At the heart of the World Mission Prayer League you will find our Mission Handbook. The document describes who we are, what we do, where we do it, and why. We introduced the Handbook last month, and will continue again now and for a few months to come.
Who are we? We are “a fellowship at prayer,” the Handbook explains simply, “gathered in service to the mission of God in the world” (¶35). We are “sisters and brothers, families and households… living out [our] faith” (¶207). We are a praying league in world mission.
We are a Lutheran community, too (¶12). “We undertake our mission as Lutherans,” the Handbook asserts with conviction, “…gladly” (¶13a).
We do not mean “Lutheran” in the sense of explicit membership in a Lutheran congregation. It used to be that membership in a Lutheran congregation meant some familiarity with the creeds and confessions of the Lutheran church. This is no longer true, I am sorry to say. Congregational membership does not make us Lutheran.
We do not mean allegiance to some denominational hierarchy – some “LC” acronym in some corner of the world. It used to be that church hierarchies seemed dependable bastions of biblical and Lutheran orthodoxy. This is less true nowadays, too. Hierarchies are simply hierarchies, after all. They do not make us Lutheran, either.
We do not mean a color of vestments (or any vestments at all); an order of service (or liturgy of any variety); “closed” or “open” altar rails; men or women pastors; ashes on Ash Wednesday, or a wreath of candles at Christmas time. With most Christians through the centuries, we baptize the children of believing parents and celebrate the Eucharist with the simple words of Jesus. Yet that doesn’t make us Lutherans precisely, either.
So, what then?
When we gather for Briefing Course in the summer of every year, with missionary candidates and inquirers, we examine our Lutheran identity in light of the wonderful “solas” of Luther’s reformation. We mean to build our lives and service upon them. The “solas” give us perspective on church life and missionary service, sacraments and hierarchies, vestments and altar rails. They become a kind of “grammar” for us: they provide a template by which we aspire to live and serve, formulate our ministries in ways that make sense, and effectively communicate the good news of Jesus.
The first of the “solas” is sola scriptura – we are based on the Scriptures alone. We look to the Bible to define our world, articulate our priorities, and guide us in life and service. It is our “norm for doctrine and living,” says the Handbook (¶25). We trust the Bible more than our emotions, special wisdom, great training or years of experience. We hear the voice of God in the Word of God. And “every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5).
We are based on sola gratia – on the grace of God alone. “[He] saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy” (Titus 3:5). We receive all the things of God “according to his mercy”: salvation itself, our calling and ministry, the community of faith, our Christian identity, our life and mission in the world. If we are to serve in mission, survive in faith, persevere in prayer – if we are to be Christians at all – it will be “by God’s grace” alone (¶29).
And we stand on sola fide – on faith, and faith alone. We have “complete access to God’s every gift and benefit… through faith in Jesus Christ alone,” says the Handbook (¶29). PhDs have no better access than GEDs. The ordained are no closer than laypeople. Our “works,” whatever they are, do not gain us access to the gifts and benefits of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8).
With Lutherans everywhere, we confess the Augsburg Confession and concur with Luther’s Small Catechism (¶33). But at the center of our confession throb these three “solas.” They are a template for the way we understand ourselves and our ministry. They provide a grammar to guide our service and proclamation. We aim to keep Scripture at the center of things, to lean on the grace of God, and to surrender our heart and center our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are, you see, a Lutheran community in mission. And this is what “Lutheran” means.
Other posts in this Introducing the Mission Handbook series: