The Old Van

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,” 2 Peter 3:11

Immaterial things can never be valued by material means, only reflected in them.  The most precious things in life cannot be seen, and the most durable things cannot be bought or sold.  When it is all said and done, a life lived with Christ within it what will count.  The commitment to serve God, and live sanctified will last.     

Today my parents sold a 20-year-old Ford Econoline conversion van.  It was a big old thing, with plush seats, built in monitor, limo lighting, and a back seat that reclined into a bed.  It had a big V8 engine that carried us all over the Southeast, bearing the license plate labeled “OURSONS3.”  Originally, they had hoped for “OUR3SONS”, but that was taken.  Not sure what it was sold for, but I know it was substantially less than what it was bought for.  On paper, it drastically depreciated in value; but then again, there are some things that don’t show up on a balance sheet.  The van was nicknamed “Scooby”, because the shape of it kind of resembled the famous Scooby Van in the cartoon.  It was like eight feet tall and all white with pin strips down the side.  When you accelerated, it felt less like a car and more like a boat struggling to get on plane.  My brothers and I learned to drive in it.  Countless friends traveled with us in it.  It carried us to revival meetings, tent meetings, country meetings, family outings, vacations, and of course around all around town.  I am sure when our fellow church members pulled up to church, and saw the “Scooby” in the parking lot; they knew the Collins family was at church.  We were raised around that van; you could say we were partly raised in that van, and the van showed signs of raising three boys.  To the buyer, this was all a negative.  A reason why the value should be lower, but to the seller, it made it hard to let go; because there are somethings you cannot put a price on that still carry value.  Call it sentimentality, or naivety, but at the end of the day where we learn to love and grow; grows love in us.  What makes the “Scooby” so precious to us is the love that we experienced.  It has little material value, but the immaterial value is far more substantial because our parents showed us love and how to love.  They showed us how to be parents, how to be man and wife, how to be a neighbor, how to be a sanctified servant of Jesus Christ.  They led (and continue to lead) by example behind the wheel of a Ford Econoline for twenty years.  I saw them vote with their feet my entire young life.  We were taught by example, to be teachers by example.  Now time marches on, the old van is gone, but the example lingers on.  We are going to leave behind our houses that our children take our first steps in, our jobs where we earn our first paycheck, the pew where we sit on Sunday morning, the cars that carry us around for 20 years.  We will leave it all behind one day.  This world is not our home.  We are pilgrims and strangers here.  The value is not in the van, but in the commitment.  The commitment to serve God, and live sanctified. 

Jesus is righteousness, and righteousness to the world.  He is the only thing that makes the world around us precious, and what makes our memories grand.  In the end, all these thing shall be dissolved.  We are existing in a decaying body, surrounded by decaying things; it is foolish to think we can hang onto them.  We will die, they will dissolve, but a Godly example will not.  The immaterial things that exalt Christ’s character within this day to day life with live on; and one day, we will live forever with him; so what manner of persons ought we to be?