SYMBOLIC SPEECH
A Communion Meditation
given by
The Reverend Dr. Howard C. Wilkinson
Chaplain to the University
Sunday, August 4, 1968, Eleven o'clock
Duke University Chapel
Matthew 26:17-29
During the recent, highly publicised trial of Dr. Speck, Chaplain Coffin and their three co-defendants, the defense attorneys made
an attempt to obtain a verdict of "not guilty" partly by lifting up
something which they called "symbolic speech." The Constitution of
the United States guarantees freedom of speech, and the Supreme Court
ruled some time ago that such things as picketing and demonstrations
were "symbolic speech" and as such were guaranteed freedom under the
First Amendment. Therefore the defense attorneys felt that if they
could successfully argue that the anti-war and anti-draft activities
of the defendants were only a form of speaking, the federal court
would have to find them innocent of any crime.
The fact that the court did not grant this argument prosperity
is crucial to the point I want to make, in beginning this brief interpretation of the Holy Communion, which we will soon receive. It may
be that this analogy will help us to focus very precisely on the
central mystery contained in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
Here is how the argument proceeds in brief: Under the Constitution, any citizen is allowed to express any opinion which he'may have,
regardless of what that opinion may be, and there is not a policeman,
or a judge or a jury, or a jailor who can successfully lay hands on
him. I could stand here in this honored pulpit this morning and
legally tell you that I think Naz~m is the best form of government,
or that Communism is the best way of life, or that the government of
the United States should be overthrown by violence. I would simply be
exercising the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution.
Dr. Spock and Chaplain Coffin held no such radical opinion as
those,however. In common with many other sincere Americans, they believed the Vietnam war to be wrong, and again in common with many
idealistic citizens, they were opposed to the government drafting
young men to fight in Vietnam. They had often stated that these were
their beliefs. They were not arrested because of that, just as thousands of other people who have expressed those same opinions and beliefs have not been arrested. Indeed, the U.S. District Judge Francis
Ford specifically told the jury during the trial, "We are not trying
••• the right of a person to protest the war."
The government did arrest thesemen because it claimed they went
beyond speaking and acted in such a way as to encourage, aid, abet and
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stimulate young men to disobey the draft law. In other words, the
government contended that they went beyond speaking and conspired to
make what they spoke for become a reality.
What they spoke in
favor of was not allowed by the law. So when they tried to act out
their speech, they were arrested and convicted in court.
Now we come to the point I want to make. We are free to speak
any speech, but we are not free to act out any conceivable action.
The implication here is that actions have an impact which words
without actions cannot have. It is considered "safe" to allow a man
to speak against the draft law, but not safe for him to act against
it. Action might frustrate the operation of the lawjn a way that
mere speech would not. Action somehow is more convincing than speech
alone. If a picture is worth a thousand words, action is worth
10,000 words unaccompanied by action_ Now, brothers and sisters,
this is what the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is all about. Essentially th~ communion is something we do, rather than something we
say, and all the "saying" connected with it is merely for the purpose
of explaining the "doing." There is no Holy Communion without actionaction on God's part and action on our part.
God's action is to prepare a table, to invite us to it, and to
accept us when we come. Our action is to hear the invitation, accept
it, move to the Lord's Table and have fellowship with Him and with
others gathered about it.
Once again, at this point, we are involved in the relevance of
symbols. The table and what is on it are not in themselves significant. What they symbolize is all-important. The Lord's invitation
to us to approach His table is symbolic speech, and the re-enactment
today of that event in history when Jesus invited the disciples to
His table is a vital re-enactment of the living drama of our salvation, and in this dramatic act our souls may literally be fed with
the bread of heaven and the wine of loving redemption.
Almighty God might simply have spoken with a thunderous voice,
stating His love for us and His willingness to forgive our sins if
we would repent and obey Him. That would have been a marvelous
thing for Him to do. But with infinite compassion, God went far beyond this method of speaking, coming among us in human flesh and
offering His innocent body on a cruel cross. In anticipation of that
event, He spread a table for His disciples and explained that the
food and drink on it, which He invited them to receive, were symbolic
of His body which would be broken for them the next day and of His
blood which likewise would be shed for them.
If the sermonic proclamation of the Gospel of God's redeeming
love is speech, the celebration of the Lord's Supper is symbolic
speech, for in it we are called to act, in response to an action on
God's part. His action is to issue a symbolic invitation to His
table, and our action is to give a symbolic acceptance to the invitation.
Hisjnvitation says to us that we are sinners, alienated from Him
by reason of our sins, but that He offers us restoration and full
fellowship if we will repent and draw near to Him in faith and obedience. Our acceptance of the invitation symbolizes our desire to
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repent of our sins, our willingness to forsake them, and our faith
that God will forgive us, restore us, and accept us. Therefore,
from start to finish, the sacrament of Holy Communion is a continuous action. It has much to communicate, but it does so by symhoJio
speech.
It would be a simple and easy thing for me at this moment to
stand here and look out into your faces and with a smile declare to
you, "You are all my friends. I love you." Were I to do that, some
of you might remember it until you get outside the Chapel. But if
I were to stand here and say, "All of you are urged to come to my
house for supper tonight," two things would happen. First, my wife
would have a heart attack at the thought of having to feed this many
people tonight, but second, some of you would be more impressed with
my interest in you than you would be from a merely verbal proclamation of love.
Moving quickly now from make-believe to reality, let me say
that you soon will hear the Lord's invitation to come to His table,
spoken in the words our Lord used, by one of us who will be serving
as His table waiter. When you hear the Lord's invitation, search
your heart and see if you would like to accept. The greatest blessing offered by God or known to man comes with the acceptance.