You Can Do What You Couldn't!
You Can Do What You Couldn't!
John 14:12
Vivian Symons did what he couldn't.
He moved an old church, All Saints, from Peckham in Southeast London to Biggin Hill,
17 miles away.
There he rebuilt it, naming it the Church of St. Mark.
He didn't raise the money or pay a contractor to do the job.
He did it himself.
All Saints was 90 feet high, 130 feet long, 43 feet wide.
He demolished it, and carried it 17 miles, rebuilt it; and now Biggin hill has a " village cathedral."
Vivian Symons did what he couldn't.
In a period of six years and eight months, this determined person, with no special manual skill,
mastered 16 a new skills.
He became a truck driver, building demolisher, bricklayer, stonemason, plumber, electrician,
wood carver, landscape gardener, painter, carpenter, tiler, crane operator, glazier, scaffolder,
goldsmith and silver smith.
The full story was told in an article in the Reader's Digest, April, 1965 and was
titled, " The Faith That Moved a Church."
Christians have been doing what they couldn't ever since the Day of Pentecost in the first century.
This was the expectation of Jesus.
He said, " In very truth I tell you, he who has faith in me will do what I am doing;
And he will do greater things still because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)
The power of a great expectation can lift a person up to a higher level of achievement.
The player of a sports game exceeds himself when his loved ones are in the stands.
The student taking his examination is quickened intellectually by the expectation of a parent
or a friend.
Jesus expects His followers to do great things.
And it is in love for Him that we do them.
Human need will spur a Christian to do better than he can do.
There was a need at Biggin Hill for something to take the place of the corrugated-iron, a 50 year old
place called the " tin tabernacle."
Vivian Symons was stirred to action by the need of his parishioners.
This is true of Christian missions of the past and of today.
People did more than they could do in building schools, opening hospitals, and at the same time
evangelizing.
Men and women of ordinary intellectual ability to learn difficult languages, translated the Scriptures,
and lifted people out of savagery.
They are still doing this today in many foreign lands.
It is by men and women daring to go beyond their own capacity to save those without Jesus
In their own communities, and at the same time sending out missionaries to make a difference
to those the are in great need all over our world.
Having a great expectation and being spurred to do more than we can do to meet human need
are not enough to cause us to go beyond our power of doing.
We must have a source of power beyond our own.
Jesus said to His disciples, " Ye shall receive power…"
They received the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Almost immediately after this experience, Peter and John were stopped by a crippled beggar
at the gate Beautiful.
They had no money -- not one penny, but they did have power.
And by that power, they lifted up the cripple to be able to walk and have strength again.
There lies the secret of going beyond our powers.
Vivian Symons said this: " People think I was alone. But I wasn't.
I was working for a good Master, who was always by my side.
The Divine Power was available.
When a man uses up all his own power and receives the divine energy, ye exceeds himself,
and does more and better than he can do."
Sermon adapted from a sermon in the Minister's Manual of 1967, page 155.