MLK Shabbat - Shabbat Shemot

SHEMOT - INTRODUCTION TO REV. DARIN MOORE

This is the meaning of this week’s Torah portion:

That when you take the power of God, and combine it with a human voice, and you multiply that human voice with other human voices, then there is nothing you cannot do.

The Hebrew slaves are languishing under the whip of Pharaoh’s taskmasters. A genocidal decree goes forth from the king, dooming the male children to destruction. A baby boy is floated down the Nile in a basket of reeds, rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, Moses--from the water have I drawn him. As he grows to manhood he sees the suffering of the slaves. Defending one of the victims he strikes a taskmaster, killing him, and flees for his life. Moses has discovered the power of his fist to strike against injustice but he has not yet learned the power of his voice or the power of God.

To find that, he must go to the mountain, to the bush burning but unconsumed, to the call that summons him before Pharaoh.

He must learn of God’s signs and wonders, the miracles and marvels that will impress Pharaoh.

But most of all, Moses has to find his voice.

God gives him the words. “You must say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Eternal: Israel is My firstborn child! Let my child go in order to worship Me. But if you refuse to let him go, then I will slay your firstborn.”

Moses does not feel ready to speak. “I beseech you, Almighty. I am not a man of words. Never have been, never will be. I have heavy lips and a heavy tongue.”

God relents and says, “What about Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know that he can really speak. Look, here he comes! When he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart. You shall speak to him. Put the words in his mouth, and then I’ll tell you what to do next.”

This is the meaning of this week’s Torah portion:

That when you take the power of God, and combine it with a human voice, and you multiply that human voice with other human voices, then there is nothing you cannot do. God’s power, Moses’s voice, Aaron’s voice all combine to overturn a tyrant, set free a people, turn the raging sea into dry land, give birth to a nation, bring forth the law from the mountain, survive for forty years in the wilderness. God’s power, and human voices speaking together.

You may not remember this but when Reverend Darin Moore last spoke at WRT, our sanctuary was very new -- he was one of the first guest speakers to our congregation. In fact, you may have missed this architectural detail but the doors to our sanctuary were normal-size back then.

When Rev. Moore spoke to us last time, 2 years ago, he literally blew the doors off the place. Rev. Moore, that is why our sanctuary now features ginormous doors -- we are ready for your message tonight!

Our oversize doors were really part of the plan all along. They echo the message of Isaiah, “My House shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” Those doors are wide enough to embrace all who enter, all God’s children--people who come here with joy to share, who need healing in their distress and comfort in their grief, who come to feel embraced.

We feel so privileged to welcome back to WRT Rev. Darin Moore, who has been the Pastor of Greater Centennial A.M.E. Zion Church of Mount Vernon since 1993.

Much has happened in our congregation and in yours since the last time you spoke here and lifted us up. In that time, WRT and Greater Centennial have joined a wider alliance of community institutions working for the common good, called Westchester United, a number of whose dedicated participants have already come up onto our bimah tonight.

Speaking of which: there must be a spiritual energy to this bimah; it seems that religious leaders who speak here get put on the track for national leadership in their respective denominations. Even as our own Rabbi Jacobs has ascended to the Presidency of the Union for Reform Judaism, our friend Rev. Moore has offered himself for the office of Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a denomination officially born in 1796 that now serves more than a million members. A board of twelve bishops provides the leadership of the church; last year at this service we heard from one of the bishops, Rev. Dennis Proctor. You can now follow and support Rev. Moore’s candidacy by going to the Moore for Bishop 2012 page on Facebook, and following @MooreForZion on twitter.

That’s right! I know a lot of you have had questions about how much time your new senior rabbi spends on social media (all for work, I promise), but our guest tonight out-tweets me at every turn. Because he understands that the power of God and the power of the human voice can be even more powerful when we use technology in an inspired way to bring a powerful message to the people, and multiply it. Consider a recent tweet, a message broadcast into cyberspace in 140 characters or less, from Rev. Moore’s personal Twitter feed:

Happy New Year! Remember that it won't be new if u do

the same in 2012 that u did in 2011. A new year awaits a new YOU!

So instead of spending these precious minutes reading the obligatory biography of our distinguished guest, I want to encourage you to go online and get the message from the source.

We are thrilled to welcome back to WRT our friends from Greater Centennial: Rev. Moore and his wife Devieta; Rev. Julius Walls, his wife Cheryl and assistant Kay Heron; Minister of Music Mel Reburg; and Chairman of Operations Tony Granston; their amazing choir and musicians, and so many of their parishioners.

And we are grateful to God for the gift of the voice that has the power to make the message known.