"The Gospel does not, as the proverbial fart in the wind, make a sound by itself."

Although totally involved in the concrete problems of the Reformation, Luther developed his ecclesiology from Scripture and from the church's first mission epoch. He knew well that the Gospel does not, as the proverbial fart in the wind, make a sound by itself. The reformer could never ally himself with a docetic ecclesiology or missiology. But he delineates a necessary hierarchy: first, the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; then the Word and the Sacraments as the tools of the Trinity; and finally the indispensable human agents.

Oeberg, Luther and World Mission, p. 10