In Exodus 32: 1-14, Aaron is one lucky religious leader! Chosen by God to work with Moses, it is through his lineage that all priests will serve Israel as intercessors for all generations. Aaron was with Moses and witnessed firsthand God’s strength and sovereignty in the face of Pharaoh’s cruelty. He knew he was in the presence of the one true God. Yet Aaron was weak: all too willing to succumb to the will of the Hebrews who, in the wilderness, are impatient with Moses’ absence while Moses receives the Torah on Sinai (Horeb in Psalm 106).

Instead of reassuring the people in the faithfulness of God, Aaron collects their jewelry, melts it and molds it into a golden calf (the cult animal of the Canaanite god Baal, worshipped on the eve of early winter rains so vital to the region’s crops). Aaron builds an altar, offers sacrifice to the idol, and leads the people in a huge bash in honor of their creation. God, looking down at these unfaithful and impatient people, seethes and threatens to kill the whole lot of them with the exception of Moses. God would save Moses to lead a whole new people. Sounds reasonable!

Moses, who has little to gain by what he does next, begs God to reconsider. He appeals to God’s reputation and how it will look to the world should God zap the people God rescued from Egypt. Although there might be brief satisfaction in annihilating the Hebrew people, such revenge would lower God’s street cred, God’s credibility.

God understands reputation and cares very much about maintaining a good one (see Exodus 20:7, 24). Using God’s name in vain or for disreputable purposes is punishable by death. Moses’ intercession strikes a chord and God relents and allows the people to live and to move toward the Promised Land. For better or worse, having a good reputation goes a long way toward making positive changes in the community and moving toward the Promised Land.

	Who are some of the big “names” within the LGBT communities and how have their reputations in the community helped or hindered positive change for sexual equality? Who are the people who intercede between the LGBT communities and the larger world and how are they effective?

Psalm 106 is usually thought of as a community lament for covenant renewal. This psalm serves as a confession for national sin, recounts the golden calf incident and sets up a contrast between a forgiving God and a rebellious people. The people forgot God’s great works and reputation and sinned: “They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea” (verses 20-22).

Psalm 23 is a song of confidence by a worshiper who gives thanks for deliverance from human enemies. It can be read as a celebration of the intimate relationship between the psalmist and God. Adonai is my shepherd who makes me lie down in green pastures, leads me beside quiet waters and restores my soul “for God’s name sake.” God wants all of us to know how loved and cared for we are. When we are in the presence of our enemies, God will cover us with so much oil that everyone will know that we are anointed and chosen by God and that we have chosen God.

God is not only concerned about God’s own street credibility. In Isaiah 25:1-9, while celebrating God’s future destruction of the unjust and unfaithful city, the prophet lauds God’s refuge for the poor and needy who now sing God’s glory. God provides a banquet for those once outcast replete with the finest of foods. Yet there is more! God not only wipes away the tears shed by the oppressed, God wipes away the disgrace of the people who have been shamed by their oppressors (verse 8).

	When have we felt shamed by the dominant culture for living and loving as God has created us? The prophet Isaiah promises a world where we will not be shamed for who we are!

The importance of a good reputation is emphasized in Philippians 4:1-19. The word on the street is that Euodia and Syntyche, leaders of two separate household churches in Philippi, are jeopardizing the new Christian movement by their feud. Who wants to join a group that is so vitriolic? Paul appeals for a new reputation based on joy in Christ: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone” (verses 4-5a). In other words, act like Christ would have you act. The Greek term translated as “gentleness” can also mean “seemly,” “courteous,” “kind” or “yielding.” All of these translations indicate a loving spirit, especially such a spirit that should result from a relationship with Christ (like the one between the psalmist and God in Psalm 23) where all needs are met: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (verse 6). The feuding church is ruining Christ and his movement’s reputation in such a way that it is difficult to tell the difference between those who are and are not following Christ.

Philippians 4:1-9 combines a call to reconciliation with an exhortation to hope. It seems odd that Paul should tell the church in Philippi that they should rejoice and live beyond anxiety. After all, can we really choose to rejoice? Do we have control over our anxiety? Paul does not base his exhortation in our own ability to feel joyful and calm. He grounds it in the very nature of God, who is the God of peace. Paul's spirituality is not about "the power of positive thinking." It is the testimony of a prisoner who opens his spirit to the presence of God.

	When in your oppression have you let go and opened up to the presence of God?

In Matthew 22:1-14, it must have been difficult for the groom who is the ruler’s son, as well as for the ruler when guests who are invited to the wedding refuse the initial invitation and then kill the servants when they bring a second one. Such behavior by friends and family is embarrassing enough, but from one’s subjects it is downright damaging to the ruler’s reputation for hospitality. As a result of their refusal to attend, troops are sent to destroy these insubordinate subjects and their property. The ruler then sends the remaining servants to invite anyone on the street who would like to come to the wedding, “good or bad.” The room becomes packed with revelers and the ruler’s reputation is saved. Yet somehow one guest is able to slip into the celebration without wearing the proper wedding garment, an indication again of rudeness that is directed to the ruler and the royal family. The guest is jettisoned out of the door into the place where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Many are called to participate in this realm but choose to refuse it in spite of God’s just and righteous reputation. For example, when loving people from the LGBT communities are rejected by the mainline churches and declared as unloved by God and Christ, God’s reputation is marred, God’s invitation to “all people” thwarted.

	How has the church hurt or helped God’s reputation as a loving and just God, particularly regarding the acceptance of the LGBT communities?

This parable envisions a community that lives in celebration – and it passes judgment on communities that fail to prepare for the wedding feast. How ought communities oppressed by poverty, decay, neglect and discrimination respond to such a message? Once again, manufactured joy gets us nowhere. Empty positive self-talk convinces only for awhile. Our celebration must find itself in the way of Jesus, who passionately invites all persons to the banquet. That passion to include "as many as you can find" reveals God's desire for our inclusion and celebration.