(A)Taking the rough with the smooth. See Eccles7v13to14.

There are Christians who believe that all the bad times in their lives are of the devil. This is not the view of the Teacher who accepts that God is in over all control and the bad times are as much in his will as the good: God has made the one as well as the other. In the old story of Job the tribulations that he suffered at the hand of Satan were in the will of God. Job acknowledges this when he says:

The LORD gave and the LORD
has taken away:
may the name of the LORD
be praised.

The future is never certain in this life because there is no way of knowing what God has planned for us. It is ridiculous to believe that our journey will be all plain sailing. James writes: Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Christian in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress spent some time in the Delectable Mountains but the entire pilgrimage was not spent walking in such a delightful place. Christian had to wade through the Slough of Despond, lose his companion, Faithful, in Vanity Fair, fight with Apollyon, the foul fiend, in the Valley of Humiliation, climb the Hill called Difficulty and escape from Giant Despair's dungeon before he got to the Delectable Mountains.

We need to experience trials and tribulation to mature in the faith. Paul writes to the Romans: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Rom5v1to4. The idea here is that if we endure suffering for Christ's sake our faith will have passed the test and have proved genuine. If our faith is the genuine article then our hope is secure because it is by faith that we are justified and have peace with God.

(B) Realism and balance. See Eccles7v15to18.

The Teacher has noticed, as surely have we all, that there is no correlation between righteousness and length of life. Admirable men and women get cut down in their prime whereas villains of the darkest hue go on and on and on. Good health and longevity are not rewards for living well and pleasing God. All those who think they are need only remember that Jesus died in his early thirties. James and Stephen were youthful martyrs. Paul was cut off in his prime so far as spiritual insight and inspired teaching were concerned. God will reward after death and at the Last Judgment all those who believe in Jesus and display the fruits of faith. Righteousness contributes little to good health and a long life. They have to do with the principle of cause and effect that underlies God's creation. A whole train of events stretching back into the distant past may be responsible for a premature death.

A man who is over-righteous is self-righteous and a man who is over wise is too clever by half and cannot be told anything. The Pharisees at the time of Jesus fell into this category. The were prigs. Jesus said of the Pharisees, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?" Luke11v39 He said to the scribes, "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." Luke11v52.

The Pharisees thought that they were incredibly righteous - but they were not. It is very dangerous for Christians to parade their holiness. Very often it is a sort of external holiness - a bit like the Pharisees. When I was a worker at a Christian camp we would gather in the kitchen after a long, hard, day for a mug of cocoa and a laugh. I was one of the latrine officers and might describe, by way of entertainment, the problem experienced by my friend the Pitman whilst carrying a very full latrine in very short Wellington boots. The Pitman did not rejoice in adversity when he stumbled over a tent peg! At this point, just as I was getting into my stride - to the particular amusement of the Skipper - a senior, grey-haired, worker would spring to his feet and call for a time of prayer. This is what I would call a sort of external holiness. It didn't mean the venerable gentleman was holier than I was - not that that would have been very difficult!

The Scribes thought they knew everything about the law. They were the experts and no one was going to tell them! Jesus says that they had not begun to understand the purpose of the law and they hindered others understanding it as well. God did not give the law to make life a burden for people but to make life better for all. Jesus highlighted the fundamental error of the scribes when he told them that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. However the Scribes would not be told.

I believe that there are Theologians who are like the Scribes. They write about the Bible in jargon and their work is almost unintelligible to the layman. They give the impression that the Bible was written for Theologians to study. Certainly they write to impress other Theologians. The Scriptures exist for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Tim3v17.

At the other extreme from the Pharisee are the men of whom Peter wrote: blots and blemishes, revelling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed - an accursed brood......
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ....
Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2Pet2v13to22.

It is possible to glory in our shame - to take a perverse pride in the very things that spoil us. We can glory in meanness. We call it: 'being careful.' We can glory in the spirit of retaliation. We say, "Nobody messes with me." We can glory in gluttony. We say, "I enjoy my food." I can glory in my coarseness and crudity. I say, "We all need a good belly laugh." So I could go on. This is being 'over wicked' and a fool.

We certainly do well to avoid both extremes. The Teacher writes: The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. v18. Joseph was a man like this. He was neither legalistic nor imprudent. He tested his brothers to see if their attitude had changed. When he discovered how much they regretted the anxiety they had caused their father, Jacob, Joseph forgave his brothers the wrong they had done him. Esther was like this. She did not refuse to be one of King Xerxe's harem but nor did she so revel in her position that she was unwilling to help her people at need.

(C) Don't expect too much:v20: There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

I know full well that I am not perfect. Everyone who knows me would accept that this is undoubtedly the case! If this is the case I should not expect others to be perfect either. Yet Christians expect their heroes to live flawless lives.

Paul is one of my heroes but he wasn't perfect. Paul the Christian was sensitive to criticism and didn't like admitting to a mistake. It seems from 2Cor1v12 to 2Cor2v4 that Paul had promised to visit the Corinthian church on his way back from Macedonia. He wrote them a letter instead. It is almost as if he couldn't face disciplining the Corinthians face to face. The church at Corinth evidently criticised Paul for not keeping his word. The passage referred to above is Paul's attempt to justify him self. He could have apologised for not fulfilling his promise.

It is one thing to confess that you are the chief of sinners and it is quite another to admit to a particular mistake. As I have written before we are readier to accept that we are 'hell deserving sinners' than we are to admit that we are mistaken.

The greatest Bible hero was flawed so why do we expect our pastors and elders to be perfect and why do we get so upset by their weaknesses? We must expect imperfections of character and disposition and make allowances.

We need to apply the knowledge of our own and other people's failings. The passage in Mt5v21to26 should help us in this respect.

We shouldn't hate people who wrong us. We shouldn't hold them in contempt and despise them. I can remember when a very volatile individual had a lawnmower for sale. A friend of mine, an honourable man, made him an offer. Fred expected a higher offer and said so. However Ron knew the value of second-hand lawnmowers and was not prepared to offer more. Fred, a committed Christian, blew his top using, I am afraid, language more appropriate to a Dublin bar than a Grace Baptist chapel. Ron wasn't impressed and never forgave him.

It is easy to condemn others. Before we do so we should reflect on the times we have wronged others - let them down - acted thoughtlessly, unfairly and unkindly.

The passage in Matthew also encourages us to admit the possibility that we have acted badly. Perhaps, there is someone who has a justifiable grievance because of our actions or behaviour. We should act quickly to put things right. This should be our chief priority - it is more important than any Christian service or any act of worship.

Some years ago I was under a lot of pressure. I was trying to teach and care for my father who was in the final stages of Parkinson's Disease. I still tried to do the best by my students and so I arranged several days of field trips in the Easter Holidays. It took a lot of organising, as I had to get father looked after while I was away. The colleague who assisted in the Geography department was no help as she organised a boating holiday on the Broads at the same time. On the day before half -term one of my A level students said, "I can't go on the fieldtrips, Mr Reed, I am going on the Broad's holiday organised by Mrs X." Unfortunately as I was telling the boy, in no uncertain terms, that failure to participate in the field studies would result in ejection from the course, Mrs X walked into the room. Consequently I berated her in front of the students. She was pretty upset! She was so upset she had to go home.

Now I realised that I had made a mistake! It spoiled my half-term! I expect you think it served me right. On my return to school I invited Mrs X into the first lesson I taught those same A level students and publicly apologised. I told the students that she was an excellent colleague and I had been completely out of order saying the things I had. I was genuinely sorry and I made what haste I could to repair the damage that I had done. I apologised from the heart - and I was forgiven.

(E) Do not take to heart everything people say about you. See Eccles7v21to22.

This is excellent advice. If a master overhears his servant cursing him he is unlikely to hear a fully objective assessment of his worth. He needs to take into account that the servant may be tired, bored, disappointed in love and feeling miserable or, indeed, have absurdly unrealistic expectations of his master.

A headmaster walking past the open door of the staff room near the end of term who hears one of his assistant teachers griping away in a loud voice should be aware that he is unlikely to hear a balanced assessment of his character and worth. The teacher may have had a very bad day with unruly and difficult children or just be getting worked up over a specific issue.

We need to understand why people say nasty things. I once gave back some work to Victoria with the comment, "I think you could do better than this, Victoria." She looked at the disappointing grade and spat out, "I hate Geography." I suppose that was marginally better than saying, "I hate you." Now Victoria didn't hate Geography - she later went on to study it at A level. She was hurt by my comment and her poor grade and wanted to hurt me in return. So you let it pass. You overlook it. You understand.

The church secretary of a declining fellowship gets lots of grumbles second hand. We're dragging our feet about appointing a new pastor; we're in a sad condition; we lack vision; we need a pastor to stir things up. These expressions of dissatisfaction are all criticism of such leadership as the church has. The inadequate leadership will achieve nothing by taking the huff, getting all hurt, sulking and giving up. The elders have to follow the example of Moses. He was actually a fine leader. The Israelites would have been in a sorry state without him. However, they frequently murmured against Moses. He bore with them and stuck to his task bringing them eventually to borders of the Promised Land.

People are so quick to take umbrage at unfair criticism. We need to remember the judgments we have made and expressed through the years. They have not all been objective, just, useful or loving.

(F) Aware of our limitations we should still do our best to be wise. See Eccles7v23to25.

The Teacher writes: I am determined to be wise but this is beyond me. It is as well to remember that however wise we are there will remain things we cannot do. We do not know why people are the way they are. It is not easy to change humanely a person's temperament, disposition or character. The solution of all a church's problems may prove too much for us.

Wisdom does make a difference. That is why the Teacher writes: So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom.... If one of Joseph's brothers had been wise then he could have helped the rest to cope with the situation described in Gen37v1to4.

It would have helped Joseph's brothers if they had understood the situation. Jacob was bound to favour Joseph as he was the son of his favourite wife born in his old age. Joseph, on the other hand, sneaked on his brothers because he felt the odd one out - excluded from the society of his older siblings.

There were strategies for coping with Jacob's favouritism. The older brother's could have joked about their father's partiality. They could have teased him about it in a good humoured fashion. In this way he could have been made aware of his weakness without necessarily being made to feel guilty or defensive about it. My youngest brother, Philip, used to be treated by my father more indulgently than I, or my other two brothers, ever were. This used to make me cross. My mother defused the situation by looking at my father with twinkling eyes and saying with laughter in her voice, "Frank, Philip's your Benjamin." My father would look very sheepish and grin - thereby acknowledging the truth of the statement. I have to say, however, that my father's conduct was more likely to be influenced by my protests than my mother's gently railery. My brother still has not forgiven me!

If Joseph's brothers had been wise they would have befriended their younger brother. They would have made him feel one with them. If Joseph had enjoyed the company of his older brothers more and been less dependent upon his father it is very unlikely that he would have told tales about them. Wisdom would have kept Joseph's brethren from a grave sin.

It should be possible to get on with most people. There were very few pupils with whom I did not manage to form a good-humoured relationship. In the end cheerfulness, friendliness and good will break most barriers down. Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance. Ch8v1. When I was a Geography student at UCL there was a rather crotchety janitor at Foster Court. I would leave my coat with him most mornings and pick it up in the evenings. He was a man of very uncertain temper. Eventually I was able to stroke his bald head and make him chuckle.

We all have our Achilles' heel. I could never get on with school advisers. My wise old English colleagues used to tell me to make them feel welcome, wanted and appreciated. All I had to do was listen attentively to what they said and to say periodically, "Well, that is a good idea - I will try that." My English colleagues were much loved and respected by the Education Authority. If Geography or RE advisers wasted my time - I would tell them. So I got a reputation for belligerence and unreasonableness.

I have just started to read a biography of Galileo. He applied as a young man for positions in Italian Universities for teaching Mathematics. After a failure or two he learned wisdom. He realised the necessity of sponsors - influential men who would speak up for him. With the help of two sponsors of high status he eventually secured the post he so much desired. Genuine independence is a hindrance to advancement.

Perhaps it is beginning to become clear that I have some reservations about wisdom. It is not always compatible with integrity. If I had to choose I would put integrity before wisdom on every occasion. There are times when the two are not incompatible. I once taught a girl who was mildly autistic. She was a strange little girl who lived in a world of her own. Laura was not very good at completing her homework on time. She was even worse at turning up for detention. So I asked the Head of Pastoral Care what I should do. She said, "Treat her the same as everybody else." Consequently I went looking for Laura. She was lurking in a corridor. When she saw me coming Laura bolted into the girl's loo. I sent a lady colleague in to flush her out! Finally Laura and I stood eyeball to eyeball in the corridor. I looked at her and said, "Right - go to my room." Laura hesitated. I said, "Go, now." She went. That was the last time I had any trouble with her.

(G) Bad people drag us down to their level: v26: I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

I think this passage is rather hard on women and a bit rich if, indeed, written by Soloman who hardly showed good judgment in marrying so many wives. Today it is the world that is a snare to Christians. The world will trap and chain us and only the man or woman who seeks first the Kingdom of God will escape her clutches.

Sadly the spirit of the world has infected the church. This is particularly true where sexual morality is concerned. Take the case of two unmarried church members who regularly have sexual intercourse. Eventually a child is conceived. The two individuals decide not to marry because they do not really love each other. In the past they would have married. They would have made the best of it, helped each other and brought up the child in wedlock. Today personal happiness and gratification is the priority. The state supports single mothers. So we all pay for the indiscretions of the sexually uninhibited. Many children are brought up without a father. Increasingly the behaviour of Christians in this respect is no different from those in the world.

I hesitate to write about sexually morality because I am far from perfect in this respect. I pray to be delivered from evil and protected from temptation and I thank God I have been given only limited opportunities to sin. We should not delude ourselves; the standards of the world are not God's standards and he expects more of us than, perhaps, we are prepared to admit.

(G) It's not God's fault: v29: This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.

From time immemorial man has tended to blame God for his failings. It started in the Garden of Eden when Adam complained, "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. Gen3v12. I do it, too. I tell God that if his plan for my life had included a good Christian wife I would be less prone to voyeurism and lust. It is not good to blame God. Better to believe: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1John1v9. That is my only hope.