"Suffering and... Joy?”

So what about the people to whom 1 Peter is written, then and now? Is suffering a source of meaning and purpose? Can it cause us to rely on each other? Can it spark kindness?

“Complete Joy” by Lauren Wright Pittman, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

1 Peter 3:13-22

May 10, 2026

Dr. Todd R. Wright

Suffering was a daily reality for the people to whom 1 Peter is written.

Life in the first century was difficult: work was hard, poverty widespread, Roman occupation brutal, lifespans short. But for Christians, as a minority, subject to misunderstanding by family, ridicule by friends, and persecution by authorities, suffering felt more targeted.

Suffering is still all around us:

Poverty has not disappeared. Even in a relatively wealthy country like ours, there are still too many who go to bed hungry; who cannot get enough work (or enough pay) to make ends meet, much less get ahead; who are being punished by inflation, and gas prices, and cuts to safety net programs.

Others suffer from health issues – body, mind, and soul. Everything from knees that cry out with every step to cancer that is slowly eating them alive; from depression that shades the brightest day with midnight gloom to dementia that robs them of their memories little by little.

Still others suffer from violence. Drones that strike terror, missiles that destroy the innocent in schools and hospitals, fists that abuse, words that cut, warlords and tyrants who treat their own people with cruelty, systems that fail their duty to protect the most vulnerable.

Yes, suffering is all around us.

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In 2021, Time magazine published an article that began with a few questions:

“Is suffering good for us?

Does it make us better people, kinder and more resilient;

does it give meaning to our lives?”[2]

Their response? “It would be nice if it did… ”

They elaborated with studies and quotes from experts and reached this conclusion:  

“There’s no getting around it: It would have been better if the pandemic had never happened. But we can take solace in a few things. Our suffering does not necessarily scar us, and can, for some, lead to increased reliance and kindness. And, for the lucky ones, it can be a source of meaning and purpose.”

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So what about the people to whom 1 Peter is written, then and now? Is suffering a source of meaning and purpose? Can it cause us to rely on each other? Can it spark kindness?

Peter hopes so.

He does not deny suffering.

He has seen too much of it.

As a fisherman he suffered under the weight of a punitive economic and political system.

Scholars explain: “First-century Galilean fishermen faced an oppressive, multi-layered tax system under Roman rule and Herod Antipas, often paying 25% to 40% of their catch in taxes and fees. Fishing was a state-controlled monopoly; fishermen paid taxes ‘in kind’ (part of the catch) or cash, along with tolls for using roads, bridges, and ports to transport goods.”[3]

More importantly, he had seen his Lord and Savior arrested, beaten, and killed on a cross.

He knew suffering.

And yet he tells his audience: “Even if you suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.”

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It sounds like he was paying attention to Jesus when he preached the Beatitudes.

“Blessed are you who are poor …

Blessed are you who are hungry now …

Blessed are you who weep now …

Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”[4]

Those are words that would have had resonance for the people listening to this letter.

Still, it is hard to feel blessed when you are suffering, much less leap for joy.

And yet, both Jesus and Peter say it is possible. Commendable even.

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Peter explains: “For Christ also suffered …”

Of course, he did. It was unavoidable – all the thorns and thistles of life in this world!

But Peter has a different takeaway: Christ suffered … to free us from sin.

His suffering had a point, a purpose.

Which begs the question – does your suffering have a point, a purpose?

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Traditionally, religion has said that suffering functions to draw us closer to God.

Both as a source of comfort while we are in the midst of the suffering and as the ultimate source of relief, the One who can free us from it.

Psalm 107 is a catalog of that process. Listen to some of the verses:

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble …

Some wandered in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress …

he satisfies the thirsty and the hungry he fills with good things.

Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;

he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds apart …

Some were sick and they drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;

he sent out his word and healed them… ”

And as powerful as those words are when whispered individually, they are amplified when

sung or shouted as part of worship, shared by others who are suffering and trusting in God to hear!

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But I think Peter has a different angle here.

In the Message, Eugene Peterson translates Peter’s words this way:

“[Christ] went through it all – was put to death and then made alive – to bring us to God.”

How might the suffering of these early Christians play a role in bringing others to God?

How might your suffering do that?

First, it breaks down barriers – no one is immune to suffering.

That means that all our neighbors are wrestling with the questions suffering brings and may be wondering about the answers our faith promises.

Second, how you respond to suffering is a powerful witness.

Steve Hayner was serving as the President of Columbia Theological Seminary when he found out he had terminal pancreatic cancer. He might have retreated from the public eye to spend more time with his family while he still could. People would have understood.

He didn’t. Instead, ever a pastor and teacher, he began to post on the CaringBridge website with health updates and insights into dying well. Those posts have been collected into a book called Joy in the Journey in which he asserts “that God, our good Shepherd, provides a feast for us when we are in the valley of the shadow of death as well as in the green pastures.”[5]

Peter advises his flock not to fear what others fear, to be ready to explain the hope that they have in Christ to anyone who will listen, and to do so with gentleness and respect.

May that be true of our witness in the midst of suffering. Amen

[1] “Complete Joy” by Lauren Wright Pittman, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

[2] Here and following, see https://time.com/6124390/suffering-make-you-stronger/

[3] See https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/fishing-economy-in-the-sea-of-galilee/

[4] From Luke 6:20-23

[5] See https://web.archive.org/web/20150410095618/http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=4447