In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. For
anything else, I want to congratulate the newly
illumined. Assure them of our prayers and of
our admiration for their struggle to get to this
place, this beautiful day. the day of the Fathers
of the First Ecumenical Council. And that's significant
that the baptisms took place today, and it was
planned in that way. And you'll see why in just
a moment. We are, of course, still celebrating
the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. You heard
the hymns. We're also celebrating the Feast of
St. Justin. the martyr, a saint of the second
century, and those that were with him in that
martyrdom, and we congratulate our three beloved
parish members that bear the name of Justin the
Martyr. But the primary commemoration of today
is that of the Holy Fathers, 318 of them. Of
course, they had their retinue, they had their
helpers, they had their subdeacons. Apparently
it was maybe a thousand people gathered. They
were called together by the Emperor Constantine
to the city of Nicaea, now known as Iznik in
Turkey, in the year 325. And the opening session
was May 20th in the year 325. So this is... the
1 ,700th anniversary of that sacred council.
This is a sermon. It's not a history lesson.
Besides the events of those years prior to 325
and after 325, way up until the 380s, are very
complex. One famous patristic scholar, religious
writer, said that history is polyphonic. Many
things going on in different directions all at
once, and right now, we don't need to grasp those
things. So, I'm not going to tell you about the
history of the council, but what we should affirm,
what we have to affirm and confess, and what
we do confirm and confess, is that without doubt,
the first council, the fathers of that council,
gave us one of the most meaningful, profound,
and I have to say, influential, and beautiful
synopsis of the faith in the Father, the Son,
the Holy Spirit, the Church, the life of the
age to come, that exists and its influence has
been more profound than you and I could ever
imagine in the history especially of Western
civilization. I believe in one God, the Father
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all
things visible and invisible, and especially
the Council spent its time on This next phrase,
and I believe in one, in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten of
the Father before all ages, light of light, true
God of true God, begotten, not made of one essence
with the Father. By him, Jesus, all things were
made. That creed, the catechumens say it before
they are baptized. We sing it at every single
divine liturgy. You hear it at numerous services.
We did great Compline every day or Compline,
that type of thing. And it's one of those collection
of words, a monument, poetry even you could call
it, that I think, should be on the lips of every
dying person that can be conscious enough to
hear it or to say it. Because when I bring communion
to someone who is sick, we say the creed. It's
important for them to remember that they are
also part of the whole church, even if they're
isolated. And that they confess that faith of
these holy fathers. You know, we don't make it
up. When a catechumen is being enrolled, it's
as if we give them the creed. Because, of course,
Christ is who he is. We don't make up our faith
in Jesus Christ. We don't have to theorize and
philosophize or even imagine anything. Jesus
is who he is. And listen to what he said in this
incredible prayer to his father. Now they have
known, O Father, that all things which you have
given me are from thee. For I have given to them
the words which thou hast given me, and they
have received them, and have known surely that
I came forth from thee, and they have believed
that thou hast sent me. This is faith in Christ.
This is eternal life. At the very heart of this
council was the passionate defense of that. The
divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he came
from God and is God and is one in essence, light
of light, true God of true God. The teachings
of this Alexandrian priest named Arius, he was
a public relations master and a scriptural scholar.
What he was teaching was threatening to distort
the very... essence, and we use that word, essence
of Christ's nature. And it was causing division.
It was causing turbulence in the eastern part
of the Roman Empire. The West was fine for now.
They were orthodox in every way. And so the emperor
called this council to deal with this issue,
and this turmoil lasted for many decades after
the council. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
don't expect That in the church, everything is
going to be perfect. In heaven, that will be
the case. But on the earth, it has never been
that way. Not even with the holy apostles. So
we struggle, we strive, and we have to be intentional
about forgiving and about remaining faithful.
Now Arius... this priest from Alexandria who
was teaching this doctrine that Jesus was not
of one essence, not the same as, he was divine.
He was a God -like figure. But he was not the
same as God. This is a false and spiritually
deadly teaching. Otherwise, what have you been
baptized into? In some creation. But no, you
were baptized into Christ. And those that came,
to defend the faith. They didn't come to make
something up, as some Western scholars and authors
have sort of put out there. No, these men bore
scars of torture and persecution from the last
period of persecution and martyrdom only ten
years before. Only ten years before. And it's
said that St. Constantine greeted and embraced
each of these holy men, St. Spyridon, St. Nicholas,
and on and on. He embraced them with love and
honored them and their wounds. Some came with
no feet. Some came, their hands had been chopped
off. Some came, they had been blinded. They bore
witness to the faith. They came to affirm which
teachings were the ones received from Christ.
As I said, I have given to them the words which
you have given me, O Lord, and they have received
them. And which ones were made up and false and
counterfeit. Arius had twisted the scriptures
to conform to his dangerous ideas. It didn't
fit for him. Bishop Irine, a Serbian bishop with
whom Machka, Anne, and I were friends with at
seminary, bishop on the East Coast in the Serbian
diocese, he wrote this. The council's proceedings
remind us of the responsibility we bear as stewards
of this faith. Each of us is called not only
to believe, because what is belief? No, it has
to be action. but also to defend and share the
truth of the gospel. Let me interject here. We
can't do that unless we know the gospel, unless
we study the gospel, unless we love the gospel
message. And it is in our hearts, not something
just in a book that's dusty on a shelf somewhere.
As we recite the Nicene Creed at every divine
liturgy, let us do so not as a matter of ritual,
rather as a living confession that shapes our
lives. What shapes your life? Is it this creed
and the gospel? Or is it social media? That will
go away. It guides her in interactions with others.
By heeding the liturgical call to love one another,
that with one mind and heart we might confess
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity One
in essence, may we truly confess our faith with
oneness of mind. Here and now, brothers and sisters,
today, the significance of this First Ecumenical
Council on its 1700th anniversary, may it inspire
us. to reflect on our own beliefs and our own
zeal, to try and understand and live this faith
that we say and we sing. Take heed, says St.
Paul in Acts. You heard him speak to the elders
of the church. Take heed against distortions
of the faith in yourself. You're not called.
to fix somebody else's. Take heed against the
distortions of your own faith. Can you offer
love, in love, an explanation? If you were asked
about this creed, if someone said to you, you
people, you have this creed, I believe, this
so -called Nicene Creed, what is that? Could
you tell them the basics? You don't have to give
them a theological seminary lesson. But can you
offer in love an explanation of that creed to
someone who might ask you? Would you be courageous
enough? Can you be courageous enough? Receiving
the message that those that formulated and offered
this creed to the church, what they bore, the
sufferings they bore, can you be that courageous
too? Emboldened to speak with clarity. and compassion.
Let's remember the Holy Fathers on this day as
present in our midst. Not as something long ago,
1700 years ago, what's that have to do with me?
What it has to do with you is you will say their
words in a few moments. Let those words come
out of you and within you and rejoice, take courage
when we sing that creed in not so many minutes.
To our Lord be glorified now and ever to ages
of ages. Amen.