Once upon a time, in a garage in the ancient city of Rome, a man developed a computer operating system that became the digital lingua franca for the ancient world. How his operating system defeated its competitor is one of the great mysteries of all time. There must have been something about its ugly, utilitarian appearance and its proclivity toward redundancy that appealed to the brutal bureaucrats who established the Roman Empire. Even the name of the operating system came from a word butchered beyond recognition: XC was supposed to be excello, excellent, but was really nothing more than an redundant clutter of labyrinthine pathways. It was no surprise that when Theseus found the Minotaur in the midst of such a maze, he killed it. XC's competitor, based on the more intuitive, graceful, pictorial language of the Egyptian civilization, decided to name its product after a fruit that in some quarters was blamed for all the world's troubles, and only a few years later its market share had been pared to a mere 5%.

Suddenly the name of the creator of XC was known all over the world — Billius Gaitius — no longer could his computer-geek golfing buddies call him Chip for short. He became the richest man in all the world and commanded as much respect, admiration, and honor as the emperor himself.

Unlike the emperor, however, Billius was a Christian. He was a member of the church of Rome at the time when the apostle Paul wrote the letter that is today's second lesson, much of which addressed the controversy that arose surrounding Billius' astounding rise to success.

Not long after it became clear that XC had become firmly established as the cyber standard of its time, a member of the church of Rome cornered Billius at coffee hour and confronted him with an accusation that troubled Billius deeply. As great and powerful a man as he was, his faith had suffused his personality and imbued him with a profound humility. This kept before him his plebian origins and inspired him to embark on a worldwide quest to improve health care for millions of people who had none.

The member of the church in Rome who had cornered Billius was not impressed by his philanthropy. "Is it true, Mr. Gaitius, that meat sacrificed to idols is served at Macrosoft corporate headquarters and at all official Macrosoft functions?"

Billius admitted that this was the case, but reminded his brother in the faith that almost all meat in the entire world was butchered under non-Christian religious auspices and had been, therefore, sacrificed to other gods. "Furthermore," Billius added, "most people have very little meat in their diet at all, so I feel that providing meat at all Macrosoft functions is just one more way we treat our employees with their well-being in mind and one more way we share our wealth with customers and potential customers alike."

"That's all beside the point," the church member persisted. "You also, I suppose, eat this meat sacrificed to idols?"

Billius admitted that he did, but went on to explain that he had talked with the apostle Paul himself about this issue when he had met him in Corinth. The apostle Paul himself said that nothing he ate ever made him any closer to God — with the possible exception of a habanera pepper he had eaten that just about killed him. "I believe it's just meat," Billius explained, "nothing more, nothing less."

"Maybe you are right. Maybe not. But maintaining the practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols makes you no different than the leaders of any other industry. It makes you no different than most of the citizens of the empire itself — all of whom worship gods other than our own; they even worship the emperor himself! Eating meat sacrificed to idols is a way of begging for the blessing of other gods for businesses and products and livelihoods. Now when a potential Christian or a Christian who is weak in our faith hears that a famous Christian like yourself eats meat sacrificed to idols, won't they think it's okay to worship other gods?"

The church member had a point here. Billius could not answer right away; he looked away, looked at his feet, and sighed. There was an element of serving meat at Macrosoft that had its origin in motivations other than supplementing the protein consumption of his employees. Macrosoft's success lie in the fact that it was competing brilliantly in a world composed of many religions. As a way of inspiring confidence among all these religious people, Billius made sure that everyone knew that meat served at official Macrosoft functions had been properly sacrificed in honor of the god of computers. Not to serve this sort of sacred meat at all Macrosoft functions would raise questions in the minds of customers and potential customers alike: If Macrosoft has not properly honored the god of computers, how can Macrosoft guarantee that they sell quality products? The competition would certainly be able to exploit this neglect of standard business practices in the ancient world. Billius personally knew of no corporation that had succeeded without sacrificing meat to idols.

"Some people, I suppose, just can't eat meat," said Billius at length. "Not many people can afford meat, anyway. And I don't look down on folks who won't eat meat, as some Christians in my circles do. In fact, at Macrosoft we provide both vegetarian and vegan entrees at all official functions. But if I were not to provide meat ... well ... there'd be no Macrosoft, and, by the way, I also wouldn't have any enormous financial resources for my health care initiatives."

"The ends never justify the means," Billius' critic countered.

"But there are no pure and holy means," Billius argued. "Do you check out the corporations from whom you buy your clothes and food? Are you sure that all your shirts and shoes are not manufactured in sweatshops by child labor? Are the plastic toys you buy for your children that are made in China made by one of the many companies there destroying the environment? Is your coffee purchased from farmers by multinational corporations at prices less than the cost to farmers for production? What about your own environmental footprint? Do you realize your insatiable thirst for oil and energy and plastic diverts billions upon billions of dollars from research and development of sustainable energy alternatives, contributes to global warming, and drives a foreign policy built on fearful attempts to maintain our grossly disproportionate consumption of dwindling global resources? You are an integral part of all of that evil, brother. You and I, we have wonderful marriages and families, but we are still both living in sin. Unless you join the Amish or unless you're Jesus himself, then who's not a part of the problem? Who are you to pass judgment on me?"

"So because we can't escape from sin, we might as well sin ... especially if it's good for the corporate bottom line ... is that your argument? All I hear from you, Mr. Gaitius, are rationalizations! That's a fine way to be a Christian in the world!" Billius' assailant moved closer to him. "My friends and I have already requested that the presbyter write to the apostle Paul about you. We don't worship here anymore; we're proud to say we don't eat meat at all; we're thinking of starting our own church. We can't associate with fools like you who worship idols and don't think anything of it. When Paul judges between us, you'll see!" The man pushed by Billius upsetting his cup of Equal Exchange coffee and scalding his thumb.

Even though Billius did have the advice from the apostle Paul himself, the fact that Macrosoft seemed to be causing a rift in his own church disturbed him. Maybe it would be better for him to sell Macrosoft and join the Amish or spend all the proceeds on his health care initiatives. Yet, even if he did that, Billius couldn't shake the feeling that it was all ill-gotten gain. He didn't even like XC himself, but secretly envied and owned one of the fruit computers.

The rift deepened in the church. Though it didn't affect the church much fiscally, Billius could see that more and more people just didn't seem to be showing up anymore. He heard that the group that had withdrawn from worship was speculating that since corporations almost had to have XC to compete successfully in the global economy, soon Macrosoft would be tracking all its customers with a mark "so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark" (Revelation 13:16-17). The mark was supposed to be the name of the apocalyptic beast and "the number of its name" (Revelation 13:17). A fellow from the group, named John, even claimed to have discovered that number in the XC software code.

Months later, when a letter finally came to the church in Rome from the apostle Paul (email in Rome had been fatally damaged by a series of Trojan Horses), Billius hoped that something in the letter would settle this issue about eating meat sacrificed to idols and heal the division in the church he felt he had precipitated.

On the first Sunday, a couple chapters of the letter were read during the service, and it seemed like there were more people in church than had been in recent weeks. At each service thereafter, more chapters were read during worship and discussed afterward. Billius was encouraged when in chapters 3 and 5 the presbyter read that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," but that all are made right with God "by his grace, as a gift" (Romans 3:23-24). This seemed to support Billius' point of view that the observance of dietary laws of any kind were not necessary for salvation. In chapter 8, Billius was reassured that nothing could separate him from the love of God, not even his inevitable participation in a global economy that universally demanded some form of idol worship (Romans 8:31-39). In chapter 13, Billius was somewhat surprised at the sort of positive spin the apostle Paul put on the emperor when he advised Christians to "be subject to the governing authorities," because "the authorities that exist have been instituted by God!" (Romans 13:1). Billius knew there were Christians who held far less flattering views about the emperor.

Finally, right from the very first verses of the chapter, it appeared as if chapter 14 specifically addressed the dispute in Billius' church that distressed him so. Billius was glad the church was still as full as it had been the first Sunday the presbyter began reading the apostle Paul's letter. Billius wanted a chance to air and settle this quarrel with as many members as possible. The presbyter read:

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? (Romans 14:1-4)

At this point the presbyter paused, looking over his reading glasses first at the leader of the group worshiping elsewhere and then at Billius. Billius' opponent couldn't help bursting out, "But it's the law, presbyter! ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.' Exodus, chapter 20!"

"I am well aware of the content and location of the first commandment," the presbyter replied, remaining as composed as possible. "Mr. Gaitius," the presbyter turned his attention to Billius. "Do you worship the god of computers?"

"I do not, sir."

"Do you worship the emperor?"

"I pay the emperor the taxes, respect, and honor he is due. No more, no less."

"A prudent reply," the presbyter smiled, taking off his glasses. "What have you say to your brother in Christ who accuses you of breaking God's law?"

"First of all, I was somewhat saddened that the apostle Paul labeled those who only eat vegetables as ‘weak in faith.' I do not find my brother weak in the faith at all. He is a most sincere and genuine believer. He and his group have gone to great expense to continue to worship elsewhere every single Sunday. This sort of faithfulness is commendable, compared to 70% of the rest of the congregation. Yet, it is not this sort of wonderful obedience to the law that saves them. If I understand our Lord correctly, no one can obey the law perfectly enough to earn our salvation. I recall Jesus saying that even to call a brother a fool is to kill him, and who among us can say he is entirely innocent in this regard?"

"Indeed," said the presbyter.

"As soon as we say that we must obey the law in order to be saved, I ask myself, ‘which law?' The holiness laws about clean and unclean? The laws in regards to the celebration of religious days? The commandments? It's clear Jesus doesn't think we're capable of obeying even ten laws, much less a whole book full! The apostle Paul's letter today seems to indicate that eating meat sacrificed to idols (or not) or celebrating holy days of various kinds (or not) are not a matter we Christians should be fighting about. We shouldn't be fighting at all. We are, as the apostle Paul reminded us in chapter 12, one body. I like that metaphor."

"So do I," the presbyter agreed.

"What settles the whole issue for me was what the apostle Paul wrote just last week. Twice in chapter 13, he made the point that those who love fulfill the law. To me, this means we are to judge our every act by whether or not it is an act of love. It also means that every scriptural law must be judged by whether or not its obedience accomplishes love."

A few were tempted to begin applauding at Billius' speech, but the presbyter held his hand up to stop them. "Applause is for sporting events, brothers and sisters, in which there is a winner and a loser. There are no losers here, only one body of beloved equals. And so for those on either side of the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols, the apostle Paul is very clear: We have no business quarreling about it or judging one another based on our opinions about it."

Billius' opponent objected, "But how can one live life with love as the only guide? It's untenable ... it's too vague, too ... too...."

"Demanding is the word I would use. You're right. Living life with love as your guide demands prayerful, thoughtful engagement in the world. I think Mr. Gaitius is demonstrating that. Conducting his business in this world is no simple matter. Yet, he has not let his power and success destroy him. He has channeled his wealth into acts of love. Try not to despise him. Steadfastly refusing to worship with him (and the rest of us) indicates that you have judged us. The apostle Paul has encouraged us not to judge, but to remain patient with each other. "Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist upon its own way" (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

After the service, Billius complimented the presbyter on his handling of the issue. "And by the way," Billius wondered, "where did you hear that stuff about love being patient and kind?"

"In the apostle Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, which has been fighting about more things than we have. The whole passage is wonderful. You'll have to take a look at it sometime. I'm thinking of using it for a wedding next week."

"A wedding?" said Billius. "What a great idea! Think of how that would transform the idea of marriage! Marriage will no longer be merely a means by which parents arrange advantageous kinship alliances; it will become the dwelling place of the love of God; it will become a sacrament of the presence of Christ...."

"Remember that, Billius, when it's time to take the garbage out or when it's your turn to feed the baby at three in the morning."

"Ha! You're right, as usual, sir," said Billius, "love's a lot easier said than done!"

"Amen to that!" said the presbyter, moving away from Billius to chat with the leader of the group who had begun to worship elsewhere. Amen.