The Jesus of Christmas

The Rev. Chuck Queen, controversial pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church here in Frankfort, KY (See my previous post here.), has published a rather small Christmas book this year. The book is entitled Shimmers of Light: Spiritual Reflections for the Christmas Season (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications of Wipf and Stock Publishers). Adaptive portions of it are found in his blog, A Fresh Perspective, and have been published in his column in The State Journal of Frankfort.



This Christmas book, unlike so many others, is quite unsentimental and not fluffy at all. Queen writes of the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith and intersperses it with lively illustrative  anecdotes. I really recommend the book which I have enjoyed immensely. Although it is too late for most readers for this season, some might want to purchase it to read next year. For those who follow the Liturgical Year, however, Christmas does not end until January 6. They still have a chance for this year.



Below, I am giving three excerpts that speak especially to the mission of The Peace Advocate. Two of the excerpts are from Queen’s blog postings and one from the book itself. Queen writes:

Luke begins the actual birth story by setting it in the historical context of Emperor Augustus. Caesar Augustus was heralded as the greatest of the emperors. He was born Octavian and was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. Following his father’s assassination a great civil war tore Rome asunder, wrecking havoc on the empire until Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE at the Battle of Actium. He then assumed the position of emperor and became known as Augustus, the Divine (the imperial myth had him being conceived by the gods). Augustus ushered Rome into a great era of peace and stability. He was proclaimed throughout the land—on coins, inscriptions, and temples—as “Son of God,” “Savior of the world,” “Lord of the whole world,” and “God made manifest,” among other titles.

Undoubtedly, Luke is drawing a contrast between the one he believed would occupy the throne of David (1:32), and the one who brought peace to Rome. The peace ushered in by Augustus was a temporary peace, enforced and supported by imperial might that violently subdued all opposition. It was a kingdom maintained by violent power, exercised by the powerful.

How different is the kingdom of the Christ child! He was born, not in pomp and pageantry, but in a humble peasant’s house among the animals. He did not walk among royalty in palace halls, but among the poor, oppressed, diseased, and demonized in the towns and villages of Galilee and Judea. Lowly Jewish shepherds, often despised among their own people, came to honor him, for to them and their kind he had come, bringing hope of a new world where the power of love would take the place of violent force. He did not wield sword or spear and he admonished his followers to love and pray for their enemies. He taught his disciples a nonviolent strategy for asserting their humanity and dignity as children of God under the crushing hands of imperial force. He pronounced blessing on peacemakers, judgment on warmongers, and he challenged all security systems rooted in wealth and control. He is a different kind of king, the viceroy of God’s peaceable kingdom, and he manifested in his life, words, and deeds the character of a forgiven, healed, and restored world. (from the blog here)

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Jesus, empowered by divine love, challenged the powers that be and stood in solidarity with the poor, oppressed, marginalized, and excluded, confronting the gatekeepers of conventional religion and the powerbrokers of the social order. Courageously, he preached, taught, and lived the kingdom of God, and the kingdoms of the world were offended and outraged. (from the blog here)

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When we abide in God’s love and stand in solidarity with the marginalized, there will be times when we have to swim against the swift current of popular opinion, common cultural values and standards, and corrupt corporate practices, even at the risk of drowning. Those who are compelled by divine love are not only committed to comfort and encourage the hurting, they are also willing, at great personal sacrifice, to challenge and confront the powers that be who are determined to muzzle and immobilize an opposing voice. (from page 69 of the book. Italics are Queen’s.)

Peace On Earth. Goodwill to All. I Declare World Peace.