Matthew 10:5-15 You got it for free. Share it for free.

Observation: Jesus sends his disciples out to do everything he's already been doing: Announce God's kingdom, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. This in itself seems like a pretty extreme leap of faith. But the even bigger leap is that they are to do all this for free: "You received without payment. Give without payment." 

Application: In the world we live in, nothing is free. Sure, you get free samples in the grocery store, or free trials of software, but you know darn well the point of that is they hope you'll but their products. When someone offers you something that's truly free of charge the question arises, "Hey, what gives? What's the catch? Is there something wrong with it? Am I committing to something I don't know about? Where's the fine print?" 

Jesus insists that there should genuinely be no catch, no fine print, no membership agreement, no "trial period" with charges to come afterward. Everything God has to offer--the healing, salvation, justice and peace that comes with God's will being done on earth--all of it is a gift. Free now, free forever.

Unfortunately that's not always true with the church. Hey, I know better than anyone we've got bills to pay. I have a family to feed too, so I can't be a pastor for free. But here's the big question: when we announce God's kingdom to the world, either with our words in worship or with our actions in service, is it really free of charge? Do we expect to gain something, whether it's church members, or money, or attention, or influence, or power, by what we do? Or is it really and truly just a grateful response to the wonderful gifts God already gave us for free? Do we see our connection to the surrounding community as a "quid pro quo", asking for something in return for the good we do? Do we see the bottom line of evangelism as just "getting more members," or is it really just giving away God's love? How free is our Gospel really? 

Prayer: God, thank you for the free gift of Grace and peace with you through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Help us to simply give your love away, trusting that it is the force that governs and restores  all creation. Amen.