Susanna

He revives my soul . . . and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 - From Psalm 23

Today's reading includes the apocryphal passage from Daniel, Chapter 13, about the upright and godly woman, Susanna. Intermixed with the story, are sections dealing with false witness, about judging not, and about some problems putting "elders" in charge.

It's always the "elders" that seem to be stirring things up. When then elders are good and just, they are clearly the ones that should be put in charge. But when some elders use their position to manipulate events in an evil direction, then we've got serious problems. 

I wrote about division in my last post. The people are divided because of Christ. And you often find "elders" pulling the strings that make people hate each other so.

And we can define "elders" today, as anyone in authority: teachers, professors, experts, lawyers, politicians; if we only had a healthy distrust of their motives, we would be fine. But too often we just roll over and yield to their judgments. 

Susanna is an account of a pure and upright woman that was falsely accused. The crime for which she was accused had a death sentence. But she confirmed that she would rather do right, and be falsely accused, in order to retain God's favor. She had her eyes on the Kingdom of God. She knew her life would be restored, and that she would dwell with The Lord forever. 

People will miss the point of Susanna. All they will see is these two old men (probably white men in suits) accusing her of a crime she did not commit. People will miss the larger point: Susanna's purity, her steadfastness, her faith . . . and the promise of eternal life. They will miss the elevation of such virtues as self-control. They will miss the central role of faith. They will miss the point that we ALL place too much trust in human elders, when we need to focus on God.