The Minister Who Swept Floors
In 1963, John Profumo stood before the British House of Commons and lied. The Secretary of State for War denied his affair with Christine Keeler, and when the truth surfaced weeks later, the scandal toppled his career and nearly brought down the government. He resigned in disgrace. London's newspapers called him finished.
But Profumo did something no one expected. He walked into Toynbee Hall, a charity in the poorest corner of London's East End, and asked if they needed help. They handed him a mop. For the next forty years, the man who once dined with heads of state washed dishes, cleaned toilets, sorted donations, and visited the elderly and destitute. He never gave a single interview. He never defended himself publicly. He simply served.
By the time Queen Elizabeth awarded him a CBE in 1975, the people of East London knew him not as the disgraced politician but as the quiet man who showed up every single day.
On the shore of Galilee, Jesus did not ask Peter to explain his three denials. He did not demand an apology or a public confession. Three times He asked only one question: "Do you love Me?" And three times He gave the same commission: "Feed My sheep." The Savior who restores does not hand us a sentence. He hands us a purpose. Our failures do not define the end of our calling — they mark the Christ-shaped beginning of a deeper one.
Scripture References
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