Sermon Tone Analysis

My favorite Santa Claus Story

Ii think it is time for me to tell all of you my favorite story about St. Nicholas.

It all started at the council of Nicaea in 325 AD.

The new Roman Emperor, Constantine is said to have had a divine encounter with God.

He converts to Christianity and declares that all of Rome will adhere to the Christian beliefs and principals.

However, there wasn’t any ground rules or laws for a whole nation of people to follow.

It is understandable that the early churches did things and operated very differently than The Holy Roman Empire.

So this is the first time where bishops, or those who over saw a number of preachers/teachers/church house leaders of the Christian faith, all gathered in one place to prayerfully debate the doctrine of beliefs, or the non-negotiable statements of faith.

When you look in our hymnals, starting at number 880, you see the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed as well as other variation of our most basic belief.

It was at this meeting that the Nicene Creed would be formally written.

Prior to the Nicene Council, the source material for our beliefs were in the form of letters that were circulated from house church to house church from Apostles and other leaders in the faith.

There were a few letters that circulated that were not actually from the true authority of the apostles which led some churches astray.

In the right hands, these letters were labeled heresy.

Those at the council were tasked with discussing and deciding what was truth and what was heresy.

And the debates got heated.

The very divinity of Jesus Christ actually come up for debate.

I will tell you the whole story later.

Pray and Read Luke 1:26-38

So, the divine nature of Christ was debated.

The Trinity was debated.

Many times, and rightly so, when a doctrine, statement of belief, is questioned; or when our theology, our beliefs put into action or interpretation, is questioned we go back into our Bibles for proof.

But remember, we are at the very beginning stages of our faith becoming an organized religion, for better or for worst.

We did not have this awesome collection of apostolic writings, the Gospels, the Hebrew prophecies, history and law into one complete collection yet.

Luke’s Gospel as well as Matthew’s and Mark’s are seen as “Synoptic” or having the complete story of Jesus with consistent details.

Sure enough, when you read those three Gospels, they are fairly similar.

“But what about John?” you may ask.

Well, with the poetic language, lengthy discourse, and the deep spiritual reflects found in the Gospel, some questioned it authenticity.

It was also written later than when the others were written.

However, it was proven to be from the Apostle John so it earns its spot as a Gospel in the Christian Bible.

From reading Luke’s account, particularly the text we are focusing on today, we can see that Jesus, born of Mary, was begotten of God, a part of the Father and therefore, fully divine.

Just read verse 32 again where it states that Jesus is a descendant of David and will take his throne as well as saying that Jesus is the son of the Most High God.

This particular Gospel was written around 58 AD, before Paul would be martyred.

Luke, actually being a friend and ministry partner of Paul, would have his Gospel writing reference by Paul in his letters to various churches.

Luke would also write the book of Acts of the Apostles.

So, Luke and his writings were very highly regarded since the beginning of our faith.

Luke was a very well education medical doctor.

He was a Gentile, that is why his writing do less proving the Messianic prophecy and more on how Jesus loves and came for the whole world, even the poor and pagan.

To get this great story of our Savior’s birth, I believe that Luke interviewed Mother Mary herself of this story.

Now, for the rest of the story I started to tell you at the beginning.

(From the article titled “Bishop Nicholas Loses His Cool” from the St. Nicholas Center, www.stnicholascenter.org)

“In AD 325 Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, the very first ecumenical council.

More than 300 bishops came from all over the Christian world to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity.

It was one of the early church’s most intense theological questions.

Arius, from Egypt, was teaching that Jesus the Son was not equal to God the Father.

Arius forcefully argued his position at length.

The bishops listened respectfully.

As Arius vigorously continued, Nicholas became more and more agitated.

Finally, he could no longer bear what he believed was essential being attacked.

The outraged Nicholas got up, crossed the room, and slapped Arius across the face!

The bishops were shocked.

It was unbelievable that a bishop would lose control and be so hotheaded in such a solemn assembly.

They brought Nicholas to Constantine.

Constantine said even though it was illegal for anyone to strike another in his presence, in this case, the bishops themselves must determine the punishment.

The bishops stripped Nicholas of his bishop’s garments, chained him, and threw him into jail.

That would keep Nicholas away from the meeting.

When the Council ended a final decision would be made about his future.

Nicholas was ashamed and prayed for forgiveness, though he did not waver in his belief.

During the night, Jesus and Mary his Mother, appeared,* asking, “Why are you in jail?” “Because of my love for you,” Nicholas replied.

Jesus then gave the Book of the Gospels to Nicholas.

Mary gave him an omophorion, so Nicholas would again be dressed as a bishop.

Now at peace, Nicholas studied the Scriptures for the rest of the night.

When the jailer came in the morning, he found the chains loose on the floor and Nicholas dressed in bishop’s robes, quietly reading the Scriptures.

When Constantine was told of this, the emperor asked that Nicholas be freed.

Nicholas was then fully reinstated as the Bishop of Myra.

The Council of Nicaea agreed with Nicholas’ views, deciding the question against Arius.

The work of the Council produced the Nicene Creed which to this day many Christians repeat weekly when they stand to say what they believe.”

Because of Love.

Mary trusted the Angel out of this innocent love for God.

I say it was innocent because she loved God so much that whatever God asked of her, there was no question; it had to done.

God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him, will not die but have eternal life.

John 3:16

St. Nicholas loved God so much that he defended what He knew of Jesus at all cost.

Love is an emotion, but a deep emotion.

Love causes emotions.

Love causes action.

God always has and always will act out His love for us.

God has shown His love in ways that unimaginable to the human mind.

We can never fully fathom God’s love for us.

It is part of the human condition to be like the priest Zechariah in the beginning of Luke, or to debate and try to figure out every mystery of God.

We may question His love for us.

We even question His love for others, but His love never ends and never fails.

Give into the love of God.

Love without expectation.

Love without question.

Love without fear.

Love God with all that you are, all that you have and love others as God loves you.

Matthew 22:37-39

That is the Greatest Commandment and it centers in Love.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.