Recently, a movie came out called Up. It’s the story of an old man who is trying to keep a promise to his deceased wife. All their lives they dreamed of going on an adventure to a place in South America called Paradise Falls. When a developer moves to take his home from him, the old man attaches a whole bunch of helium balloons to his house and he floats away. The rest of the story is about how this man chooses to let go of some things and how he figures out what he can carry with him.

         This sounds like a good metaphor for us in our present challenges. We are working hard to preserve this house of worship. It is taking a lot of work and a lot of money (which we are running out of) and it makes us ask the question, “What are we doing?” What are we going to save and take with us into the future? What can we let go of so we can be faithful to our present call? How do we live out our values in a new time and in a new place? These are not simple questions. We will not find quick answers. These are the kinds of questions we take our whole lives to answer.

         We are not the first disciples to be faced with these questions. On the night when Jesus was betrayed, almost as soon as Judas had left the room, Jesus encourages the disciples. He tells them that he goes to prepare a place for them – for us. When Thomas, and then Phillip, ask questions trying to get some details, Jesus does not answer them with a description of the place or a simple set of steps that describe how to get there. Jesus tells them, and us, how to live here until we get there.

         Jesus does not describe heaven. He shows us how to live on the way to heaven. Jesus is the way. We are to follow Jesus, to believe in Jesus, and to become like Jesus. Then he promises something extraordinary. He says that we will do the works that he does, and we will do even greater works. The ministry of Jesus – his work of healing, and teaching, and forgiving, and reconciling the world to God – all this is our work now. We cannot reconcile the world to God until we have been first reconciled. We cannot teach unless we have first been taught. We cannot heal until we are healed and have strength to give away.

         So we have much to do in ordering our lives. This is why we come to this place. We are strengthened and restored so that we can be God’s disciples in the world, sharing the love that has transformed us. This is how we do greater works than Jesus. We are not divine and we are not capable of supernatural miracles. However, we are capable of many acts of extraordinary love. The acts of love are our miracles. Jesus ministered to a generation in Palestine two thousand years ago. We carry God’s love all over the world to every generation who hears.

         This place is holy because of what God works in us here. There is much beauty and many wonderful traditions. We are tempted to preserve and protect all the precious things that the world does not understand. If we are not careful, we may become like the old man in Up who seals off his house and barricades himself in his past. The home he loves becomes dark and dead, and if he doesn’t change, it will fall into the hands of those who know nothing of it. Instead, he goes on an adventure and learns to let go of all the things he doesn’t need so that he can preserve the things he truly treasures.

         This is where we find ourselves. We are burdened with a glorious building. It is the place where we find God in the sacraments and in each other. While we work together, we need to remind ourselves about the things that are truly important to us. Peter reminds us that we are a spiritual house. We are the stones that make up this house. Jesus is the cornerstone that holds it all together. God dwells in this house. The world finds God through the dwelling we create together. What we build together is more important than what we do with buildings and endowments. How we live with each other is the spiritual house we are really building.

         So far I haven’t said anything about money. We know that all the challenges we face will take money and time and effort to overcome. We are being called to sacrifice. Now, we are not being called to follow the same path as Stephen, but he teaches us something. Stephen was called to be one of the first Deacons in the church. His ministry was to take food to widows. He also spoke about his faith, to the point that the religious authorities didn’t like what they heard. He sacrificed his life. As he was being stoned, he asked God to forgive his murderers. I don’t think Stephen wanted to die. I don’t think he even wanted to suffer. He wanted to do his ministry. He wanted to serve God’s people. His desire to serve God led him to his extraordinary sacrifice.

         We are likely being called to extraordinary sacrifice. We won’t have the courage to proceed if we only focus on what we lose or how much it may cost. Instead, if we focus on what we love – if we focus on trying to love others as God loves them, we will find the courage to take each step and make each choice as it comes. By following Jesus on the way, we will be led to our true spiritual home. It may not end up being what we have grown used to, but it will be what we long for – it will be the home for which we were made.