Sympathy and Compassion

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:8-18

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹ They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

Questions

1. Why does Peter use the synonyms “sympathy” and “compassion” in verse 8 when either one on its own would have made the same point?
2. What is the connection between sympathy and unity in these verses?
3. How does the call to unity in verse 8 relate to verses 9-12?

Background

Related Scriptures: Psalm 34:13-17; Isaiah 49:9-18; Matthew 5:38-48; Hebrews 4:15, 10:34

Verse 8 creates a chiasm using synonyms for unity and care on either side of “love one another” this structure helps highlight the central theme by showing that being like-minded and sympathetic leads to greater love for one another and that loving one another brings out greater compassion and humility (humble minded).

Sympathy is not simply feeling bad, it is an action-oriented word, committing to alleviating distress or at least dwelling in distress with the person.  

Peter is connecting speech and conduct in this passage reminding us that neither alone can help others, but we must reflect Jesus in words and actions.

Peter quotes Psalm 34 where the psalmist begins in a place of grief and ultimately sees vindication as rationale for why we as Christians should be good to others, both so they feel the grace of God and because we will one day be vindicated for acting like God.

Reflection

The word translated “sympathy” in 1 Peter 3:8 is a relatively rare word in the Bible—as a verb it appears twice and as a noun only here. Yet in these few references we can appreciate how important the idea of sympathy is for the Christian life. In Hebrews 10, the term is used to describe how the congregation’s faith is tied to their sympathy for those who are imprisoned. The congregation had come together and shown support for those in prison because they from their shared concern over the suffering of the prisoners. This the author identifies as their faith in action.

The author of Hebrews also uses the word sympathy earlier in the book to describe Jesus who “sympathizes with our weakness”. Jesus is described as the Great High Priest who understands our weakness in this world and so ministers to us to help us overcome that weakness. This is a significant passage for me as I consider the idea of sympathy, Jesus’ position as the one who leads us into God’s presence is characterized by sympathetic concern. Think about what Hebrews is saying here, Jesus is not simply acting out of obligation, but works from an understanding and concern for our situation. Jesus understands the hardships of this life and is affected by what he sees. He does not stand aloof from us but is near to us sitting in the hardships we experience. If Jesus’ role as High Priest is described in terms of relating to our situation (specifically our weakness), then the author of Hebrews is right to see our ability to display sympathy as central to our faith. And this is entirely consistent with God whose own self-description of the Divine character is centered on faithfulness, mercy, and compassion. God, and so of course Jesus, empathizes with us in our world and provides us with the help we need.

Peter takes this character of God and Jesus as his starting point for how we are to act in 3:8. Behind these commands to his congregation is the understanding that the Christian life is about emulating Jesus’ character in this world. He rightly organizes this verse around the idea of Christians loving one another—after all, Jesus made this a central theme in John 13-14. Around this central theme of loving one another Peter uses synonyms for empathy and unity. He is intentionally trying to highlight how important it is to seek unity within the Church and to do so through mutual understanding and concern for the other person and what they are going through. And for Peter loving from our sympathy is directly opposed to paying someone back for their behavior. We are to recognize as the Psalmist does that we are vindicated by God and therefore no slight, or insult, no abuse or evil action needs to be returned in kind. Instead, we sympathize with others and seek to live in love with them. Peter connects our ability to live out this command with our reflection of God’s goodness into the world. We reflect God’s goodness and righteousness therefore we will seek to live in unity with those in the Church and will sympathize with the events of their lives.

Within the context of these verses sympathizing with others means understanding the suffering in their lives and how it impacts them. Sympathizing also means understanding the hurts of others when they take those hurts out on you. Words like sympathy, empathy, and compassion begin with  noticing where a person is and how their circumstances impact their life. But these words do not stop at simply noticing another person, or with feeling bad for that person. Sympathy involves a desire to help another person achieve a better life. Sympathy is about engaging with another person where they are so that they can grow to where God wants them. Sympathy is not easy, it is not easy to care about others, this is why Peter lists it after having a desire for unity. A desire for unity brings us to a place where we notice that we are not connected to people and leads us to have a concern for others. And when we have a concern for others we will show them sympathy which ultimately leads to love. And when we begin to love one another more that will produce more compassion for others, because we will not want them to hurt. And that compassion will bring about a dapper unity in Christ which is Jesus’ goal for us.