Matins in the School
One of the great joys of having a Lutheran school is being able to proclaim the Word of God to the students in chapel every day. This can be a difficult thing to navigate, especially as the age and maturity of the students can range so drastically, even in elementary school! The solution given by some is to use object lessons to captivate the eyes of the littlest ones while allowing the older students to understand the point that you’re trying to make and connect the dots. I’ve found that object lessons (for the most part) not only miss the mark but also are used for antics and theater rather than supporting the Biblical text, often even leading to false teaching. Object lessons can also be somewhat difficult to come up with causing the preacher to rely on evangelical websites for a relevant lesson, which doesn’t help the false teaching aspect!
While chapel (or better, Matins) isn’t perfect at St. Paul’s, we have tried to make great strides over the years to teach our students reverence while also giving them knowledge of the space around them and centering it all on Jesus. Sometimes this takes the form of a short homily. Other times, the text is presented in a question-and-answer format where the students can fill out the context of the Scriptures, define difficult words in the text, and even connect the Scriptures to the Small Catechism by reciting their memory work. While I was a bit nervous at first opening up a “Q and A session” in chapel because of stories I have heard from “children’s sermons,” I have found that in the context of Matins (or the Divine Service on Wednesdays), there is less temptation for “silliness.” The service itself tends toward reverence rather than recess.
That said: I’m by no means the best preacher when it comes to daily Matins for our school (or even on Sundays for that matter), but I have found that simplifying things and being consistent each day to be a great help. Below is a general idea of my Homily from earlier this week on Matthew 18:20. This was not set up as question and answer (although it easily could have been) but to simply be preached. Perhaps if there are those of you interested in the other style, I could post in the future.
Two or three isn’t many. For you in school, it certainly doesn’t feel like a lot. If I said you could have two or three friends or a two or three hundred friends, you’d probably pick the bigger number.
The world revolves around numbers, and you will only notice this more are you get older. How many friends? How many followers? How many subscribers?…even to the point you may be proud of someone you watch on YouTube because of how many followers they have. It’s not even you, but because you feel connected to them because of their popularity, it makes you feel popular. And if you’re popular, you think you’re important.
But Jesus says something different. He doesn’t say, where two or three thousand gather together. He doesn’t even say where two or three hundred gather. He says, where two or three gather together in my name, there I am among them. Two or three. That’s not even enough to make an archery team…not even enough to play four square!
But this brings comfort to us because Jesus promises that where even two or three gather in His name, He is there. Where they are gathered in His Word and in forgiveness, He is truly there. Not because it’s popular or trending but because He keeps His promises.
When Christians gather to hear the Word, confess their sins, and receive His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation (just like we’re doing this morning), Jesus is present. It is our confession and a biblical one that where the Word is preached in truth and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s institution, He is present—even with two or three.
Consider the cross. When Jesus was crucified, in the end, how many were left? Two criminals and one Roman soldier. Sounds like two or three. But Jesus remained, and He remained for them and for you.
And after He died, how many were there? By the Bible’s count, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Those two took the body of Jesus and buried Him in a tomb.
Go forward to Easter morning. The Bible says two men in white were there. But that announcement of the resurrection wasn’t announced to thousands from the mountaintop. It was said to what? Two or three women that Jesus wasn’t there (at least not in the tomb). He was in fact standing behind them. Mary thought He was the gardener.
God doesn’t need huge numbers or big crowds to do His work. If you ever feel like you’re not known, not popular, or that you need something bigger to be better, Jesus promises to be with two or three. His Church isn’t built on popularity. It’s built on His Word…on those two things that flowed from His side: blood and water. And those things are for you even now, in Baptism and in His Supper. He is here for you, and He is here to forgive and to save.