Suffering--Not the Last Word

Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22

All who enjoy suffering, raise your hands! The very concept of suffering precludes enjoyment, at least in the moment; otherwise, it is not truly suffering, which means to undergo that which is painful, distressing, or debilitating. We avoid it whenever possible at all cost--even a lower level of suffering.

For the third time in three chapters, Peter mentions the possibility of suffering, each time followed by a reminder that Christ underwent suffering to provide our redemption. In this instance, he begins by acknowledging that suffering isn't something we go looking for; sometimes, however, it finds us, even if in an unjust fashion, such that we find ourselves suffering not as punishment for ill-advised action, but for actually doing the right thing. Rather than ranting and raving about the unfairness, we are encouraged to allow the holiness--the difference in us because of God--to prevail. The truth about the circumstances will speak for itself; our Christlike character will speak for us. But we'll only be ready to do this if we have already submitted to the Lordship of Christ. The time for saintly heroics is in the preparation, not in the heat of the moment.

The second half of the text has occasioned many comments regarding the preaching of Christ to spirits in prison. Many of these are far so removed from one another as to be irreconcilable. But let us assume that the writer is continuing his parallel between the sufferings of Christ and those we may be called upon to endure. In this reading, there was a saving result of the suffering Christ endured; that is, suffering had far from the last word. Our identification with him (in baptism) guarantees two things: first, that his suffering has resulted in our salvation; second, that our suffering for his word can also have a redemptive purpose for someone else.

Suffering, especially unjust, undeserved instances, solidifies our connection with Christ and his purposes. It doesn't mean that we go looking for such occasions or relish them when they happen. But knowing ahead of time that they can occur should encourage us to see to it that our holiness, our God-infested way of looking at things, is well prepared for whatever may come.