The Haves and Have Nots

The Haves and Have Nots

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”  Matthew 25:28-29 NIV


    This week is not going according to plan exactly. My intention was to follow along the days leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection and write about those moments.  So by Thursday (today) I would be at the night before Jesus’ crucifixion and move right into ‘Good Friday’.  But that is not what seems to be happening.  I keep getting stuck in certain places.  I guess that’s a good thing.  There really is a lot in Scripture to seek out. 
    Today I got stuck on Matthew 25. The second parable in the chapter is the parable of the talents.  Many people use this verse as a justification for investing. And I can see it. I’ve used it for that, but there is so much more here than just making your money make money.  In particular, the verse above where Jesus says, “Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”  This portion of the chapter struck me today.  How is it possible for someone to have taken from them, something they never had?  Look at the verse again.  It clearly says that whoever has will be given more.  Ok that makes sense.  But then it says that whoever does not have will have what they do have taken from them. Well, if I don’t have something, what is being taken?  So it got me thinking.  What does it really mean to have?
    In the parable, Jesus tells the story of three servants given money by their master, who then went away on a long journey.  It was expected that while he was away, the servants would do something profitable with what they were given.  Two of the servants did.  The third, just buried the money in the ground being afraid to lose it.  He took no risk at all.  That alone is a good lesson to learn. Risk taking in life is expected by God.  Playing it safe is not being “holy”.  In the words of the lady on the train in Coming to America, “Go on honey! Take a chance!”.  But that is not the part I want to focus on today.  The servant who buried the money got what he was given taken away and given to the one who doubled the five bags of money he was given.  But the text says that the one who does not have will have what they have taken.  Again, how do you get taken what you do not have, when clearly the master gave the servant something?
    Let’s look at the dictionary definition of the word have: To possess, own, or hold.  Ok.  So which one of these applied to the lazy, risk adverse servant?  Did he not possess it, not own it or not hold it?  Or some combination of all of those things?  It seems like have means two different things here.  My conclusion is that the master gave the servant something to hold, which in essence was something he had present possession of, although he did not own that thing.  It still belonged to the master.  Then, it was his responsibility to use that thing that he was given to create more so that everybody could “have” abundantly; the master and the servant.  But the servant took what he was given and did nothing.  Therefore, his temporary possession of the money could have resulted in him “having” something more, but instead it was given to the person who knows what to do with what they are given. 
    Implications for us today: We all “have” something.  But we don’t all possess it to the point that we can reproduce what we have been given to please the master.  We don’t “own it”.  Whatever it is that we have, we need to own it to the point of making it fruitful for our master.  If we don’t, we may see those things being taken and given to those who know what to do with it.  Have you ever seen someone sit on their gifts and do nothing with them, only to find that they start to lose it after a while?  We have something to work with.  But we have to work it.  From this chapter, it would appear that we are all given something.  But we don’t all “own it”.  And if we don’t those who seem to be the most gifted ones, will gain more and more, while others lose what the have.  Seems sad.  But can’t say we haven’t been warned.  Own whatever you have and make it fruitful. Translation: stop being a punk!  (I’m talking to myself.) Everytime we use what we have been given, we set ourselves up to receive more.  Maybe it would be helpful to identify what we have been given.  We can start with time.  What have you done with your time?  How about relationships?  What do you do with those?  How about skills?  How are you using them?  How about money?  What do you do with that?  How about opportunity?  What do you do with that?  How about education?  A home? A car? a job? Your ability to read? Your ability to see?  To hear? To think?  To write?  To speak? To sing? To dance?  Your salvation? What are you doing with that? If you think about it, we have all been given a lot.  No matter what your circumstances.  We just don’t own it.  We just bury it in the ground.  If we are not careful, we may easily move from a have to a have not.