The sisters are alone in the house with Jesus.  Mary sits at the feet of Jesus.  She listens to his stories and wisdom while Martha becomes an active servant, running around from kitchen to living room-- doing for, supporting, nurturing their honored guest.  Finally, in exasperation, Martha blurts out, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?”

In the transparent moment of a family tiff, the sisters are unfocused and misunderstand one another.  They are not functioning together at their best.

Our elected body of representatives, a model of democracy, seems to have lost focus and even become dysfunctional in endless back-and-forth criticism, partisan squabble and posturing, each supposedly pushing for consensus while doing its best to make one side right, the other side wrong.

In the meantime our soldiers fight in the fog of war.  They obey their superior officers.  They do as they are told with honor, integrity and professional skill. They perform as soldier brothers and sisters facing increasing risk and multiple enemies—faithful to assigned mission.

Our government representatives continue their disagreements and debates.

Martha and Mary disagree on correct posture in the presence of their Lord Jesus.

Something seems out of focus…

New York Times writer David Brooks drew a poignant picture in one of his columns this past week: “I spent the first four days of last week interviewing senators about Iraq,” Brooks writes.  “The mood ranged from despondency to despair.  Then on Friday I went to the Roosevelt Room in the White House to hear President Bush answer questions on the same subject.  It was like entering a different universe.  Far from being beleaguered, Bush was assertive and good humored.”

What is wrong with this picture of government leadership?  Media photos of the huge and now infamous banner “Mission Accomplished” hung on an aircraft carrier loom in our imaginations.

Good soldiers obey as directed the mandate of their commanders. They are often very young men and women, but they perform as professional teams.  Thirty-five hundred soldiers have died, and many thousands more have been maimed for life.  Since September 11, 2001 and for six years, Al Queda has, according to most recent intelligence reports, “protected or regenerated key elements of its homeland attack capability.”

The Senators continue their debate.  They are tired because they stay up all night.

Martha is weary of doing all the work while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus.  Mary seems to be focused.  She listens.

Let us recall what our Lord has said in the Gospel lessons of recent weeks:

“Who is my neighbor?” Jesus is asked by his enemies.  “Those alien Syrian foreigners”, Jesus says, “the Samaritans are your neighbors.”

“Go out,” Jesus says to the seventy, “and be with the people of God.” “Take nothing extra.”  “Care for them, and heal them,” he says.

Jesus speaks of diplomacy. Talk to the stranger, engage in a dialogue with the unknown person, search for common ground even with your most difficult enemy.

The Lord addresses Amos, “Amos, Amos, what is this?” as a basket of fruit appears.  “And Amos says, “A basket of summer fruit.”

And the Lord says, “The end has come upon my people Israel. This basket of fresh fruit will rot before your very eyes.”

The unpopular prophet preaches a message of harsh judgment to the unseeing people of God.

“If we go into Iraq and start a war there,” predicted journalist David Halberstam in a 2003 speech on the campus of Elon University, “it will be like punching a large hornet nest.”  Sadly, we lost this great prophetic journalist in an automobile accident a few months ago.

Senators, do not just talk with each other.  Listen.  Listen to the heartbeat of the adversary.

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”  Jesus rebukes Martha in a kind, caring manner.  Surely, Jesus is not against Martha’s wonderful ability as gracious hostess.  Jesus speaks to the moment – this moment in time.  There is a message in his gentle admonishment. Listen.

The same Jesus speaks today.

“He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created,” Paul says in his letter to the Colossians.

My parish, it is not often that I become overtly political from the pulpit. My conscience will not stay silent.

For the past four weeks, we have sat as Mary at the feet of Jesus. We have heard the Gospel message guide us in the way of honest listening and diplomacy even as we feel darkness and confusion.  No war is ever resolved without the inevitable convening of unlike minds, a summit of adversaries seeking relief from destruction and conflict, peace and well being for all people.  This process of reconciliation begins with each and every one of us in prayerful meditation on our own responsibilities as citizens of the earth. We must talk among ourselves and with our representatives—emailing and telephoning, writing letters and more letters.

No family in the Bible is more significant than the family of Martha and Mary.  Even with their individual differences, in the long run, they are two very effective doers, listeners and nurturers of the messenger called by Paul “the image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ.”

Congress, too can be powerfully effective, hopefully as responsive to duty as our foot soldiers and their families.

God of the living word, give us the faith to receive your message, the wisdom to know what it means, and the courage to put it into practice.

Amen