WEBVTT

00:00:02.189 --> 00:00:04.389
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

00:00:04.389 --> 00:00:07.730
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ.

00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:12.070
Glory be to Christ. Today, the Church commemorates

00:00:12.070 --> 00:00:17.010
and celebrates liturgically the Holy Fathers

00:00:17.010 --> 00:00:20.250
who gathered at the First Ecumenical Council

00:00:20.250 --> 00:00:26.329
of Nicaea. They gathered for a number of important

00:00:26.329 --> 00:00:30.870
reasons, but the overwhelming issue at that time

00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.420
was that central question that our Lord himself

00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:39.600
once asked of his disciples, whom do men say

00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:47.500
that I am? Who is Jesus Christ? During the first

00:00:47.500 --> 00:00:52.700
three centuries of the church, the problems which

00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:55.439
afflicted the church were primarily external.

00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:00.780
Sure, there were what proved to be later on conflicting

00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:04.879
and even erroneous opinions that were held by

00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.099
some people in the church. But these never really

00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:14.480
bubbled to the surface until after Christianity

00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:17.819
was allowed its freedom of religion and expression

00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:24.040
by Emperor Constantine. And almost as soon as

00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:30.469
the external problems ceased momentarily, then

00:01:30.469 --> 00:01:33.469
the internal problems came to the forefront.

00:01:34.909 --> 00:01:39.129
I'm sure this is the reason why on the Sundays

00:01:39.129 --> 00:01:42.230
that we commemorate the Holy Fathers of Nicaea,

00:01:42.310 --> 00:01:47.530
that this particular epistle and gospel are selected

00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:53.090
by the church to be read at the liturgy. Once

00:01:53.090 --> 00:01:58.430
again, St. Paul says in... chapter 20 of the

00:01:58.430 --> 00:02:02.230
Acts of the Apostles, speaking to the elders

00:02:02.230 --> 00:02:05.650
of the church, the leaders of the church in Ephesus.

00:02:07.329 --> 00:02:11.069
Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock

00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:18.129
to shepherd the church of God, among which the

00:02:18.129 --> 00:02:23.409
Holy Spirit has made you overseers. to shepherd

00:02:23.409 --> 00:02:26.110
the church of God which he purchased with his

00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:31.870
own blood. For I know this, that after my departure,

00:02:32.270 --> 00:02:37.229
ravenous wolves will come in among you, not sparing

00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:42.289
the flock. And this, of course, refers to the

00:02:42.289 --> 00:02:46.669
heresies of false teachings that now afflicted

00:02:46.669 --> 00:02:49.150
the church and were brought to the forefront

00:02:49.150 --> 00:02:56.699
by Arius. This is why also today's gospel from

00:02:56.699 --> 00:03:01.419
chapter 17 of St. John's Gospel, Jesus' great

00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:06.539
high priestly prayer at the Last Supper, where

00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:11.240
the key issue, the key thing for our discussion

00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:15.539
this morning is when Jesus says, Now, Father,

00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:21.159
glorify me together with yourself with the glory.

00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:27.159
which I had with you before the world was. So

00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.759
in other words, before creation of the universe

00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:35.979
as we know it, Jesus shared with the Father the

00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:41.300
eternal glory of his divinity. So the fathers

00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:45.080
who gathered at Nicaea, they were called together

00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.860
by Constantine to settle this issue which was

00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:53.270
tearing the church apart. They gathered between

00:03:53.270 --> 00:03:58.949
Easter and Pentecost in the year 325. That's

00:03:58.949 --> 00:04:02.210
the reason, of course, that we have the commemoration

00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:05.310
of the fathers at this particular time of the

00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:08.710
liturgical year between Easter and Pentecost.

00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:14.930
They gathered together and produced what has

00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:19.449
come down to us the Nicene Creed. The statement

00:04:19.449 --> 00:04:23.310
of faith, of what it means to be a Christian.

00:04:24.269 --> 00:04:30.269
Notice the structure of the Nicene Creed. It

00:04:30.269 --> 00:04:35.649
is Trinitarian and it is Christological. These

00:04:35.649 --> 00:04:39.490
are the two unique features of the Christian

00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:43.529
church that are not shared by any other religion.

00:04:44.490 --> 00:04:49.050
The belief in the Trinity. and the belief in

00:04:49.050 --> 00:04:54.689
who Jesus Christ was and is. Certainly many of

00:04:54.689 --> 00:04:58.110
the ethical teachings of Jesus are shared by

00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:01.790
other religions, but these are the two unique

00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:05.910
features. Belief in one God, the Father Almighty,

00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:09.610
creator of heaven and earth, and in one Lord

00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:13.509
Jesus Christ, the only begotten, begotten of

00:05:13.509 --> 00:05:16.850
the Father before all ages, just like... we see

00:05:16.850 --> 00:05:21.170
in today's gospel. Light of light, true God of

00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:24.170
true God, begotten, not made, that was the issue,

00:05:24.310 --> 00:05:27.629
that he was eternally begotten, he was not created,

00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:32.889
begotten, not made, of one essence or being or

00:05:32.889 --> 00:05:37.089
substance consubstantial with the Father, shares

00:05:37.089 --> 00:05:42.089
with the Father in his divinity. And then actually,

00:05:42.310 --> 00:05:46.540
the Nicene Creed concluded, and in the Holy Spirit.

00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:51.100
What has come down to us now as the Nicene Creed

00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:56.019
more exactly should be called the Nicene Constantinopolitan

00:05:56.019 --> 00:06:00.759
Creed, but since that's quite a mouthful, we

00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:04.360
simply say Nicene Creed. The belief in the Holy

00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:08.470
Spirit is what formed the essence of the teaching

00:06:08.470 --> 00:06:12.610
of the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople

00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:19.870
two generations later in the year 381. But this

00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:24.449
is a marvelous heritage which we have as Christians,

00:06:24.769 --> 00:06:29.509
and particularly as Orthodox Christians, because

00:06:29.509 --> 00:06:34.680
we consider this not simply and historical event

00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:40.439
which took place almost 1700 years ago but this

00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:45.120
is the faith of the fathers is our living faith

00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.699
the apostles teaching the apostles preaching

00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:52.500
and the father's teaching have established one

00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:56.800
faith for the church belief in the holy trinity

00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:02.670
and belief in jesus christ who he was when he

00:07:02.670 --> 00:07:06.490
took flesh from the Virgin Mary, suffered and

00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:11.009
died on the cross, and rose from the dead, and

00:07:11.009 --> 00:07:14.550
then now liturgically ascended into heaven, and

00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:17.970
next Sunday will send the Holy Spirit upon his

00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:23.750
disciples and upon the church once again. This

00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:28.389
is our heritage which we hold humbly as Christians.

00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.639
The World Council of Churches and the National

00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.220
Council of Churches, when it was formed about

00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:42.779
100 years ago, debated, well, you know, who can

00:07:42.779 --> 00:07:46.680
be members of the church, members of this organization,

00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.680
rather. And they said those who believe in the

00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.519
Trinity and those who believe in the divinity

00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:54.939
of Jesus Christ. Those are the two criteria,

00:07:55.060 --> 00:08:00.089
which rightly distinguishes. Christianity from

00:08:00.089 --> 00:08:07.569
other religions. These are recognized everywhere

00:08:07.569 --> 00:08:13.089
as the distinctive features of the church. This

00:08:13.089 --> 00:08:17.149
is what unites all Christians, although there

00:08:17.149 --> 00:08:20.730
is a certain level of different interpretation

00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:25.740
among some Christians. not what we as Orthodox

00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:30.139
maintain as this unique faith in the Nicene Creed,

00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:36.759
the teaching of the fathers. These thoughts are

00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:46.159
commemorated and reasserted in the Toparian and

00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:50.299
the Kentuckian, which speak about the holy fathers.

00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:54.759
By the way, we had a discussion before liturgy.

00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:59.840
I thought this was Father's Day. Well, you know

00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:04.559
what? It is Father's Day. The spiritual fathers

00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:09.580
are our fathers in the faith. The apostles and

00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:13.240
the fathers, not only at Nicaea, but throughout

00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:17.700
the centuries that articulated this beauty of

00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:20.240
the Orthodox faith which has been transmitted

00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:26.000
to us. So the Troparian says, Most glorious art

00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.340
thou, O Christ our God, who hast established

00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:33.639
the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth, and

00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.500
has guided us through them to the true faith.

00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:42.539
The Kentuckian, the Apostles' preaching, and

00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:47.000
the Fathers' doctrines have established one faith

00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:52.830
for the Church. One faith. for the church, which

00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:56.509
is the Christian faith and the Orthodox faith

00:09:56.509 --> 00:09:59.830
that has been handed down to us through the centuries.

00:10:00.350 --> 00:10:03.889
So today we have a lot to be thankful for, not

00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:06.409
only for everything that God gives us in so many

00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:10.529
different ways, but the blessing of being members

00:10:10.529 --> 00:10:16.210
of his community, his church. And this is why

00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:19.529
I think very appropriately, in a few minutes,

00:10:19.950 --> 00:10:24.669
we will sing once again the Nicene Creed because

00:10:24.669 --> 00:10:30.269
we will affirm together as a body once again

00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:35.149
that faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:40.129
the faith in who Jesus Christ is and was and

00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:45.049
what he has done for us. So thank you, Lord.

00:10:45.230 --> 00:10:49.080
Most glorious art thou. who has established the

00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:53.460
Holy Fathers as lights on the earth. Amen.