December 6th is the feast day of St Nicholas.
Nicholas was the bishop of the Mediterranean city of Myra, in modern day Turkey. He was born to rich parents, but they died whilst he was still young and he was left a fortune. As a young man, Nicholas heard about a family that was starving. Under cover of night, he threw a bag of gold coins through the window of their humble dwelling.
Nicholas became a minister and was eventually made bishop of Myra. He led his churches through one of the worst periods of persecution in Christian history. In AD303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered a brutal attack on all Christians. Those suspected of being followers of Jesus were ordered to make sacrifices to pagan gods. Nicholas and thousands of others refused.
Ministers, bishops and lay people were dragged to prison and tortured. Believers were executed in horrible and public ways. Yet persecution did not triumph. Christians who survived this time were called ‘saints’, or ‘confessors’ because they kept on confessing that Jesus is Lord. Nicholas was one of these.
Finally, Bishop Nicholas came out of prison, freed by a decree from the new Emperor, Constantine (who had become a Christian). As Nicholas returned to Myra, his people came out and shouted ‘Nicholas! Confessor! Saint Nicholas has come home!’
Nicholas served as bishop of Myra for another 30 years. He was present at the Council of Nicea in AD325, which was called by the Emperor Constantine. Also present was Arius, whose heretical teaching maintained that Jesus, although a good man, was not fully God, and not a full part of the Godhead. The story goes that Nicholas was so upset by what Arius was saying that he stormed across the debating chamber and slapped Arius across the face! The other bishops were shocked, but in due course, Nicholas was forgiven. From this Council, we have received the Nicene Creed, which we still say in church. It includes the statement about Jesus: eternally begotten of the Father, i.e. he was always (eternally) a part of God, not just from the time of his birth in Bethlehem.
Through his ministry, thousands found salvation and healing. He died on December 6th, AD343 and his death was mourned by everyone in the city.
Today, of course, we have dressed Nicholas up in a big red suite, and make him say, ‘Ho, ho, ho’, but let’s never forget that in real life, he was a great servant of Jesus Christ. Even his attack on Arius was prompted by his zeal for the true faith. I’m sure he would never do such a deed on December 24th!
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