1 Peter 3:13-22 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Sixth Sunday of Easter Sunday, May 10, 2026 “The Right Way to Suffer”
No one wants to suffer. That statement probably doesn’t surprise you. It makes sense. It’s basically just stating the definition of suffering. We call an experience suffering because we find it painful and uncomfortable. If it was something we wanted, we wouldn’t call it suffering. But the Bible makes it very clear that Christians have a different relationship with suffering. They experience it differently than nonChristians. They think about it in a different way, and they realize that God can and does accomplish amazing things not just in spite of suffering but through it and by it. Today we have a reading in front of us that says a lot about suffering. This reading is just one example among many in the Bible. This is the fifth time in a row that our Second Reading for our Sunday morning worship services has come from the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter was a letter that Peter wrote to Christians, many of whom were suffering. Peter had been a close disciple of Jesus, and after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, God used Peter to take the message that he had from Jesus out into the world. Peter was an apostle. He knew suffering in his own life and in the lives of many Christians. In our reading today, Peter packs so much into several verses that it would be very difficult to really consider everything on a deep level, but we’re going to look at these ten verses and learn something about suffering. We’ll see how Peter is telling us (really God is using Peter to tell us) about the right way to suffer. Peter brings up the concept right in the first verse we are considering. Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? The answer that is suggested by the question is no one would do this. It seems so contrary to the way that things ought to work that it just wouldn’t happen. If someone does good, why would someone else want to harm them? Peter brings it up as an idea almost so ridiculous that it couldn’t possibly be true. Unfortunately, it is true. The people to whom Peter was writing were experiencing suffering because of their faith and lives. They were facing persecution. They were suffering for doing good. Peter goes on to describe this further. He knows about the suffering of these Christians. He knows that it is real. He knows that it shouldn’t be happening, but it is happening. He even reminds his readers that it’s not just doing good that potentially brings suffering. He also calls it righteousness. The word reminds us of the spiritual dimension. Anyone can call something good or bad. It may just be a reflection on how people feel about it or what society thinks. But righteousness is determined by God. Righteousness is doing things that way God wants us to do them. And even suffering for this, for the actions that God wants in our lives, is a real possibility in the lives of believers. The believers to whom Peter addressed his letter were living proof of it. Suffering the right way can only happen when we suffer for doing good, good in the eyes of God. So where does this leave us? Do we suffer like those Christians so long ago did? Are we being actively persecuted for our faith. Not in the same way. And I don’t mean to suggest it couldn’t happen. Christians are actively persecuted in some places today and have been at various times in history. Here among us that is probably not the case, though we have no guarantee that it couldn’t be at some point. You could make the point that we suffer in less obvious or less drastic ways. We may suffer ridicule. People may think less of us when we do what God directs. But if I’m honest, I admit it doesn’t happen all that often. What does it mean if we are not suffering for doing good? Maybe it means that we aren’t doing as much good as we would like to think. Maybe we need to examine and consider closely. Are we really living the way that God directs us? Or are we just going along with the people around us? Do we base our decisions and choices on what God’s Word tells us, on his direction, on his call to serve others? Or do we base many of our decisions on our own preferences and feelings and opinions? Peter suggests to us, too, that