Both/And

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all (Martin Luther in Freedom of a Christian). Wow, Lutherans love paradox! Law and gospel. Saint and sinner. Free and bound. David Swartling, former ELCA secretary, often noted that we are a “both and church” in an “either or world.”
(via Former ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton)

Philippians 2:12–13

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Both/And of Easter

The older I get the less I experience life as either/or but much more as both/and; less that things have to be this way or that and more that there are diverse threads that are not contradictory but woven together in a tapestry revealing a richer, fuller, more authentic experience of life. While it is tempting to divide things into separate buckets, making it easier to control (or at least give the illusion of control), the older I get the more I realize that life is complex and complicated, messy and truly remarkable! The celebration of Easter proclaims this reality of life and the world. Easter cannot be embraced or embodied without Good Friday. The proclamation “Christ is Risen” means that Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. He rose from death. His death on the cross was not the end, the hopeless defeat of his mission to proclaim the reign of God. It was the beginning of the victory of love over hate, revealing the awfulness of human suffering, humiliation, and weakness and the depth of God’s transforming love for us. The day on which humanity executed God’s son is called Good. Jesus suffered and died and rose again. His resurrected body did not erase or eliminate the suffering of Good Friday. He continued to carry the wounds visible on his body. On Easter, we celebrate suffering and joy; hope and doubt; death and new life.

-Former Central States ELCA Bishop Susan Candea, Easter Sermon (2025)

Reflection & Prayer

Where are the places in your own life that you encounter paradox?
Where do you most experience the tension of living in the “both/and”?