The LCMS, specifically, is a bit like the Orthodox in that they don’t really concern themselves with what other bodies may proclaim to be a miracle. They won’t waste time trying to determine whether some priest in another denomination received a true stigmata or whether some kids in another country actually saw some apparition. Aside from the impoliteness of attempting to shepherd someone else’s sheep, such things are generally viewed as a distraction from the Word. So you won’t find any official rulings on them from the LCMS.
Luther and the Reformers understood that miracles
could have a faith-strengthening function, but the miracle of faith, the miracle of the Sacrament of the Altar, the miracle of life… all these are certainly more deserving of our attention than hunting for “God’s parlor tricks.”
I should pause before I give too much offense. Yes, Lutherans tend to be skeptical of such claims. But this is out of concern for the Word and Truth.
Lutherans do NOT restrain God by discounting the possibility that other, non-Sacramental, modern-day miracles may very well come from him. However, such things should be tested against the Scriptures. A true miracle would naturally confirm what is written in Scripture, and point Christians back to the Scriptures, back to the Cross, back to Christ. A true miracle would not impose something contrary to Scripture, in addition to Scripture, or establish some extra-Scriptural doctrine. God has already been fully revealed in the Man Jesus Christ; there can be no further revelation in that grand sense.
Does God still work miracles? Daily. I have heard plenty of personal stories of Lutherans who’ve been brought to the Cross by what one could only classify as a miracle. But one generally will not hear Lutherans publicize this sort of thing, and certainly not monetize it with pilgrimage sites or shrines. That would make it about something other than Christ.
Another issue arises when people import their own “feelings” about these sorts of things. Feelings don’t make something true. In fact, more often than not, feelings lead away from Christ, toward self. Anything that leads people away from Christ is a soul-destroying delusion. From the Formula of Concord:
For concerning the presence, operation, and gifts of the Holy Ghost we should not and cannot always judge ex sensu [from feeling], as to how and when they are experienced in the heart; but because they are often covered and occur in great weakness, we should be certain from, and according to, the promise, that the Word of God preached and heard is [truly] an office and work of the Holy Ghost, by which He is certainly efficacious and works in our hearts, 2 Cor. 2:14ff; 3:5ff.
