Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

“I am convinced that the moral arc of the universe
is long, but it is bent toward justice.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Word. And thirdly, prophetic leadership
in the King tradition is missionfocused.
Let me unpack those three,
and then we’ll have time for conversation.
Let me give you a quote that comes
from 1961. This is King speaking to
a convention of the AFL-CIO. I just
want you to hear what he said. You
heard some of these sayings echoed
in other contexts, but he says this to
the AFL- CIO in 1961 at the conclusion
of his address:
“I am convinced that we shall overcome,
because the moral arc of the
universe is long but it is bent toward
justice. We shall overcome because
Carlyle is right when he says, ‘No lie
can live forever.’ We shall overcome because
William Cullen Bryant was right
when he said ‘Truth crushed to earth
shall rise again.’ And so if we go out
with this faith and with this determination
to solve these problems, we will be
able to bring that into being, that new
day and that new America. Yes this will
be the day when all of God’s children,
white men and black men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will
be able to join hands all over the nation
and sing in the words of the old negro
spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank
God Almighty, I’m free at last.’”
You hear echoes of this speech all
over…this was classic King. But my
point is, fi rst of all, that this is 1961, ok?
Secondly, this is the AFL-CIO union
convention…this ain’t church, ok?
And third, the AFL-CIO was not, in
VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007
those days, a diverse organization. Are
you with me? This was not even black
church. This was not a black context.
This was not a church context. This
was a labor union. Most of the speech
engages in issues of social policy where
issues and concerns of labor and issues
and concerns of civil rights intersect.
He was trying to make some of the connections
for folk, but it is at the end that
you get these words: “I am convinced
that the moral arc of the universe is
long but it is bent toward justice.” The
preacher King begins to preach.
Now to be sure, much of that is stylized
rhetoric. I understand that. That
is what preachers do. You all came to
seminary to learn stylized rhetoric…
that is why you came right? [laughter]
Otherwise you spent a whole lot of
money for nothing. [laughter] So some
of that, I understand, is rhetorical, but
it is important to grasp that certainly in
the historic black preaching tradition
of that time, not necessarily true today,
different now, but at that time, the rhetorical
cues accessed spiritual reality. It
wasn’t just rhetoric for rhetoric’s sake.
These were rhetorical linkages into
deeper spiritual reality. And so when
King makes that shift and that move, if
you will, into high gear— “The moral
arc of the universe is long but bends
toward justice”—when he makes that
claim, this is a faith claim.
It is not a sociological fact. The data
of reality suggested the opposite. This
was 1961. Bull Connor was sheriff in
Birmingham. The Albany campaign
had not happened. The March on
Washington had not happened. The
Birmingham Campaign had not happened.
Those four little girls in the 16 th
St Baptist Church in Birmingham had
not happened. The Civil Rights Bill
was not passed until ’64. The Voting
Rights Act not until ’65. The struggle
was early and young and hope was
not even on the distant horizon and
yet, he still had the nerve to say, “The
moral arc of the universe is long… but
is bent toward justice.” This is not an
abstract hope…it is a vision of a God
who has called this world into being
not by accident. This is a vision of faith.
Authentic prophetic leadership is the
exercise of real and radical Christian
discipleship grounded in faith in a God
“nor eye hath seen nor ear heard” but
who is real.
King would often end his sermon
with a talk, especially when he was
pushed against a wall. It is interesting
what comes out of you when you are
pushed up against a wall. When he
was pushed against a wall or frustrated,
certainly in his early years, he
would often recount a conversation
he had with a Sister Pollard from
the Montgomery bus boycott days.
During the boycott they would have
meetings in the evening that were
half organizational, half teaching the
people the principles of nonviolence
and church. After one of them, Sister
Pollard came up and had this conversation
with him. She began, “Son,
what is wrong with you? You didn’t
talk strong tonight.”
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