Lesson Goal
In this lesson I hope to teach how to preach a humorous sermon.
Lesson Intro
The top pay for professional comedians is probably in the multiple millions. That's far more than we pay the average preacher laboring in the word of God. Why? Why is it that the hollow, immoral message of Hollywood seems to have more monetary value than the most meaningful message on the planet, the gospel? Entertainment is more interesting to the average person than the gospel. We can be better preachers of God's message if we preach it in an entertaining fashion. Entertainment is a valuable tool for making appropriate parts of the gospel have more impact on average people, and one way to add entertainment is by using humor.
Lesson Plan
In this lesson, we return to what the Romans termed the middle level of rhetoric. However, unlike Augustine's middle kind of sermon, this is not a praise sermon or doxology. We have already covered that. This is an entertaining sermon, in the style of the middle level of rhetoric. Specifically, we will discuss preparing a sermon that contains humor. This chapter focuses on the what, why, who, how, where and when of humor. It gives Ten Commandments of humor and an example sermon.
Lesson Body
What is Humor
Humor is an incongruous condition that causes amusement, a temporary mood causing laughter, our enjoyment of the absurd, or an ingenious verbal skill that induces delight. Why would preachers want to learn to use humor?
Why Use Humor
Laughter and rejoicing often go together (Job 8:21). Laughter, singing and praise for God can also go together, especially after a great trial is over (Psalm 126). There is a time to laugh, even in a sermon (Ecclesiastes 3:4), and especially at annual times of rejoicing and celebration of the great events of the Christianity (Ecclesiastes 10:19). A merry heart is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22).
Humor can help a sermon relate to people, because it is enjoyable, stimulates interest and even helps sleepy people wake up. Humor is also a good way to paint an illustration in people's minds.
Some subjects are just plain touchy, delicate. A good way to handle this on some occasions, but not all, is to get the church in a good mood. Don't make light of the seriousness of the subject matter, but use humorous every day examples of how people approach the subject matter which we can all relate to and are downright funny. Let the church know that it's okay to laugh at ourselves.
A Catholic priest had finished his homily when the microphone went out. He said, "Something's wrong with my mike." Many in the congregation did not hear, but assumed he had said his usual blessing, "May Christ's peace be with you." So, they replied, "And also with you."
Who to Focus On
There will always be disagreeable or despondent people in any congregation. Some of them may actually like you, but for some unknown, private reason they are having a bad day. Perhaps they have a migraine or are in deep emotional pain over some private sorrow. Don't take this as an insult. They may actually need and want your humorous stories, but may just not show it today.
Then there is the person who genuinely hates your guts. You don't know why, but from the first time they saw you perhaps, either something you said, or your personality type, or something else entirely made them instantly dislike you. There will always be those who when they hear that you have been called to another church will want to sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus." Shut any gloomy or negative person out of your mind when you are preaching humor.
Focus on those who are genuinely having a good time, and tell your jokes to them. If you respond to them, others will too, and enjoy their response to your jokes. I remember one church I served years ago where there was a lady with a distinctively infectious laugh. Even if my humor was weak, people laughed because they enjoyed her laughter. Her laughter was infectious not only on the congregation, but on me too. Her encouragement made me preach better and made my humor more effective. People love to watch people laugh. Laughter is infectious.
How to Use the Punch Line
Many people blow a joke at the punch line, yet remembering the punch line is the way to remember jokes. It doesn't matter if you retell the joke with slightly different details, because a punch line usually fits a variety of circumstances. The punch line is the joke. Keep it a secret. Never tell the punch line or even hint about it before you give it. A punch line works better when it is not given away before hand.
When you come to the punch line, it needs to have particular vocal emphasis. If you don't say it clearly and distinctly, people will miss it. Say the punch line slowly and in a manner that everyone can hear it. Then leave time for the audience to react. Let them laugh. Depending on the joke it may even take a second or two of silence before they begin to laugh. Wait! There is no hurry. If the joke goes over like a lead balloon, just move on. Don't worry about it. Never repeat a punch line.
Where to Find Humor
Sources of humor are many and various. Here are a few examples:
Clean joke books
Internet searches for things like religious/holy jokes, church/Christian humor/humour, laughs, gags, reverend/priest/preacher fun, funny stories/yarns, hilarious/hilarity, wit, and comedy. If you are preaching on a particular subject you could search for marriage humor, work fun, or family jokes for relevant wit
Collection of personal anecdotes, to laugh at yourself
Funny poetry
Original funnies ? there is a simple theory called the rule of three, which comedians use to create original humor ? building a joke in three steps
Establish a theme
Establish a direction
Make a surprise change by misdirection, escalation, understatement, reversal, or randomization
When to Place Humor
Do not start your sermon with a joke. First impressions last. If you blow it, you will taint the rest of your sermon. If it's really good, the rest of the sermon may seem like an anticlimax. Humor is funnier when it comes later in the sermon as a surprise. A joke works better when it is unexpected.
Circumstances can also be made funny. Anticipate what can go wrong during your sermon that you can capitalize on for humor. Anticipation is a key to humor. For instance, during a sermon the microphone can go out, or the speakers can ping with feedback, a whiteboard marker can go dry, a chalk marker can squeak, a video projector can be problematic, a baby can cry, a mentally handicapped person can make an embarrassing remark, or a prop can fall over. Have appropriate jokes for all these situations that do not put anybody down, but at which everyone can laugh and feel at ease. Be ready just for that right moment.
During your sermon, you will also want to give examples or illustrations of your points. This is a great place for humor. One of the best ways to make an example stick is to tell a joke, or a one liner. The rule of three also applies to how many jokes you tell on any one point. Beyond three, it is easily overdone, and wears thin.
What Kind of Humor
Naturally, no preacher will use off-color, dirty, or sexually inappropriate humor. However, finding clean one-liners and jokes is easy. The internet is full of them and there are dozens of books which contain clean humor, that is suitable for preaching. Old jokes that everyone has heard before can be very effective. Don't dismiss them, but perhaps update them with modern names and situations.
Use humor that is relevant to your sermon. As you collect material for your sermon, you will find relevant humor and jokes that are too much of a stretch to be pertinent. Throw the irrelevant jokes out.
For instance, if you are preaching on the Ten Commandments, the following joke might be appropriate. A Sunday school teacher had just finished teaching about honoring our parents, when a child asked if there was a commandment about brothers and sisters. Reply, "Yes! You shall not kill."
Ten Commandments of Humor
Scott Friedman author of Using Humor for a Change, defines ten laws of humor which I have modified for relevance to preaching:
You do not have to use humor, unless you want to get paid
Know your congregation
The shortest distance between you and the congregation is a good laugh
Your success as a preacher will be in direct proportion to the amount of original material you use (there is no new gospel, but new illustrations or ways of explaining the unchanging gospel)
If you can't find funny material, change your glasses
Great humor is not written, it is rewritten
Spontaneity is always better the second time around
If they don't laugh, it was not meant to be funny
The richest laugh is at no one's expense
You are your own best style
Example Sermon
Title: "Joy"
Goal
Encourage joy.
Intro
So does going to church bring you joy? What is joy? How do we get it and what does it do for us, when so many things around us seem to lack joy?
Plan
Today we want to examine the topic of joy and see that the Christian life is meant to be a joyous one.
Body:
Good News of Great Joy
Luke 2:10 Good news of great joy. If there is no God, or if that God is a nasty and hateful God, where is the reason for joy? If the universe is a meaningless accident and we have no real purpose other than to populate a useless planet until it becomes uninhabitable, why bother? But there is a God; there is purpose and God loves us enough to have come to earth and to have died to save us from ourselves.
Joy in the Midst of Trials
Can we have joy in the midst of troubles? What happens when you realize your marriage is going bad. So now you sleep in separate beds: hers is on the coast and yours is in the mountains. Marriage is grand — divorce is 20 grand. Remember, Marriage is the number one cause of divorce. Statistically, 100 percent of all divorces started with marriage. What if you’re one of those men who believe that men die before their wives because they want to? Can we have joy in the middle of difficulties?
Luke 6:22-23 Wow! That is one of the strangest statements in the Bible. How can we be filled with joy while being persecuted? It sounds impossible, unless we realize that mistreatment may be a sign that you passed the test with flying colors.
Joy that doesn't Last
Luke 8:13 Joy is good, when it lasts. We also need staying power when we realize that maybe we have bitten off more than we can chew. At Sunday dinner, a woman turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to ask the blessing?" "I don't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear me say," the mother said. The little girl bowed her head and said: "Our Father in heaven, why did we invite all these people to Sunday dinner?"
Grief then Joy
John 16:20-24 Joy often comes after a period of pain. Christians grieve over different things than other people. We often grieve because we see the consequences of sin that others are blind to. But hope gives us a long-term joy, a joy that will last beyond those periods of heartache or sorrow. Grief from our worldly troubles lasts a short time. Joy from God lasts forever.
Anointed with Joy
Hebrews 1:9 Christians are anointed with the oil of joy. We can laugh and enjoy a good clean joke. We don’t need to slide into the sewer to laugh. Real joy is there with us whether we are laughing or suffering.
Joyful in Spite of Loss
Hebrews 10:34 you…joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
What do you do if your wife tells you the car isn't running because there is water in the carburetor, and you ask where the car is, and she tells you, "In the lake?"
Imagine losing everything and being happy. My wife and I lost everything once — job, house and car — but curiously, after the initial shock, there was a strange sense of relief and joy.
Joy that Lasts
Hebrews 12:2 Joy helped Jesus endure the cross. Joy of God’s promises can help us endure even the severest of trials. We may not be laughing, but we can have that inner joy that this too shall pass.
A man was shipwrecked on a remote island and was alone for 20 years. His rescuers asked him about the three buildings he had built on the island. He replied, "This is my house, and that is my church and the third building, that is the church I used to go to."
Outro
Today we examined the topic of joy to see that the Christian life is meant to be a joyous one.
A Sunday School leader was teaching about the resurrection of Jesus when one child asked, "What did Jesus say when he came out of the grave?" The teacher explained that the Bible does not tell us. Then one little girl said, "I know what he said! He said, 'Tah-dah!'"
Let's be real joy-filled Christians. Let's rise up out of the sorrow of this world. Let's be filled with the Spirit of joy. We are free in Christ, free to enjoy the best things God has to offer, now and forever.
Suggested Assignment
Choose an appropriate sermon for adding humor. Prepare it as usual, with proper exegesis and hermeneutics. Search for appropriate one-liners or humorous stories that fit each point illustration.
Lesson Outro
This chapter focused on the what, why, who, how, where and when of humor. We saw Ten Commandments of humor and an example sermon. Using humor is one way to keep people coming back for more. Don't let your congregation be like some in the church. One gentleman was asked if he was in the Lord's army, to which he replied, "Yes." When asked why he was not seen at church except at Christmas and Easter, he replied, "I'm in the secret service."
Humor is enjoyable and one way to stimulate interest in church attendance.
