|
A Modern Nicodemus
 Hi.
My Name is Jimmy Painter, and this is my story. I am a home-grown
native of the great State of Maryland. I grew up in Elkton, on the
Chesapeake Bay’s upper shore, experiencing all that small town had to
offer.
However,
on the socio-economic ladder of life, we were near the bottom rung.
I longed to be “somebody,” to have people know me and respect me. I
longed to break out from the mold circumstances had set for me. I
wanted to rise above my blue-collar roots to arrive at the apex of the
American Dream. I believed that sports and education were my tickets
to my destination. I had it all (to those looking on from the outside)
– Captain of the football team, President of the Varsity Club, Key
Club President, Class President, Student Council Vice-President, was
dating a cheerleader, and had an active social life. But inside I was
empty and hurting. The more I achieved, the emptier I felt.
The pain
led me to look for answers in all the wrong places. With all my other
titles, I was known as “a party on two legs.” I went to every party in
town, often hanging out with people who did me no good.
Thanks be
to God that my search did not end in prison or death. I didn’t grow up
in a Christian home. But my grandmother, who lived with us, used to
tell me stories from the Bible, and I went to Sunday School for a
while as a child. But I never heard the life-changing Gospel of Jesus.
I didn’t know if God existed, and if He did, what different did that
make? All I knew was a little religion, and I wanted nothing to do
with that.
I met a
woman named Ellen, a Pastor’s wife. She told me about a God who loved
me, who sent his Son to die for me, and who had an exciting plan for
my life. She said to me, “God so loved the world,” and, “God so loved
you.” He loved me in spite of everything I had done. I had become a
god unto myself and I had shut out the one true God. As much as I had
done to gain a higher status, I could not work hard enough to earn my
way to heaven.
A short
time later, after a night of partying and near disasters, I looked
into the mirror. I hated what I saw. I cried out to God, “God, if you
are who you say you are, and if you did for me what you said that you
did, and if you can straighten up my messed up life; …take it! It’s
yours!” And do you know what God did? He took me up on my offer!
Suddenly,
I was changed. My emptiness was replaced with God’s presence. My
hurting was replaced with God’s healing. My sins and my shame were
replaced with God’s forgiveness and grace. I didn’t need to
self-medicate my pain by overachieving and I didn’t need to seek the
acceptance and approval of others. I had Jesus – and I dove into my
relationship with Him, wearing out Bibles and spending time in prayer.
I was
baptized and joined the First Baptist Church of Elkton. In my Senior
year of High School, I answered God’s call to the ministry and began
my ministry journey at Campbell University in North Carolina. There, I
met God’s greatest gift to me, my wife Margot.
In the
Gospel of John, Chapter 3, we are introduced to another overachiever
named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council,
the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was Israel’s answer to congress and the
supreme court. Nicodemus was also called “Israel’s Teacher.” He was
the superintendent of schools. Nicodemus seemed to have everything – a
highly respected position, political clout, and education. And though
it was frowned upon by his peers, Nicodemus risked it all by coming to
Jesus. Jesus told him, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Everything Nicodemus had ever
done was worthless. He had to start over. He needed to be born again.
It’s not by our abilities or human reputation by which we are saved,
but by the gift of God through Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.” |
