The disgraced MP...
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A few days ago
I heard Mike Amesbury being interviewed on the radio[1].
In case you
don’t recognise the name, he was the MP for Runcorn and Helsby who in October
last year got drunk and punched a member of his constituency to the ground,
repeatedly beating him and saying “You won’t threaten the MP ever again will
you?”
Well the incident
was investigated. Amesbury lost his place in the Labour party, he appeared in
court, was charged and spent some time in prison. He was ordered to carry out
200 hours of community work, and recently stood down as an MP triggering a by-election.
What do you
make of him? I actually feel sorry for Mike Amesbury. Let’s be clear, what he did
was utterly out of order and it’s right that he has stepped down. He owned his
mistake, pled guilty and describes the events of 26th of October as
a series of mistakes. The whole process has led to significant mental health
challenges for him, and currently he is struggling to find a job.
Modern society
doesn’t have a lot of time for fallen MPs, fallen celebrities, fallen
archbishops… or fallen anyones really.
If you have a
skeleton in your closet, racism in your social media past, or a conviction
(spent or unspent), society doesn’t have a lot of time for you.
But Jesus
does. Jesus spent time with the losers of society. The tax collectors, the prostitutes,
the failures, the low-lifes.
Our God is a God
of second, third, fourth chances. Am I saying that the wrong things that Mike Amesbury
(or any of us for that matter) don’t matter?
No they do.
That’s why Jesus came to die for us. To pay our penalty in our place. But he
still loves us. He still cares for us. And amazingly, if we say sorry and trust
him for forgiveness and a fresh start, he is willing, no he is delighted to
have us back.
And that is
good news for me, and that’s good news for you. Thanks so much for listening.
Have a great day.
Photo: CC-BY-SA 3.0 Jessica Taylor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Amesbury#/media/File:Official_portrait_of_Mike_Amesbury_MP_crop_2,_2024.jpg
