Placemaking
The bible’s epic narrative, the greatest love story ever written, is a story of people and of place. The first of these is a familiar theme in our churches. We speak often of God’s love for people, of his desire to be intimate with them. We are less confident, though, in describing God’s love for place. So when Jesus comes, declaring his intention to fulfil the purposes of the Father, we miss the central pillar of his message. It is on earth that the Kingdom will come. God will not only restore people. He will restore for them the place he first made for them. God loves places as well as people, and his deepest love is for people-in-their-places.
