May 4, 2008
Rev. Terry D. Campbell

Beyond Our Outer Limits
Ephesians 3:20-21 (MsgB)  

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

 ²¹Glory to God in the church!  Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!  Glory down all the generations!  Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!”

Who defines you?  Who sets the parameters of what you can and cannot be, of what you can accomplish with your life?   Are you being challenged to reach out, to stretch, to expand who you are and what you are doing, or are you hearing fears or negative ideas put in your head stopping where you are—telling you that is all the further you can to go with your life?

Lines can serve a valuable purpose.  It’s important to know where one thing ends and another thing begins.  Think of a coloring book page where the child is told to color it.  The younger the child, the more likely they are to color outside the lines.  They don’t yet have the muscle coordination to stay within the lines.  As they get older, they will do better.  But with teachers, parents, grandparents and other telling them to stay within the lines, they can be obsessed with the lines.  I remember using a big red crayon to color an apple in 1st grade.  I did fairly well staying in the lines and it looked like an apple—but it really smelled like a red crayon.

But we need to be careful about “lines”.  Keeping inside arbitrary, human-made lines can keep us from reaching our potential as God’s daughters and sons.  There are too many things in this world that would tell us, “Here is your line—you can’t go beyond it!”

The implication of today’s Scripture is that not only can God do more than we think, but that we, also, can do and be more when we allow God’s Spirit to live and work within us.  “He(God) does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

To go beyond your outer limits, remember:  The battle is inside you.

We need new visions of what could be.  We’ve all grown up seeing life being acted out.  Acts 2:17-“’ God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’”

A.  Old visions—If you were raised in a non-Christian environment, you may have learned that you do things to survive, to get by.  Some of the things are ok and some are not—in fact, some of them may be downright disagreeable to God (sin).   People growing up in abusive (verbal and physical) homes, tend to repeat it in their own homes.  People tend to try to solve problems by fighting, yelling, shooting, etc. if they saw it growing up.

Many look down on others because of their race, or their gender—saying things like, “You can’t do that because you’re a girl.”  When I was growing up it was said to black football players, You can’t be a successful quarterback in the NFL because you’re black and not smart enough—until Doug Williams, black quarterback of the Washington Redskins led them to win Superbowl 22.  It was also said that if you’re an African-American, you’re not smart enough to coach teams to the Superbowl—until two black coaches, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith did it the same year—dispelling that myth.  All they needed was the opportunity and to have a new vision of what can be.

B.  New visions.  We’ve had old, tainted visions of what is.  We need new visions of life as God sees it can be.  2 Cor. 5:17 (NLT) –“What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”  That means that you need to see yourself as someone who can make a difference—someone who matters and who God can use to make a difference in people lives while you’re here on earth.

Robert Kennedy quoted, “Some people see things as they are and ask, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’”  This is the kind of people God is raising up to create a reformation of good across the world.  People who look beyond what has been and begin to hear from our Creator what God want to be—a better life for all people.

The battle is inside you so listen to God.

There is a battle going on inside each of us about it.  There is a voice whispering in each of our heads constantly, telling us we aren’t able to do things, don’t try it.  We should be afraid to try something because we will never be good enough.  We will mess up because we don’t think we deserve to succeed and we are use to failure—so we’re comfortable with it.  New tapes of what can be.

Old tapes—you’re just like your father, lazy.  You were a mistake, we never wanted you in the first place and you’ll never amount to anything.

 “Your grandpa was a lawyer, I am a lawyer, and YOU are going to be a lawyer.”—teacher, mechanic, maid, etc.

 “You are clumsy, you have always been clumsy and you always will be clumsy.”

“One person can’t stand  and make a difference system.  You can’t fight city hall.”  In other words stop trying for something better.  Stay within your current lines!

New tapes—The God of the universe thinks you are worth giving His life for.  You’re who Jesus died for!  You are a beloved and accepted child of the most high God.  You are an heir of heaven with Christ Jesus.  Romans 12:2-“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

We need to listen over and over to what God says about us to begin to counteract what we have always heard people saying about us.  Be all God says you can be—more than you ever imagined you could.  Galatians 3:28-29 -“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The battle is inside you so listen to God and follow by faith.

New activities—Relating to my family better.  Managing my anger better when dealing with other people.  Overcoming my fear and leaving the job that is consuming my time, my family, my energy, my life and get one that can pay the bills, but is more of a blessing than a curse.  Help lead worship as part of the singers or playing a musical instrument?  Go with our young adults to Kokomo to help people who are in hard times?

What is God bubbling up inside you?  A call to be a pastor?  A call to be an out-loud Christian in some other profession?  Start some group to support other believers or to reach out to people who are hurting?

Keep saying:  “What God calls me to, He will enable me to do!”  Repeat it.  I have it on good authority that this is true because this is a paraphrase of what the Apostle Paul wrote in  Philippians 4:13-“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

What will you do now?

Acknowledge God’s inner nudges to do His work, listen as He tells you that you can do it with His help, and then move into action by faith in God’s promise.  Be opening yourself up to the Lord as we prepare to share Holy Communion.  Amen.