Bubble Boy

Bubble Boy

How To Break Free From Your Bubble

8/25/04

I. Introduction

Play clip (Bubble Boy breaks free…end “dog poo…this is AWESOME!”)

The movie, Bubble Boy, is a coming-of-age comedy following the life of Jimmy Livingston, a young man born without immunities and raised in a manufactured world provided by his well-intentioned but misguided mother. When his childhood girlfriend rushes off to Niagara Falls with her new fiancé, he builds himself a bubble suit to help him travel fast and sets out on a cross-country trek to find her and win her back. Along the way he has many absurd and comedic adventures.

Tonight’s message is called “Bubble Boy: How To Break Free From Your Bubble” and you’ll learn just that, how to break free just like Jimmy Livingston. We’re talking more about going beyond limits, really.

In many respects, we all have our bubbles that we live in. A bubble is something that constrains or confines you into a limited amount of space. Your bubble is what keeps you from stepping out and doing something risky or uncomfortable. For instance, let’s say you’re in your 2nd class of the day and a new student, who is quite attractive, walks in the door. Your teacher is getting all the details from the guidance counselor and you’re thinking, “Wow, what I wouldn’t give to spend a little time with him/her.” Just then, the teacher asks, “Who would like to let our new student shadow them and tour the school today?” You’re just about to raise your hand when the bubble closes in and stops you with thoughts like, “You can’t do that, what will your friends think?” or “You forgot to brush your teeth this morning and you don’t have any gum…bad idea!” or “Don’t raise your hand because you’re not SURE.”

Most of the time this “bubble” is caused by our comfort zones. We stay in the zones where we’re comfortable. To get outside that zone or that bubble would cause us discomfort, embarrassment, or a raised heart rate, and we don’t want those things.

Have all of you experienced at some point in your life what I’m talking about? The constrains of the bubble? Maybe it’s just that we’re afraid or nervous about doing something that we’re not used to doing. But we can’t let fear or nervousness stop us from breaking free of our bubbles.

II. Dream About What’s Outside

The first step to breaking free of the bubble is to realize that there’s more out there for us to experience and gain from than what we currently have. As Jimmy Livingston is living in his plastic bubble world, we see one instance where he looks out the window and sees a whole new world open to him…the girl next door, Chloe. And until he realizes that he’ll never have what he wants while he’s living in his bubble, he’ll be content to stay there.

Mark 10:46-52 NLT 46And so they reached Jericho. Later, as Jesus and his disciples left town, a great crowd was following. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by.

47When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

48"Be quiet!" some of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

49When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, "Tell him to come here."

So they called the blind man. "Cheer up," they said. "Come on, he’s calling you!" 50Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked.

"Teacher," the blind man said, "I want to see!"

52And Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has healed you." And instantly the blind man could see! Then he followed Jesus down the road.

Here’s Blind Bart just sitting beside the road when Jesus walks by. Now if Bart were comfortable with his situation, he would have said nothing. He may have asked for money because he was a beggar, but he would have said nothing of his blindness. I think this man really wanted to see. He wanted to see so bad that when he heard Jesus was nearby, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And when people told him to shut up, he shouted even louder. I think this man leaped out of his bubble. At any other point in his life when people told him what to do, he probably did it. If they told him to be quiet, he probably shut his trap. But not that day, that day he was breaking free from his bubble. And when he went after what he wanted, he got it. When he broke free from his comfort zone, he got it. Do you think he would have been healed if he had said nothing? Would he have been healed if he didn’t do something drastic to get Jesus’ attention? I don’t think he would have.