Read: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
[“Ladies and gentlemen, I am ordered by Miss Woodhouse to say, that she waives her right of knowing exactly what you may all be thinking of, and only requires something very entertaining from each of you, in a general way. Here are seven of you, besides myself (who, she is pleased to say, am very entertaining already), and she only demands from each of you, either one thing very clever, be it prose or verse, original or repeated; or two things moderately clever; or three things very dull indeed; and she engages to laugh heartily at them all.”
“Oh! Very well,” exclaimed Miss Bates; “then I need not be uneasy. ‘Three things very dull indeed.’ That will just do for me, you know. I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open my mouth, shan’t I?” (looking round with the most good-humoured dependence on everybody’s assent). “Do not you all think I shall?”
Emma could not resist.
“Ah! Ma’am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me, but you will be limited as to number—only three at once.”
Miss Bates, deceived by the mock ceremony of her manner, did not immediately catch her meaning; but, when it burst on her, it could not anger, though a slight blush shaowed that it could pain her.
“Ah! Well—to be sure. Yes, I see what she means” (turning to Mr. Knightley), “and I will try to hold my tongue. I must make myself very disagreeable, or she would not have said such a thing to an old friend.”]
I begin, tonight, with this passage from Jane Austen’s novel
Emma, because it is the scene of the main character’s “Fall from Grace”. I think Emma’s fall can help us to understand an essential theme to the story we heard from Genesis: namely: Language is powerful. Language creates and it destroys.
At one moment, Frank Churchill was using humorous language to unite people—to create a paradise out of the little circle of friends gathered for a picnic on Box Hill. In the next moment, we see Emma using language to alienate a person—tearing her friend down, only to build herself up. The paradise Frank was trying to create, Emma destroys. “She couldn’t resist.”
In the story from Genesis, God uses the language of love to call into being a beautiful paradise for the two humans to live in. He provides for all of their needs; but then enters this strange character: the serpent. And if we didn’t already get that language was important, we should realize it when we learn this serpent can speak. And with that gift of speech, the serpent immediately sets out to destroy the paradise God has created.
He asks the woman an absurd question: “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”—as if all the natural world is asking this same question…as if it would make sense for God to do such a thing. But Eve is naïve and takes the bate. She says, “No! We’re allowed to each of all of these trees. It’s only of the tree in the middle of the garden that we are forbidden to eat—and that’s only because if we eat or touch that tree’s fruit we’ll die.”
We can tell from Eve’s response that she gets that she lives in paradise. She knows that she is well provided for, and that she believes God loves her.
But then the serpent says: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” Translation: “You dummy! God doesn’t love you! He lied to you! Who cares if you can eat of all of these trees? They don’t do anything for you! It’s only the fruit in the middle of the garden what we really help you! God’s not taking care of you! He’s oppressing you!”
Through these words, the serpent sows the seed of distrust, and the moment Eve buys into the message, paradise is lost. She can no longer resist the forbidden fruit.
It seems to me that this story is a powerful parable for our lives a community of religious brothers. After all, the Gospel is God respeaking the message of his love in order to recreate paradise for us. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy One has said unequivocally that he loves us, despite everything we do to reject that love. His love is first, is generous, and unchanging—this is the Gospel. All of us here claim to believe the Gospel; we come together to live it; and we all think we’re called to preach it—so why isn’t St. Dominic Priory paradise on earth?
I think it’s because, on a daily basis, we betray the Gospel through inappropriate and malicious speech. We have racism, sexism, and homophobia in our speech. We are boastful, arrogant, and condescending. We gossip about each other, and make jokes at one another’s expenses. We lie. We do all of these things, and, on top of it, we defend ourselves for doing them. We cannot resist.
Unfortunately, Christian communities have been struggling with the destructive force of speech from the beginning. No one talks about this better than St. James. He says:
“So the tongue is only a tiny part of the body, but its boasts are great. Think how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest; the tongue is a flame too. Among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a while wicked world: it infects the whole body; catching fire itself from hell, it sets fire to the whole wheel of creation. Wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish of every kind can all be tamed; but nobody can tame the tongue—it is a pest that will not keep still, full of deadly poison. We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse people who are made in God’s image: the blessing and curse come out of the same mouth. My brothers, this must be wrong—” (James 3:5-10)
Brothers and sisters, this is wrong.
In his rebuff to Emma, Mr. Knightly explains to Emma that her actions were so wrong, because her words were ungenerous, impolite, and unloving. Furthermore, and importantly, they set a bad example for others. The same is true for all Christians, but especially religious brothers and sisters who claim to believe, live, and preach the Gospel. Shouldn’t we know better? Shouldn’t be love better? Can’t we resist?
These are important questions, precisely because sin echoes. It pollutes; and when we use malicious speech of any kind, rather than declaring the Gospel of God’s love, we declare the message that God doesn’t love us. People receive this message from us, and then spread it to others. Paradise continues to be lost, and the Gospel is silenced.
The Season of Lent, the story from Genesis, and Austen’s novel call upon us to take stock of our use of language. They ask us to ponder the power of language, how it can create, and how it can destroy. And since it is true that we have been made like God, knowing what is good and evil, they challenge us to let our choice for the good be reflected in what we say.
Br. Paul, OP
This morning, I visited Christ Church Cathedral, the Episcopal cathedral of St. Louis. My study of Anglicanism, as part of my research for my thesis, had me itching to attend an Episcopalian service again. I was hoping for a high church service, but the one I attended was rather low. A female priest presided, with two deacons as helpers, and another priest for the preacher. A small band of faithful were gathered--very small, actually--as well as a few people just sitting in to get out of the cold. 
