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.
Well, maybe there’s something that you want, but your bubble is holding you back. Think outside the bubble.
III. Count The Cost
The second step to breaking free from your bubble is count the cost, or in other words, be prepared or make a plan. In the beginning of the clip, we saw Jimmy looking at a diagram of the bubble suit he was about to build. He knew he was going to set out on a venture that would take 3 days and he needed the bubble suit to last that long and also protect him from germs. If he never had come up with a plan for how he’d survive outside of his house, he never would have broken free from his bubble, but because he counted the cost and made a plan, he was able to break free.
Luke 14:27 27And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- 29lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
If you’re going to build something, you have to make sure you’re going to have all the supplies that you need. If you’re going on a trip, you have to make sure you’ve packed all the things you’re going to need. When you’re going after something that you want, you’ll need to have a plan. How am I going to break free?
So, write it down.
Let’s say that what you want is to run for student council, but you’re bubble doesn’t want you to give a speech because it’s uncomfortable. You know you have all the qualities necessary to be a great class secretary or treasurer or even president, but you’re nervous about the speech. Well, like Blind Bart, you can’t just sit around and expect to be picked for president of your class. You have to do something. Blind Bart’s plan was to do whatever it takes to get Jesus’ attention. Your plan may be something like this:
Write a speech about why I would make a good student council member.
Practice speech in front of a mirror at least 3 times a day.
Memorize speech.
Have family criticize and correct speech.
Read a book about the art of public speaking.
That’s the beginning of a great plan for breaking free from your bubble.
Well, maybe public speaking is not a problem for you, but approaching someone about getting a job is very unnerving. You don’t even like to ask an employee that works at a place for an application, much less talk to the one who does the hiring.
So, come up with a plan for how to get a job.
Do you have any connections? Maybe a friend who works somewhere or a friend of the family or someone at church.
Get some information about the application and interview process.
Know what the job requires and the schedule you can work.
The more prepared you are for an interview, the more comfortable you’ll be while it’s happening.
Those are just a few steps to a plan, but you can come up with your own for breaking out of whatever bubble is holding you back.
There’s an old adage that says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
IV. Visualize and Act
Finally, breaking free from your bubble is going to take you getting an image on the inside of you. An image of yourself doing the thing that you’re scared to do. An image of yourself doing the thing that your bubble has prevented you from doing. You have to visualize and act.
If you want to get an image on the inside of you, it’s going to take meditating on Scriptures that tell you that you can do the thing you want to do. Internalize the Word of God until you see it and can understand it. Meditate on it until it affects your thinking, your speaking, and your behavior. And when it starts to affect your behavior, you’ll see the change.
Acts 26:12-19 12"One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. 13About noon, Your Majesty, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. 14We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to fight against my will.’
15" `Who are you, sir?’ I asked.
"And the Lord replied, `I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you. 17And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles, 18to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
19"And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven.
Those words that Jesus spoke to Paul on the way to Damascus were burned in his heart. He thought about those words, spoke those words, believed those words, and preached those words until they affected his behavior. He meditated on what Jesus said to Him so much so that he could quote it to King Agrippa. He lived out the words.
And that’s what you’ll have to do if you’re going to visualize yourself breaking free from your bubble. Find those Scriptures that promise the thing that you want and then write ‘em down, think about ‘em, memorize ‘em until they start affecting your behavior.
Phil 4:13 “13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Luke 1:37 “37For with God nothing will be impossible.”
1 John 4:4 “4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
If it’s giving a speech, picture yourself in front of an auditorium full of your classmates delivering a speech that’s just dead on. If it’s talking to somebody new, see yourself doing it flawlessly without being clumsy or stuttering.
Get the Word of God on the inside of you and you’ll see yourself doing great things.
Ok, so how do we break free from our bubble?
1. Dream about what’s outside.
2. Count the cost. Have a plan. Be prepared.
Let’s pray.
