Okay - here's a stab at explaining what I was getting at.
It is commonly taught and understood that Lutherans only call two things "sacraments". This is what I learned in confirmation, and it is based on Luther's Small Catechism, which states that there are three elements to a sacrament - they are:
- instituted by God;
- in which God Himself has joined His Word of promise to the visible element;
- and by which He offers, gives and seals the forgiveness of sin earned by Christ.
By this definition, only baptism and communion make the cut.
The Small Catechism is a part of the Lutheran Confessions found in the Book of Concord. However, there is no definitive list in the Book of Concord of the number of sacraments.
While the Small Catechism is the primary teaching document of the Lutheran Church, the Augsburg Confession is generally regarded as the primary confessional document which all other confessional documents measure up against.
Article 13 of the Augsburg Confession talks about sacraments, and does not list them. In response to the AC, the Catholics insisted that the Lutherans accept the 7 sacraments. In the Lutheran response (Melancthon's Apology of the Augsburg Confession, also a part of the Book of Concord) three rites are specifically declared sacraments: baptism, communion, and confession/absolution ("for these have the command of God and the promise of grace"). In Luther's Smalcald Articles (also in the Book of Concord), confession/absolution is also called a sacrament.
So, there is a precise definition to the sacraments in Lutheran theology found in the Small Catechism, which limits the number to two, and then there is a slightly broader definition which allows confession/absolution to be added.
Reading on in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, though, it is apparent that there can be a broader understanding of sacraments within Lutheranism. His criticism of the Roman Catholic system was that once you get beyond the main three he listed, Rome had arbitrarily limited the number to 7. Marriage is a case in point - it is not one of the three primary sacraments because it was not instutited in the New Testament and relates to the bodily life instead of the promise of forgiveness of sins. However, he acknowledges a sacramental quality to marriage because it is commanded by God. Melancthon then points out that if marriage is counted as a sacrament because it has the command of God and some promise added to it, then the list of sacraments must be longer than 7 - he gives the example of prayer, which has the command of God, but is not listed in the 7.
Specifically as to ordination, Melancthon is willing to call ordination a sacrament with reference to the ministry of the Word, but does not include it within the three primary sacraments. The Confessions do not address the impact of ordination on the person. Generally, Lutherans do not view ordination as causing a permanent mark on the soul, so you are correct in that the community and a call is important to ordination. As I understand Catholic/Anglican theology, which leads to the conclusion, "once a priest, always a priest" regardless of whether the person is called to serve. Lutherans, however, do have the laying on of the hands, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit to move within the ordained person.
To conclude, I have heard Anglicans refer to the 2 "major" and the 5 "minor" sacraments. To put Lutheran theology into Anglicanese, I think the concept of "major" and "minor" sacraments is not completely foreign to Lutheranism, although Melancthon would be inclined that if you are going to call anything beyond the primary 2 (or 3) a "sacrament", there are more then 5 minor sacraments.
