What Does 'Lutheran' Mean?
Pastor Bob Abrams
Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church
Hilliard, Ohio
Pick up any Yellow Pages and look in the church listings, and you will dozens, if
not hundreds, of different kinds of churches. There are all kinds of names attached
to them – Roman Catholic, Baptist, United Methodist, Episcopalian, Church of God,
Presbyterian, non-denominational . . . the list goes on and on. Each type of church
has its own history, its own understanding of the Bible, and its own way of doing
things. For someone who is looking for a place to worship, it all can be pretty
confusing.
The most important thing to remember about Lutherans is that Lutherans are Christians.
That is, along with billions of other Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is
God’s Son, and that he died for us on the cross, and that three days later, he rose
from the dead. And we believe, just as he promised, that Jesus will come again.
We read in the Bible this amazing story of God’s love for us, culminating in the
story of Jesus. The Bible is for us our “norm for faith and life.” In other words,
we measure all that we preach, teach, and do by the teachings of the Bible, which
is God’s written Word for our lives.
Yet there are some things about Lutherans that are distinctive. Perhaps most importantly,
since we received the name “Lutheran” in the 17th century (for accepting the teachings
of Martin Luther, a German Bible scholar and priest), we have taught, even to the
point of being ejected from the Roman Catholic Church of that time, that we are
not saved by good works, that is, by what we do, but are saved only by God’s grace,
through our faith in what Jesus has done. In other words, Lutherans believe that
there is nothing we can do to earn God’s love. In fact, God proved that love that
“while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) For us, this is
the core of the Gospel – the “good news”.
Lutherans also believe there is much freedom in how we worship, so long “as the
Word is rightly proclaimed, and the Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion) are
rightly administered.” We often have praise worship services using contemporary
songs. But we also have traditional worship, using the historic forms of the worship
(called “liturgy”) that have been handed down for centuries, along with more traditional
hymns. (If you’re not Lutheran, don’t worry, the liturgy is really quite beautiful,
is based entirely on the Bible, and you can catch on quickly!) All of this, whether
contemporary or traditional, we offer to God in response to what God has first done
for us.
Finally, Lutherans believe that when we worship, it’s not just symbolic. We believe
that God comes to us in a very real way when we read the Bible, or hear the Bible
read. We believe that God comes to us in a very real way when we are baptized, being
made members of God’s family. And we believe that Christ comes to us in a very real
way in the Bread and the Wine of Holy Communion, which many Lutheran churches (including
Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church) celebrate every Sunday. All of this reminds
us that God is the person who has initiated a relationship with us, is present and
active in our worship and Sacraments, and is active in our everyday lives.
If you are interested in discussing more about how Lutherans approach our Christian
faith, feel free to join us for worship, and/or you may contact Pastor Bob at pastor@relc.org, or by calling the church
office at 614-876-7926.
Peace and blessings to you,
Pastor Bob Abrams