When God Came Close
Preacher: The Rev. Andrew Van Kirk
Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
There’s something disarming about a God who doesn’t come loud, but low. A God who doesn’t arrive in triumph, but in tears. A God who doesn’t stay distant, but who wraps tiny fingers around the pinkie of a man named Joseph.
Christmas is not a story of power imposed—it is a story of love offered. Love that takes on weakness. Love that honors the overlooked. Love that looks into our eyes and sees all the way in. That kind of love changes things. It humbles us. It lifts us. And it calls us to wonder: what kind of God makes himself so small for us?
This is the miracle at the heart of Christmas: infinity cradled in flesh. Glory wrapped in vulnerability. A manger that holds heaven.
Reflection Questions
What part of the Christmas story helps you feel seen or known by God?
Where in your life are you trying to be strong when God might be inviting you to receive love instead?
How does it shape your view of God to imagine him as a newborn—fragile, small, and fully human?
Have you ever experienced God’s presence not in might or power, but in quiet tenderness?
What might it look like to honor the smallness and vulnerability of others this season, the way God has honored yours?
