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By J. Adam Tyler
Guest Columnist

Christmas season is fully upon us. Main Street is decked out with decorations, the Christmas Parade was delightful, and Christmas music has been in the air for weeks. Children are already sending letters to Santa, and adults are wrapping presents and getting into the eggnog. Just about everywhere we look, Christmas is here.

The only place where it might not be is, oddly enough, at church. Oh, most of our churches already have up the garland and the wreaths, and we may even be singing Christmas carols on Sunday mornings. Yet for many of our churches, the Sundays leading up to Christmas are marked, not with stories about shepherds and angels and a baby in a manger, but with apocalyptic visions and invitations to prepare and repent. Strangest of all, many of the stories we hear before Christmas are not focused on Jesus, but on an odd duck named John.

John, often named John the Baptist, appears in all four Gospels. He wears strange clothes, he eats odd food, and when he speaks, you can almost hear the strident tone in his voice. His talk is filled with disturbing images – of axes at the roots of trees and chaff being burned with unquenchable fire – and he speaks with a degree of rudeness to those who come to hear him, calling them a brood of vipers, and criticizing the local strongman, Herod.

So why is it good to hear from John before we get to Christmas?

We find out in Luke 3. The Gospel writer tells us that John “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke then ties this preaching to the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s whole purpose was to help people prepare themselves – their mindset and their daily lives – for the coming of Christ. They would encounter him, and to be most open to the work of God, they would benefit from making some changes. So, John says generally, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,” while giving specific examples of what that looks like to individuals who asked.

In addition to being a fun holiday with family and friends, Christmas is also a chance to experience the presence of Jesus. The songs, the stories, the holy moments, both in and out of houses of worship, can be truly remarkable. Yet we experience them most fully when we heed the preaching of John and prepare the way of the Lord. This Christmas, are we repenting of the things we get wrong or neglect, and then putting that repentance into actions? Are we bearing good, compassionate, caring fruit in our lives? Are we getting ready, with our whole selves, for Christmas?

REV. DR. J. ADAM TYLER is the senior pastor for Farmville Baptist Church, and he can be reached by email at pastor@farmvillebaptist.org.