prayers!

And all of this will require sacrificial love, because, as I said, you cannot follow Jesus and remain comfortable!

If you feed on God’s Word like Jeremiah, you will sometimes feel isolated. If you try to protect your own comfort like Peter, you will find yourself working against the purposes of God.

But if you surrender your life and take up your cross, and do all the things that Paul demands, then you will find a life that is richer and fuller than your wildest dreams!

That is our calling, and as this Cathedral seeks to make its vision and strategy a reality, it has never needed you to respond to the call more, than it does right now!