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Yes. Problem.                                 Romans 14: 13-23                                 January 13, 2008

Lately, whenever I hear the simple, two-word phrase "no problem," my reaction is similar to the one I used to have, many years ago, when I heard someone scratch their fingernails on a blackboard. For those of you who've grown up in the post-blackboard world, suffice it to say that the sound sends chills up and down your spine.

The reason, I think, is that the phrase has become overused. As has its first-cousin, "whatever." Both of these sayings have taken on a meaning that, frankly, troubles me. And, not coincidently, both sayings are often coupled with the equally annoying and increasingly popular word "dude."

Here is an example from a conversation I recently had at our local Shop Rite:

Me: Excuse me, would you tell me where I can find barley?

Stock person: No problem, dude. Aisle four.

Me: Thanks for your help.

Stock person: Hey, dude, you're going the wrong way.

Me: Thanks; I'm going to shop for some other items on the way.

Stock person: Whatever. . .

"No problem" and "whatever." These shorthand ways of saying, "It doesn't matter, No big deal, Don't make a federal case out of it," have become our modern world's way of describing an attitude that permeates, some would say even defines, our culture.

The attitude is one that suggests that the speaker and the listener in the course of daily social intercourse are disengaged from one another. That one person's problem is of no interest to the other.

It is an attitude that goes beyond "live and let live." It is more like "what you think and do and care about are of no concern to me." It is a slightly more polite way of dismissing someone with "I really don't give a hoot."

And it makes me want to look the speaker of those words in his or her laid-back eyes and say, in my sternest voice, "Yes. Problem."

"Americans have not become moral relativists, writes Alan Wolfe in his book One Nation, After All, but 'moral libertarians' who believe individuals should be their own moral guides. We have developed a relentless determination not to determine the rightness or wrongness of anything."

We Christians must disagree - mustn't we? Our faith holds us to a higher standard - doesn't it?

I believe the answer to both of those questions is an unequivocal "yes." And I believe our congregation's watchword for this year - particularly if we read it in conjunction with our Lectionary texts for this first Sunday after the Epiphany - the ones we read earlier, from Isaiah and Matthew - underscores the "yes," and points out the primary reason why the answer is, indeed, "yes."

The thread, if you will, that ties these three passages of Scripture together is the word "righteousness." The Prophet Isaiah talks about it, Matthew refers to it and Paul, in the Romans passage that contains our watchword, underscores it again.

Listen once more, if you would.

First, from Isaiah: "I have called you in righteousness," the Prophet writes, in his description of the coming servant-Messiah, "I have given you as a covenant to the people."

Matthew then draws from this passage in Isaiah (in several ways, actually) when he quotes Jesus, who answers John the Baptist's objection to baptizing him with "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill God's righteousness."

And Paul, just before he pens our watchword text, writes: "The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

This word "righteousness," in scripture, doesn't mean what we normally think. It doesn't mean moral goodness or ethical conformity. It means to be in a right relationship with God.

Righteousness, in the Old Testament, is always tied to the fulfillment of demands of a relationship, whether that relationship is with people or with God. When God - or a person - fulfils the conditions imposed by a relationship, he or she is, in Old Testament terms, righteous.

And the same notion applies to nations. To be righteous, Israel had to fulfill the demands of her relationship with God.

Yahweh, the Old Testament name for the God of Israel, is righteous. And God's righteousness is God's fulfillment of the demands of the relationship with God's chosen nation.

Or to put it slightly differently, righteousness, in the Old Testament, is not possible outside of the context of a covenant - a mutual relationship.

In the New Testament, similarly, righteousness also presumes a covenant relationship. In fact, the clearest example of God's righteousness is God's act of salvation, In Christ, which upholds, and thus restores, the covenant relationship with sinful people.

Human righteousness, therefore, consists of, and depends upon, our trusting acceptance of God's saving act in Christ. If we humans are to be righteous, we must accept the restored covenant relationship with God.

Jesus is called "righteous" over and over again in the New Testament, not because his acts conform to a moral norm. Quite the contrary. Jesus defied accepted norms all the time. Jesus is righteous because he brings creation into a new relationship to God by his obedient, sacrificial death.

The bottom line is this: righteousness, throughout scripture, refers to God's action to set right that which is wrong.

Jesus' baptism, which we remember at this point in the Church year, needs to be seen in this same context. Why, people have always asked, did Jesus need to be baptized? If John's baptism was for the remission of sins, why would Jesus, the sinless one, demand to be baptized?

Jesus' submission to John's baptism was no simple act of personal piety. On the contrary, his baptism is, in his own words, "to fulfill all righteousness," to begin the process of restoring the correct relationship between God and creation.

So, with that as a backdrop, let's look, again, at our watchword text, "Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve," and ask ourselves how we go about understanding it and, more importantly, applying Paul's admonition to the Roman Christians to our life together.

In this 14th Chapter of his letter to the Romans, Paul is dealing with a problem that was an issue for the 1st Century Roman Church - and has been an issue for the Church through the ages. Some of the members of that early Church - the liberals - believed that their newfound freedom from the Laws of Moses gave them a license to do pretty much anything they wanted - to eat anything and drink anything, for example. Others in the Church - the conservatives - were legalists. Ultra-scrupulous, one scholar calls them. These Christians needed the rules and regulations in order to remain strong in their faith.

Theologically, Paul was a liberal. He agreed with those who felt that they could do as they pleased. However, Paul says to them "look, I agree that nothing is in and of itself unclean. You can eat or drink anything. Be careful, though, not to let what you eat and drink harm someone else."

More broadly stated, Paul tells them, in our Watchword text, "Be careful that what you approve of does not turn out to be a problem."

If we translate this into a 21st Century application, here is what we find: A "no problem, dude" approach to life - and, more importantly, to our relationships with one another - is simply not appropriate. At some level, Paul tells us, we are, in fact, our brother - and our sister's - keeper.

As appealing as it is some times, sitting back and making no judgment is not a path a Christian can responsibly take. We must make judgments about the behavior of others because we care about others. And we must, as Paul reminds us, also be sure that our behavior does not present a problem for our brothers and sisters.

Too often, you see, "no problem, dude" is code for "you stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours," which is an approach to life that keeps us strangers to one another. An approach that is unacceptable, from a Christian perspective.

Instead, as Christians, if our behavior or the behavior of another does not measure up to God's standards we need to adopt a "Yes, problem" attitude.

For us, at the end of the day life is all about righteousness. All about living with a "right" relationship to God and a "right" relationship to one another. Our goal is to have "righteous" relationships - with our family, our friends, our coworkers - and, particularly in this election year, even our elected officials.

Methodist Bishop William Willimon, one of my favorite preachers, sums up this notion of righteousness in this way: "Righteousness," he writes, "means to live life in congruence with the demands of a just God, to see our lives, not as our own, to use as we please, but rather as God's gifts, to be used as God pleases. When we do right, when we hold one another to account, when we urge one another to be all that God intends for us to be, and courageously allow others to demand the best of us, we are fulfilling the righteousness made possible in Jesus Christ."

So, my friends, this is the message our Watchword for 2008 has for us as a congregation: "Strive, each day, for righteousness," Paul tells us. "Do not let anything you do stand in the way of a right relationship with God. Be all that God intends you to be, and expect the same of your brothers and sisters in Christ."

No problem? Not on your life. When it comes to something that does not measure up to God's standards, for us it's Yes. Problem. Anything less than righteousness is simply unacceptable.

                                                                             AMEN