Why Lutheran?

There is only one true faith, and that is the Swedish branch of Evangelical-Lutheran Christianity as it is described in the unchanged Augsburg Confession of 1530 and ratified in the Synod of Uppsala in 1593. All who believe otherwise will rot in hell... Ok, maybe not.

Like all other Christians, the Lutheran tradition doesn't have a monopoly on truth, but is a vessel for pilgrims searching longingly for the New Jerusalem, and if we have a hope for salvation, that lies not in our precious sectarianism, but in Jesus only. However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I cherish the Lutheran tradition and the gifts that we bring, and in this post I'll try to explain why.

I'll make this clear from the beginning: I love my church and I love Lutheranism, but the continous existance of Lutheranism today is not self-evident, as the reasons and conflicts that formed this tradition are no longer burning issues. Therefore I think that in order to say something about what sets Lutheranism apart (in a good way!) from other traditions I think we need to look past Martin Luther, the history of the Reformation, and the detail of Lutheran doctrine. All these are important in their own right, but you can easily find out about it on wikipedia. This is a more personal take on what it means to be a Lutheran.

Lutheranism for me means choosing to live a life of faith where there is room for ambiguity. A theology of the cross means automatically a theology of ambiguity. For when God revealed himself to us without holding back, it was in a shocking and disarming vulnerability. And we crucified him, because we could not bear the intense intimacy of a God who approaches us clad in vulnerability and suffering. Like Bishop Mark Hanson of the ELCA would say, that is the inherent paradox of the cross which marks our faith, and that choosing to stay with this puzzling and strange God that confronts our expectations means that we faithfully must live with ambiguity and paradox. It means to accept that Jesus is both God and man, that we are condemned by the Law and forgiven by the Gospel, that I am both saint and sinner, that this world is both good and fallen, that God judges us in order to free us, that I as a Christian is subservient to no one and at the same time subservient to all and that I must die in order to live. Just as Jesus lives and conquers through the paradox of the empty grave, so can I live with the paradoxes of faith and the ambiguity of existence.

Lutheranism is also a theology of questions. It means never settling of quick fixes and simple solutions when faced with the longing and hunger of a humanity starved of God. That there is nothing we can do to earn our way to paradise, and that there is nothing we can buy and nothing we can sacrifice that will earn us God's favor.  It means that while we may be unable to satisfy that hunger and overwhelmed by our pride or sense of inadequacy we can still ask the crucial question: "Where is that gracious God?" and accept no substitutes. In many ways, Lutheranism means engaging in frequent excercises of frustration and futility. But that's the kind of faith Lutheranism is, it's the kind of faith that makes you think that even "if the world goes to pieces tomorrow, we should still plant our apple trees today" (Martin Luther).