Life under the sun. Kind of rough, if I’m picking up on what the Preacher is laying down. So many of what we might consider to be the “should be’s” just ain’t necessarily so. I was reminded of that, right off the bat, in this morning’s reading.

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

(Ecclesiastes 7:15 ESV)

Hmm . . . Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The righteous man’s righteousness prolonging his life while the wicked man’s ways cut his life short? Wasn’t that an implied take-away from Proverbs?

The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
       but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

(Proverbs 3:33 ESV)

The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
       the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

(Proverbs 11:23 ESV)

Oh, the difference it makes — the vanity, one might say — that comes from measuring life only by what happens “under the sun”. If we’re expecting to get “here and now” results from promises intended for a “there and then” reality, it can lead to a lot of frustration.

But in the “here and now”, here’s what we can get — wisdom. And growing in wisdom is becoming more like Jesus. For, Jesus is wisdom (Prov. 8:12-31). And becoming more like Jesus? Well, we call that sanctification.

And as I continue to read what the Preacher has to say, it’s these words I end up noodling on this morning.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

(Ecclesiastes 7:20-22 ESV)

Nothin’ worse than being slandered (well, maybe there is . . . maybe lots of things are worse . .. but being slandered feels pretty bad). No one likes being bad-mouthed. No fun being the subject of gossip. It’s the kind of thing we righteous ones are inclined to respond to by setting the record straight with some “righteous indignation”. But, says the Preacher, don’t pay attention to it — don’t take it to heart. How come? Because surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Because your heart knows that many times you yourself have slandered others.

And what I’m picking up from what is being laid down is that other’s sin, even when it is sin against me, might just be a mirror which God is holding up to my face in order for me to see my own sin. The sin might be different in kind or severity but, as Jesus would say centuries after the Preacher, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone” (Jn. 8:7). While others might legitimately need to repent of their sin, their sin can remind me of my “me too” reality.

And in that, God’s kindness can lead me to repentance. And that can be used of Jesus to do some refining work in me. And that always leads me to the cross. And that can make me pretty tender to others like me who are also sinners saved by grace, who, while “under the sun”, are ever, like me, in need of grace.

And so, it seems to me that there can be a sanctifying impact of others’ sin — even when that sin is against me.

Make sense? Worth chewing on?

I’m thinkin’ . . .

By His grace. For His glory.