Sometimes, the superiority of expository sermons is seen best in light of a non-expository sermon. Let me share one for comparison purposes.1The sermon is the Presidential Address preached by Bobby Welch at the 2005 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference, titled, “Deep Water Doers.” The preaching-text was Luke 5:1-11, in which Jesus calls His first disciples. Before analyzing the sermon, let’s familiarize ourselves with Luke’s intent.
“Which rabbits are we chasing: Luke’s or our own?”
Luke’s Intent
The clear meaning, based on an exegetical study, is this: Luke took deliberate aim to convince his readers that Jesus is God in the flesh. Let’s document this from Luke’s text. This preaching-text falls within a section spotlighting Jesus’ divine authority and nature:
- In Luke 4:31-37, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. The demon refers to Him as “the Holy One of God” (4:34) and the people are amazed at Jesus’ “authority” (4:36).
- In Luke 4:38-40, Jesus then heals many. The demons cry-out, “You are the Son of God:” a reference to Jesus’ divinity.
- In Luke 4:43, Luke records Jesus’ claim that He was sent from heaven to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God.
- In our preaching-text, Jesus performs an extraordinary miracle in which the disciples catch a tremendous haul of fish during non-peak hours.
- In Luke 5:12-16, Luke then records Jesus healing a leper.
- In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus dramatically heals a paralytic. He equates Himself with God, declaring He has authority to forgive sins (5:22-25).
- In 5:33-35, Luke documents Jesus’ claim to be the bridegroom, a reference to Himself as Head of God’s people (5:33-35).
- Finally, in Luke 6:1-5, Jesus proclaims Himself as Lord of the Sabbath, something only God could do.
Clearly, Luke is building a case. When we return to 5:1-11, the obvious point becomes clear. Luke uses this event to establish a fine-point: To be in Jesus’ presence is to be in God’s presence. Peter recognizes this, falling at His feet in an act of repentant worship.
Confirmation of Luke’s Intent
We checked ourselves against others. They confirm the same. For instance, John MacArthur notes:
“Peter immediately recognized he was in the presence of the Holy One exercising His divine power, and he was stricken with shame over his own sin.”2John MacArthur Study Bible, Luke 5:8.
And John Calvin likewise:
“The design of the miracle undoubtedly was, to make known Christ’s divinity, and thus induce Peter and others to become his disciples.”3John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, reprint, 2005), 241.
Robert Stein, Darrell Bock, I. Howard Marshall and others confirm the same.4See Robert H. Stein, Luke, New American Commentaries, vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman, 1992); Darrell Bock, Luke: 1:1-9:50 (BECNT, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Baker, 1994), 452; … Continue reading
At this point, we feel confident in saying: Luke sought to convince his readers that Jesus is God in the flesh.
A Non-Expository Sermon
What if I suggested to you that Luke’s intent was something different entirely? Welch declares with some forcefulness, “Jesus is about to unfold a personalized, simplified, systematic, theology for soul-winning. . . . It’s not very hard to get it, and he made it overwhelming clear in this passage.”5Bobby Welch, “Deep Water Doers,” (Presidential Address, Southern Baptist Convention, 2005). Is that what Luke intended to convey?
“Which rabbits are we chasing: Luke’s or our own?”
What if I told you this little episode taught the “shore” represents the “church;” the “deep waters” represent the world; letting down the “nets” represents faith; the “nets” themselves represent the gospel; and, the “fish” represent lost souls?
Further, what if I proclaimed with authority that all this indicates Jesus was unfolding a personalized, simplified, systematic theology for soul-winning? The application of the text, then, becomes: You must exercise faith to get out of the church and into the world. You must share the gospel. You must reap the harvest. And, if you do these things, then your church likely will overflow because so many converted sinners will be pouring in.
Again, we ask, “Is this what Luke intended to say? Is that what God intended to say through him?”
Chasing the Wrong Rabbit
One of the things which affected Welch’s interpretation is this: It was preached in 2005. He was the president of one of the world’s largest denominations. In 2005, there was a push to “win and baptize” 1,000,000 souls. Therefore, he came to preaching-text with an agenda, and he imposed that agenda onto the text. Let’s pinpoint where things went wrong.
- He ignored the book context and the sectional context. Both were establishing the divinity of Christ (not a method of evangelism).
- He denied the “God-breathed” syntactical structures: i.e., Christ performs a miracle that authenticates his divine authority (5:1-7). Next, Peter is astonished, falling at Christ’s feet in worship (5:8-10). Lastly, Luke states the design of the miracle: “[T]hey forsook all and followed him.” The syntactical structures point to Christ’s Lordship over all things. Nowhere does Luke suggest—much less, state—that “shore = church,” “deep = world,” or “nets = faith,” etc.
- This method assumes God’s single, verbal meaning is not sufficient.
- This method permits the cultural context to dictate God’s meaning. The exact opposite should be the case. God’s meaning should affect the culture. The culture never should affect God’s meaning (even if well-intended).
- Because Luke’s intent was altered, the application was altered. The sermon centered on man (personal evangelism) rather than Christ (His authority and divinity).
Concluding Thoughts
To be clear, we have no problem with the truth the preacher proclaimed. The problem we have is he proclaimed it from the wrong text. God has supplied us with plenty of NT passages which center on the importance of personal evangelism. Why not choose one of those? By not doing so, the sufficiency of Scripture is called into question; and worse, we have modeled a method that those who follow us will take beyond what we ever dreamed. History bears this out (see “Is Every Text Pregnant with Meaning?”).
“Which rabbits are we chasing: Luke’s or our own?”
Here again, we must keep on asking, “Which rabbits are we chasing: Luke’s rabbits or our own?” If we refuse to restrict ourselves to the verbal meaning God has revealed, then the Bible becomes malleable to our own pursuits and passions. May it never be! Scripture is God-breathed. The meaning God placed in Scripture-texts is unchangeable, immutable, and sufficient. Don’t try to improve upon it.
References
| 1 | The sermon is the Presidential Address preached by Bobby Welch at the 2005 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference, titled, “Deep Water Doers.” |
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| 2 | John MacArthur Study Bible, Luke 5:8. |
| 3 | John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, reprint, 2005), 241. |
| 4 | See Robert H. Stein, Luke, New American Commentaries, vol. 24 (Nashville: Broadman, 1992); Darrell Bock, Luke: 1:1-9:50 (BECNT, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Baker, 1994), 452; I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, NIGCT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 199-200. |
| 5 | Bobby Welch, “Deep Water Doers,” (Presidential Address, Southern Baptist Convention, 2005). |
