Ye Ole Van

"So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).

I don't know if you name your vehicles or not, but we do — especially when they have character. We called the one van I owned YOV, which stood for ye ole van. It was appropriately named because it was old, evidenced by a number of odd things, including inside lights that randomly turned on and off on their own.

Ultimately YOV didn't last long, but there was one great thing about that van — it was a gift. At the time I was renting a house from a couple who were ministers and missionaries. When they decided to go back to Korea and realized I needed a vehicle, they gifted me the van. Even though it had its issues, we had some great times in YOV (see photo above).

Jesus' words at the end of the parable in our Gospel reading brought YOV to mind. As I pondered what it meant to be rich toward God, I thought about this generous couple and the generosity of many others in my life over the years. "Rich toward God" is not about the accumulation of things, as Jesus' parable makes clear. It's about generous living toward others and toward God's work.

Friends, may we live generously in a way that demonstrates we are image bearers of our God and Father who gave the most extravagant gift of all — his own Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Fr. Darin+