Annie,
I didn't say Lutherans were not devout. I said we were taught to pray for the living who are grieving the dead, and not to pray for the dead. We believe souls are judged upon death, so there is no point in praying for any dead person's soul. God has already taken care of that. There are several different denominations of Lutheran in the US. There is ELCA, LCA, Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod, etc. I was raised Missouri Synod. Maybe you could see how your brother-in-law's wife views prayer for the dead, or what denomination of Lutheran she was raised.
I also didn't say that those here on earth that die are not used by God in any fashion once they enter his kingdom. I have no idea whether God assigns positions to the souls, who are now alive again in His kingdom. I simply don't think that He chooses live souls on earth and feels they will make good angel leaders, so therefore calls them home by orchestrating some type of death for them. I'll go even further on this as to say that if a natural or unnatural disaster befalls a group of people, I don't believe God picks and chooses from the victims. I don't think He decides which ones will be of most use in His kingdom and therefore allows those to die, while intervening for others so that they can keep living.
My post wasn't a speech. I didn't say, "Simply because this is what I believe, others should also believe the same way." Sorry if I misinterpreted what you meant when you posted of a choice few angels being chosen by God to carry on His legacy. I interpreted that to mean God sees a wonderful soul on earth as being an asset to Him, so He calls that soul home. That apparently wasn't what you meant, but many people do believe exactly that way.