Humor and Storytelling in Preaching

Students deliver their original stories: #5: Broken To Be Saved #6: Eirwen

Students deliver their original stories: #7: The Jump #8: Beauty and the Sugar Cube #9: Airport Security

Students deliver their original stories: #10: Sixteen Days in Cardiac ICU #11: Sesame Place #12: Promises To God

Students deliver their original stories: #3: The Moulton Family; #4 A Time To Talk and A Time To Do

A student delivers his original story: #13: Unfulfilled Dreams

Listen to a sermon by Dr. Lamerson entitled, "Forgiveness from the Liver and Kidneys".

The students discuss the sermon by Dr. Lamerson entitled, Forgiveness from the Liver and Kidneys. Consider the exegesis of the text. Archetypical stories include Rags to Riches. Biblical examples are David and Joseph. Well-known examples are King Arthur, Clark Kent, and Harry Potter. Cinderella is a very well known example and has hundreds of forms. Horatio Alger stories are also an example. Important parts to the rags to riches stories are that we are almost always introduced to the hero or heroine in childhood. Many of the other characters in the story are deeply antagonistic toward them. There is usually a central crisis, which the character must overcome. Consider a summary of the story. The story starts at home where there are serious problems and this leads to the call. (Joseph and his brothers.) Next, the character goes out into the world with some little bit of success.(Joseph and Potiphar.) There is a central crisis when everything suddenly goes wrong. (Joseph in Prison.) Independence comes and the final ordeal. (Joseph is let out but must deal with his brothers.) There is a final union.(Joseph is reunited with his father and his brothers.) Consider Moses through these steps of the summary. Consider that we all have a desire for a better world because we are made for a better place. There are stories of people like Christ to point us to Christ. There are shadows of the Messiah and there is a real Messiah. What is the difference between a rags to riches plot and the rebirth plot? Usually rebirth has an amazing change to the character. The text The Seven Basic Plots, by Christopher Booker is suggested.

Explore the option of telling a story verses reading a story. Consider the ability to be "in the moment". Explore what is needed for study. Inform your congregation of your study schedule and your need for study and be realistic in your expectation of study time. Try to establish a routine time and place for study and develop the ability to use small units of time. Read widely. Resist the urge to stop studying once the sermon idea emerges. Try to use whatever library you have wisely and take advantage of available workshops. Preserve what you have studied. Explore “Four Steps to Preparation of a Sermon”, from The Preacher as Storyteller, by Austin B. Tucker. Stage one is to anchor your preparation early in a text of Scripture. Read the text tell the story of the text. Think about three lines converging: the preacher, the text, and congregation. Stage two is to interpret the text. First, adjust your interpretive paradigm because narratives are more than just history - they are theology in history. The goal is to determine why the original author used these details to communicate a particular story. The goal is intent as well as content. Secondly, understand the context of your story. Consider the passage of Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

Continue to explore the Four Steps to Preparation of a Sermon, from The Preacher as Storyteller, by Austin B. Tucker. The third step is to determine the structure of the story. Every parable of Jesus has some incredible, climatic, unexpected twist. The fourth step is to analyze the characters. The fifth step is to discover the setting of the story. Step six is to state the "big idea" of the narrative. What is the exegetical idea? What is the homiletical idea? What is a preaching idea that people can easily remember? Step seven is to double check your big idea. Don't let your systematic theology override what the text says. What does the text really mean? Is this text really Christ-centered? Could the sermon have been preached in a synagogue? Step eight is the application. What does the text mean? Plan the general organization of the sermon. Let the text speak to the organization, not overrun it. Consider the Rule of Three. Note how often the number three shows up as you are reading or telling stories. Give your sermon time to grow and mature and treat the stories with care. Where do we get stories? Always start with the text. We should practice observing and listening. Keep track of your stories. Read something other than theology books. Telling stories and using humor is difficult and oral communication is easily misunderstood. Consider that a story is planting a seed. Tell the appropriate stories at the appropriate time. Tell the story at the appropriate time in the sermon. Storytelling and humor is better caught than taught. Listen to and read good stories. Some can be found at Prairie Home Companion, MAW, and This American Life.

Students deliver their original stories: #1 The Death of Lazarus #2: Tommy and Johnny

Explore Archetypical stories and overcoming the monster. Our earliest example of story is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Consider that the monster can take many forms, as example, a shark, wolf, witch, giant, vampire, gun, Martians, or the devil. The monster can act in one of three ways: as a predator as in Jaws; a holdfast by guarding the treasure of the princess; or an avenger by taking revenge on the hero or heroine. The monster has a fatal flaw. The supreme characteristic of every monster is that it is egocentric. The monster is heartless and totally unable to feel for others. His only real concern is to look after its own interests at the expense of everyone else in its world. (Booker p33) Consider that couldn't this be a description of sin? Explore some examples such as melodrama where the girl is tied to the railroad. In war stories, either the evil leader or sometimes the weapon is the monster. Consider the example of The Guns of Navarone. In Westerns, the monster is either a person of power or one who seeks to steal power such as in The Magnificent Seven or High Noon. The story, If the Prodigal Were A Daughter, by Janice Chaffee is a look at the story as told from another angle. The thriller is where the monster is sometimes a person or sometimes an animal as in Jaws, James Bond, The Towering Inferno, or Jonah (sort of), and many of Stephen King's stories. See for example Needful Things. Science Fiction is where the monster is what we fear could happen as a result of misused technology as in Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Frankenstein, Star Wars, or24. Tensiveness is tension.

Explore the importance of the backstory. Continue to explore Archetypical stories and that in some stories the monster wins. Sometimes despite the best efforts, the monster cannot be overcome. Examples include Love Story, in which the monster is cancer, and Shadowlands, in which the monster is illness. Consider the biblical stories of Bel and the Dragon and Jonah (sort of). What about a story with multiple monsters? Consider that the "monster" can become God in the story. Listen to a story from This American Life 380: No Map (May 15, 2009). Many monster stories have five stages. (Think of your favorite Overcoming The Monster story and see how it fits in here.) There is the Anticipation stage - sometimes the call; the Unknown stage where the hero sees that something is wrong but doesn't know what or how bad it is; the Frustration stage in which the hero or heroine finally realizes how bad things really are; the Nightmare stage where things are so bad it seems that the hero or heroine will never win against the monster; and the Miraculous escape when against all odds the monster is defeated.

Continue to listen to student original endings to "The Church Burglary". At what point does naming the characters about their character become too obvious? There are times we need to allow subtleness to work. Storytelling is better caught than taught.

What genres are there in the Scripture? In the Hebrew version of Psalm 119 there is an acrostic. Another genre in the Scripture is Apocalyptic, seen in Revelation, Daniel, and Mark 13. One of the reasons that people are so fascinated with the second coming is so they don't have to think about the implications of the first one. Consider the Beatitudes. Matthew 5 is hard to preach because the word “blessed” does what it says - it blesses. It does not command. Other genres in the Scripture include: Chiasm, found in many places; Paradox (Rich? Let him become poor); Diatribes (James); Songs in the book of Psalms, but see also Luke; Proverbs; and Parables. Should the genre and the sermon be the same? Can a sermon be a parable? Consider “Merry Tifton”. Can a sermon be in the first person? Can a sermon be a proverb? Church would get out too early. We want to explain the proverbs such as the poor shall be rich and the rich, poor. You want to be rich, be poor! Should the genre and the sermon be the same? Can a sermon be a song? Listen to a recording of "Laughing at God" by Regina Spektor. Explore the perspective of a story in the example of “What The Queen Saw”. Consider the nature of story and how we become better storytellers. Consider an overview of the types of story. The storytellers’ triangle consists of the storyteller, the story, and the audience. We should listen to the audience and think of the story as a conversation.

Consider the nature of story and how we become better storytellers. Explore the use of tensiveness. Every story needs two sticks to rub against one another. One stick cannot be a story. The simplest things can become incredibly significant when there is tensiveness. “The Man From The South” shows how something as simple as lighting a lighter can be breathtaking. Explore the use of tensiveness. Tensiveness is what happens when two sticks, two characters, two places, or two things rub against one another. You can't make a fire with one stick, or a good story with no conflict. The character must be trying something that is hard. Sometimes we love a character even when he fails, because he tried. Examples are Rocky, and One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest. To find tensiveness, list the characters, the places, the actions, and the time of the story. Explore the story cycle. The story cycle is a circle and can be started anywhere. The overarching story cycle comes from Robert McKee's book and seminars. All stories have a backstory and the more you know, the better you will understand the current story. The story has four basic parts. Summer consists of stories start off in a state of bliss. In Fall, there is a problem, something that moves the plot away from the bliss of summer. In Winter, life is bleak and almost unbearable. Winter is as bad as life can be and usually ends with a surprising plot twist. This twist then leads to Spring. In this section, Winter's stronghold is broken. Note that this does not work for tragedies. Consider the dark parts of stories. Give yourself permission to go to dark places. Listen to a Teach 12.com audio story. What kind of tensiveness was felt and how did the story strike you? Consider the subtle change from seemingly harmless to relatively dark. Explore the topic of the audience. Don't put these stories out too soon. You need to be able to personally handle the issues that you bring up.

Listen to a second Teach 12.com audio story illustrating a dark part to a story. We must believe that we were made by God as storytelling and story-hearing creatures. The need for story can hardly be exaggerated. There are four things that every story needs: A hero or heroine; an evil or anti-character; action which is the call to conflict (tensiveness). Conflict or tensiveness is the key to a good story and is what causes the reader to turn the page or the listener to keep paying attention. Fourthly, resolution of the tension is needed. Tragedy rises until the downturn and comedy falls until the upturn. It gets more and more complex until the final unknotting. Consider the role of the anti-hero. Explore examples of Archetypical plots. Note that these are not "air tight" and that there will be some spilling over from one plot to another. An example is David fighting a giant, but his story overall is probably a rags to riches. Explore having time to write stories. A new story is given for students to complete, "The Church Burglary".

Listen to Garrison Keillor, as he relates, News From Lake Wobegon In the "Pontoon Boat".

Listen to students as they give their original endings to "The Church Burglary". The great power of a story or a parable is that it draws you in and shows you the unexpected. Consider the tension in that we are gracious ambassador's of Christ, but on the other hand Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10,"For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat."

Explore objections to the use of stories in preaching. They are not as strong as the objections to the use of humor but it exists today as it has since the start of preaching. Sometimes a false dilemma is drawn between the exegesis and the story. The false dilemma is to either tell stories or exegete the text. John MacArthur is a current example of one who rarely uses humor or stories in his preaching. He states in "MacArthur Pastor's Library on Preaching, "I am not into storytelling. I fail to see the value of multiple, long, drawn-out illustrations...the only value a story has is to put a window into an otherwise somewhat darkened truth." Note that virtually the entire Hebrew Bible is one big story. God created the Story, and man is a storytelling creature. The gospels are a big collection of stories leading to the greatest story in history - the resurrection. The resurrection is the reason for all happy endings and the basis for all "rebirth" stories. C. S. Lewis calls it the "argument from desire". Augustine stated, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” The Gospels tell the same stories differently. Explore that Matthew is loud with kings, quotations, Magi, and dead babies. Explore that Luke is soft and a song for the first few chapters. There are shepherds, Songs of Mary, and an old man who sees the baby boy. This is why we must be careful about "life of Jesus" that flattens the Gospels out. Jesus himself told stories. There is not a doubt about this and this fact should be taken very seriously. Consider that parable study can take a lifetime. The best book on Parables is Kline Snodgrass' "Stories with Intent". Jude uses stories in an unusual manner. He assumes his readers are familiar with the stories. He then draws conclusions from the stories, some of which he has not told but only alluded to. This is like a family gathering when you can say, "he acts just like Uncle Herman" and everyone laughs.

Explore the use of stories in the Bible. Even Paul used stories. Consider the story of Adam in Romans; the story of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians; and the story of Paul himself in Galatians. Some have argued that Paul should not have spoken or written about himself. Note that when we see Paul speaking about his own skills he is virtually forced into it. Consider using personal stories or testimonies and that is important to realize that sin needs to remain in the realm in which it is committed. Consider the value of a story. A great deal of what we learn we learn from a story. Don't be upset when people come to you and remember a story from a sermon. At least they remembered something. All books in the Bible are books of stories. Some are a narrative themselves and some are responding to a narrative. James is responding to the fact that his readers are having a hard time. Thus he uses diatribe and perhaps apostrophe. Knowing the backstory can help us understand the text. Consider Paul's reference to baptism for the dead. Stories communicate on their own and sometimes we need to resist the urge to explain them. Don't hit a ball over the net and then run over and hit it back. Leave it to the congregation and they will get it. Consider that we don't ask, "What can we learn from Star Wars?" but we experience it. Explore Isaiah 7:14 and The Virgin Birth Passage. There are also cautions on the use of stories. Don't let a story overtake the text. Don't find a good story and then try to get up a text to go with it. (Saturday prayer: Lord provide me with a scripture for this story.) Keep good stories and use them when most appropriate. Consider an example of the “power” story. Understand the importance of the genres of the text. One cannot understand a particular text without at least some implicit knowledge of the genre to which that text belongs.

The Story Arc has a beginning, which is intrigue and leads to the inciting action. The middle is suspense and leads to conflicts. Explore the creation of suspense. The end is success. This is resolution and is sometimes followed by a coda. Explore the movement of comedy and tragedy. Comedy starts low and ends high. Tragedy starts high and ends low. As example, Saul's life ends tragically while Joseph's story ends happily. An example of a coda is, "They lived happily ever after." View a short clip of Jason Alexander at the Magic Castle in Hollywood as he performs a trick and answer the question at the end as to why it was so captivating. Remember that a story should have an open, close, and something good in between. The longer the story, the more there is a need for various moods. Create texture as in great movies. Try to never let technical problems harm the story such as sound, lights, or movement.

Listen to the example of a modern day parable by Dr. D. James Kennedy's in his "Merry Tifton" sermon.

Listen to students as they provide original endings to "The Reluctant Santa Clause". Consider that without conflict there is no change, and without change there is no story.

Continue to listen to students as they provide original endings to "The Reluctant Santa Clause". Consider that sometimes we communicate as much by what we don't say. Consider the "rebirth" story. What is the most pessimistic book of the Bible? We see judgment in the Bible so that better things will come. Christianity is not a pessimistic religion. In theory, Christians should not be pessimistic. The overarching theme in the Bible is redemption from exile. The parable of the 10,000 talents found in Matthew 18 is very pessimistic. Consider that people are drawn into stories that bring up memories for them and they become part of the scene or character. For Aristotle, tragedy is cathartic in some sense and if we see it on stage we don't have to engage in those acts. How do we use a tragic story in a sermon? Consider street preaching.

Additional texts are suggested. Listen to Garrison Keillor talk about Memorial Day in Lake Wobegon on “A Prairie Home Companion”.

Several additional reads are suggested. Explore storytelling and consider that a story has a story arc. View a short video clip of the simple story of a doggie door. Consider that in today’s culture people are uncomfortable with death.

The sermon by Dr. D. James Kennedy, "Merry Tifton" is discussed. Consider the parables of Jesus. A text for further study is, Just Say the Word!: Writing for the Ear, by G. Robert Jacks. Explore that a parable cannot tell everything. Consider what are “hot” and “cold” areas of the stage. Another text suggested is Effective First-Person Biblical Preaching: The Steps from Text to Narrative, by J. Kent Edwards. A student original story is given to complete, "The Reluctant Santa Clause".

Explore humor in the Old Testament. What kinds of humor does the careful reader see? First there is irony. Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. Consider Job’s three “friends”. In Job 2:11. This comfort was not very comforting. Consider the irony of Esther and Haman. Haman begged for forgiveness and the King thought he was hitting on Esther as we read In Esther 7:7–8. Consider the use of irony in the Plagues of Egypt. First the magicians made the same plagues instead of making them go away. Consider that the Egyptians waited a day to get rid of them – they wanted “one more night with the frogs“ as we read in Exodus 8:7-11. Explore that sarcasm and ridicule, which is the use of humor to mock or convey contempt, is used in the Old Testament. Consider Elijah and the prophets as we see in 1 Kings 18:27. Also, we read in Judges 3:15-26 a moment of rare scatological humor in the Bible, in which a fatal blow causes Eglon’s bowels to loosen, which, in a sense of high dramatic irony, allows Ehud to escape while the Moabite guards wait around judging by the odor that their king is relieving himself. Other examples of sarcasm and ridicule are with Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 37:19. Consider the drinking champions in Isaiah 5:22. In Amos 4:1, women are ridiculed as cows. This would not go over so well today, but it didn’t go over well when it was written. God calls those who do not follow his word “stupid” in Jeremiah 10:8. Consider the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:9. There is also satire In the Old Testament. Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices. Consider Balaam and his donkey as the donkey was a greater prophet than the man as we see In Numbers 22:28. Proverbs 11:22 speaks of pigs and women. We are reminded in Proverbs 26:18–19,the “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘I am only joking!’” Explore the topic of Wordplay. Wordplay is the witty exploitation of the meanings and ambiguities of words. Consider the phrase, “lifting up your head” found in Genesis 40:13, 19. Manna literally means, “What is it?” as we see in Exodus 16:31. Explore that in the Old Testament God laughs. This seems to be more scorn than humor, though God certainly has a sense of humor. Is Jonah comedic? Consider the laughter of Sarah.

Listen to student’s original endings to the story, “The Church Which Met In A Funeral Home”. Where do we stand in the story? Notice the characters that were developed. Consider that in order for stories to come to life there needs to be real characters. If there is no tension in a story then there is no point in it. The break of expectations creates humor.

Listen to Garrison Keillor tell a homecoming story on “A Prairie Home Companion”. Consider that storytelling is better caught than taught. Notice the way the characters were drawn by Keillor and the detail that he used. All of the details weave into the lifelikeness of the story. Another storyteller was Phil Hendrie who would be his own guest on his show. Consider that leading people to a sense of tension at times can work better than just setting it out at the beginning. We want to tell stories that people can invest themselves in. Explore what Frederick Buechner relates about the preacher in “Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale.” Also available for additional study is “The Keillor Reader: Looking Back at Forty Years of Stories: Where Did They All Come From?” by Garrison Keillor.

Explore Jesus' use of comedy in the New Testament. Why do we laugh? Consider that God does not mind us laughing but God encourages our laughter. Consider Psalm 126:1-2. Did Jesus laugh? God is not dour. Explore that Jonathan Edwards tried not to laugh on Sunday but his children were born on Sunday and Henry Ward Beecher was not allowed to laugh on Sunday. What is comedy? Comedy is a genre according to Aristotle. There are three theories of the comedic: the theory of superiority (T. Hobbes),the theory of incongruity (E. Kant), and the theory of relief (S. Freud). Aristophanes is known as the father of the comedic. Consider that comedy usually ends in a wedding and usually has a “poneiros.” Comedy often ends with a new city or a better city. Consider comedy and the New Testament. Much of the comedic comes from the use of overstatement and because we are in a different culture, we miss the exaggeration or try to “fix it.” Explore several instances of Jesus’ use of the comedic. In Matthew 19:24-25 we find the camel and the needle. Note that there are attempts to soften the difficulty of this saying. The need for softening comes because of readers ignoring the context. Consider that the context clearly tells the reader that Jesus was speaking of a real needle. In Luke 19:1-4 we find the story of Zacchaeus. Consider Zacchaeus and the comedic in that Zacchaeus was very likely a dwarf. The use of physical descriptions serves the purpose of showing characters’ hearts. Consider that Zacchaeus needed to climb a tree to see over the crowd and needed to run to get to the tree. Both of these actions would be seen as comedic in this period (dancing dwarves).The story ends with a party (close to a wedding) and the “poneiros” changes the world. Understand Jesus as the ultimate "Poneiros". He is unexpected, without power, and He engages in the very action that others would see as crazy. Yet ultimately he overcomes these problems and leads his people to the heavenly city and to a wedding banquet. Explore that in the New Testament Jesus uses humor. Consider Matthew 18 and the humor of exaggeration in the 10,000 talents. In Acts, Peter, the leader of the early Church, is left pounding on the door while the maid, Rhoda, runs to tell the others of his escape from prison. The others respond by not believing that God has answered their prayer. Explore what we read in Acts 12:1 -15. Consider that In the New Testament Paul uses wordplay as in 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Paul's wordplay on "rich," may represent the fullest development of Paul's thought in this regard. This may not be humorous wordplay, but it is wordplay.

Continue to explore Paul’s use of wordplay. Paul used some unexpected humor by making a pun on Onesimus's name in Philemon 11, which meant "useful". Paul also uses self-deprecation in 2 Corinthians 11:1, sarcasm in Acts 22:2-3, and in Galatians 5:12. Explore the topic of humor in church history. Tertullian speaks of the value of laughter as an apologetic. Harold Brown speaks of the work of Irenaeus as exposing the error of Valentinus by observing that Irenaeus exposed it with brilliance, as well as with humor. The humor of Augustine is seen especially in his work on the Psalms. Erasmus’s work “In Praise of Folly” is a great satire against many of the churchmen of his day. John Knox was not indisposed to mirth and humor, of which, as of other traits of his character, his writings furnish abundant evidence. It is difficult to find humor in Edwards. “Humor” is not a notion that Edwards is at all familiar with, so far as his preaching is concerned although there seems to have been a little. There is, as well, some storytelling. Edwards’ preaching changed when he moved out of Northampton to Stockbridge to preach to both the Mohican and Mohawk American Indians. He was much more likely to use stories and narrative when speaking to the Indians. Spurgeon is known as the “man who tells the jokes”. Much of the humor has been excised from his printed sermons. This may be because they were offhanded comments, or because Spurgeon edited them out. In Church History we find Martin Luther stating, “. . . the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac must have lost a fragment of an emotional dialogue between father and son, with Isaac saying, “Let’s talk this over”. Isaac’s fondling of Rebecca in Genesis 26:8 prompted Luther to comment, “We are permitted to laugh and have fun with, and embrace, our wives, whether they are naked or clothed.“

Continue to explore the topic of humor in church history. Helmut Thielicke enjoyed “the blessed seasons of ‘Easter laughter’ in the church,” recognizing that ‘laughter is always a form of engagement.’ Peter Cartwright preached at camp meetings and humor was often used to gather a crowd. He stated, “Our divinity don’t need no doctorin.” Sam Jones stated, “I would rather be in heaven learning my ABCs than in Hell reading Greek.” Charles Finney was blessed with a keen sense of humor and had a constant struggle to confine it to proper occasions. D. L. Moody spoke to more people than any other person of his lifetime. Tickets were often needed to get in because the crowds were so great. Often the first few sermons of a series were filled with humor to attract crowds. Much of this humor is not caught in his written sermons. Henry Ward Beecher’s wit and humor appeared in his preaching, which, nevertheless, was earnest and edifying, and revealed a great character, sincere and reverent; his public prayers in particular were truly devotional. Humor is mentioned a number of times in the lectures, both positively and negatively. Phillips Brooks states, “There are passages in the Bible which are soiled forever by the touch of ministers who delight in cheap and easy jokes.” Yet Brooks did have a place for humor in the pulpit. Broadus warns that any calculated effort to be humorous can be deadly. Kelman stated “an awful doom awaits that preacher who allows his sense of humor to master him.” Reinhold Niebuhr stated, “Humor is, in fact, a prelude to faith.” Charles Reynolds Brown stated, “Any preacher who proclaims that he has no sense of humor is hopeless.” Tucker admits that “the humor of one preacher may be as reverent as the solemnity of another.” Consider the topic of humor today. Consider a story recounted by Billy Graham. View a short clip of Martin Luther King relating a humorous story. View a short humorous segment of a sermon by W. A. Criswell. Consider a story recounted by Dr. D. James Kennedy. Consider the dangers of humor in preaching. We should not force humor. It should happen naturally or come from the story. What are the listener’s expectations? Some feel or have been taught that church is no place for humor. We should not tell jokes because people have already heard them. We should not let jokes replace arguments. We should not be inappropriate. There is a fine line and it is different with different audiences, yet humor must be appropriate.

Continue to explore the dangers of humor in preaching. We should not be the only one in the house laughing or crying. Consider that some stories need time before you can tell them in public. We should NEVER make our family, especially our spouses, the butt of the joke. We can make ourselves one, but not our family. We should almost never end a sermon with humor. Explore the value of humor in preaching. Humor can be used as a social lubricant. People who laugh together are drawn together. Humor can be an emotional experience. Humor can be used as a test to see how closely the audience is listening. Thielicke recognized that “laughter is always a form of engagement.” Humor can show that “I am like you”. It shows that we do not have a messianic complex. Humor can also be a means to attack other ideas. Many presidents have been attacked in sermons, as well as other politicians. Even after Lincoln’s death a Rev. Stimson asked, “What was a decent person doing in the theatre?” On the subject of politicians it has been remarked, “We already have the best politicians money can buy.” Humor has been used on other denominations. Humor is also used against other religions or philosophies. “Phillips Brooks was sick and all were barred from seeing him. The famous atheist Ingersoll, however was admitted. When Ingersoll asked why, Brooks said ‘well I feel confident of seeing my other friends in the next world but this might be my last chance to see you.’” Some non-Christian ideas on humor include that slavery was often the butt of jokes in the North and pacifists have often joked about the value of war. Warren W. Wiersbe and David Wiersbe state in “The Elements of Preaching: The Art of Biblical Preaching Clearly and Simply Presented”, “In the pulpit, humor must be either a tool to build with or a weapon to fight with, but never a toy to play with. We have thirty minutes in which to raise the dead. We have no time for toys.”

Explore humor in the New Testament and consider Jesus and humor. The rhetoric of Matthew 7, like many of Jesus’ other sayings, employs familiar techniques like hyperbole that may have moved an ancient audience to laughter. In this case, Jesus would have been employing such Middle Eastern humor to disarm his audience and communicate his message with intensity. We read in Matthew 7:3,“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” Why don’t we find this funny? Matthew 7:6 instructs us, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” In Mark 10:25-26, the camel and the needle, Jesus uses hyperbole, and the exaggeration would probably draw laughter—and thus attention—from Jesus’ hearers. Don’t soften this image! "’It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’” While giving instructions on fasting, Jesus comments, “They disfigure (aphanizousin) their faces that they may figure (phanōsin) in public as fasting” (Matt 6:16). Jesus also uses irony. In John 9:37, when Jesus asks the formerly blind man if he believes in the Son of Man, and he responds, “And who is he, sir?” Jesus answers, “You [a man born blind] have seen him!” The story ends by underscoring the irony that those who could see have chosen blindness, while one who was born blind has received sight and come to faith. Oftentimes, Scriptural prophecy is intentionally difficult to understand before it is fulfilled. Consider comic characters such as Zacchaeus in Luke 19:2-5. The short tax collector, who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, is a comical figure, and one can overhear the delight of early Christians laughing at a chief tax collector. For additional study there is a work on physical characteristics in Luke by Parsons. The book Eye of the Beholder speaks of the value of slaves who were dwarfs. Explore Matthew 18 and the humor of exaggeration. The idea of the man owing 10,000 talents, much like the humor in parables, depends upon an understanding of the background of the time.

Consider a few presuppositions for the class. First, stories are one of the strongest methods of communication. Secondly, we can become better storytellers. Some have a natural aptitude, but everyone can get better. We should, at the end of this class want to be a better storyteller. More than that, we will want to be a better communicator for the Kingdom. Storytelling is a tool. It is critical that we realize that some of these stories are events that really happened. Calling them stories does not deny their historicity. There will be some prejudice against humor or storytelling. There is some negative freight to the word “story.” The word sometimes means something with no real substance such as a “skyscraper sermon which is one story on top of another.” It is not to imply that theology, exegesis, or clear application is not important. We spend much time in seminary on the “what” we should say and often the “how” we should say it is left out in the hall with its hands in its pockets. Preaching is idiosyncratic and thus no one preaches exactly like us. By the end of this class the hope is that we will agree that humor and storytelling is important. Sometimes we don’t just speak to people, but for people. This is when we stir up their own stories or when they thank us for speaking about something that we didn’t say. Another presupposition is that the professor intends to both teach and model the skills in this course. The professor also relates that the first time he preached at CRPC in the traditional service he realized that the pulpit is too big. Not just physically but spiritually. He teaches that if your pulpit is not too big you must either reconsider your calling or get smaller. Also, reflection on your past sermons and stories is important. Another presupposition is that preaching is an oral form of communication and a difficult one. Simply because we have spoken, it does not mean that there has been understanding. There are great barriers between us and our listeners. There is the barrier of time – there are two horizons. There is also the barrier of language. We need to make our sermons and stories clear. A suggested read is Stephen King’s On Writing. There is also the barrier of experience and the barrier of boredom. Consider that there is a difference between a narrative sermon and narrative in a sermon.

Continue to explore presuppositions to storytelling. Consider that there is a difference between a narrative sermon and narrative in a sermon. Consider that a variant of this narrative sermon is the First Person sermon in which the preacher takes on the character in the text, such as “I am Joseph . . .”Consider that a narrative in a sermon is when the sermon is not the story, but the story is used as a part of the sermon. Explore that the nature of the sermon, the nature of the illustrations, and the nature of the target audience all bear on the proper balance of illustration in a sermon. Consider that it is not the only way that storytelling can be used. Listen to part of a sermon by Fred Craddock on Romans 16 entitled, “When The Role Is Called down Here”. Consider that another presupposition is that each of the forms of narrative have their place as well as other forms. Jesus used the parabolic form. We must remember, however, that there are two horizons and that Jesus parables come from the first one. Consider also that we must ask what experience we want to help create for our listeners. This begins with the question of what experience the text created in the original listeners. A sermon on the word bitter can speak of the bitterness of the entire country about a government out of control or it can speak of the pastor of a small church who is awakened on Saturday morning by a deacon or elder who wants to give him an old TV. We must also ask what the text wants. Some texts will resent and work against being turned into a narrative. Dodd holds all Gospel is story. Bultmann holds that Gospel is address and confrontation. It is both and it is with this in mind that we turn to the first of our major topics- humor.

Consider a shared experience that will never happen exactly the same way again as the class participates in a group experience. From where does humor come? Explore philosophers and the subject of humor. Kant holds that humor comes from incongruity or surprise. Schopenhauer agrees that humor is incongruity and he was Charlie Chaplin’s favorite author. Incongruity happens between what we expect and what appears. It is the incongruity between the world that we expect and the world that actually is. Consider the Road Runner as he runs through openings but the Coyote runs into the painting. Watch a brief clip demonstrating the break of expectations when sheep run through an opening. Hobbes felt that laughter is a sudden glory. We suddenly perceive that we are better than someone else. It is the superiority theory. This is what makes “inside jokes” work and why we laugh at the misfortune of others. Consider the humor of a man who falls on a banana peel. Some argue that we are laughing to correct someone else and that is why we laugh at someone who’s zipper is down. This may be the origin of what is called “gallows’ humor.” We decide not to be afraid of death. C. S. Lewis in “Surprised by Joy” holds that laughter comes from a sudden surprise. Consider that the person who laughs is the one who wins the game. Children enjoy knock knock’s to surprise us. Philosophers differ about whether or not there is anything that is universally funny. What is humor? It is almost impossible to define humor. Most philosophers, however, will grant that it comes from several places. There is the humor of shock and the relaxation or relief of social norms. There is the humor of superiority-seeing another person fall, fail, or get hurt. This is slapstick. Watch a clip of Laurel and Hardy in “The Music Box”. Realize that much of biblical humor is incongruity. It is the laugh of the unexpected.

The class critiques Fred Craddock’s sermon on Romans 16, “When The Role Is Called Down Here”. Explore his delivery and ability to make the characters seem real. Consider other lists in Scripture and discuss the amount of research needed for a story. Consider using multiple points in a story. How can the congregation be led without over burdening them in filling in the blanks? How do we seamlessly interject a story into a sermon? Realize that being able to communicate well and move people can be a dangerous thing. Should tools be used when preaching? Realize that preaching is an oral communication and is not meant for the page.

Humor - should it be used in preaching? Explore the objections of humor in our worship. Some argue that laughter should not be a part of worship - Worship must include laughter as well as contemplation, expressing exuberant joy as well as awe. Consider worship in the Patristic era. The period of the fathers was a time of a rich variety of styles of expressive prayer and worship. Congregations could be quite spontaneous in calling out phrases of praise and thanksgiving. Sighs, tears, and laughter played an important role in worship. Think of some of the great worship services in which you have participated; was their laughter? Consider present day worship. Consider worship for the pastor. There is nothing inherently wrong with laughter in worship, but it should not be forced. This idea of not forcing the humor cannot be stated too strongly. We will return to it many times. Another objection is that Jesus never laughed. He is called a “Man of sorrows” as we read in Isaiah 53:3. Consider that Jesus did laugh. Jesus expressed every emotion of the human heart without sin being involved at any point. We should never be ashamed of our tears or our laughter, because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself wept and rejoiced openly. Consider that much of the idea that Jesus did not laugh is based on the forgery of the Letter of Pubulis Lentulus. It is a fraudulent depiction of Christ in which it states, “He is terrible in his reprimands, sweet and amiable in his admonitions, cheerful without loss of gravity. He was never known to laugh, but often to weep.” Explore three objections in Church History. Consider Basil on the topic and Charles Baudelaire, the French poet and critic. Clement of Alexandria believed “we ourselves must by no manner of means be allowed to stir up laughter.” In the Middle Ages some argued that joy and laughter came from God and not from the devil, as Chrysostom would have had them believe. Some Roman Catholics have argued that humor is the opposite of godliness. Consider that to overcome these objections we must ask about humor in the Scripture as well as humor used by other church fathers and famous preachers.

Emily Dickenson quips, “Tell the truth but tell it slant.” This course will approach the use of humor and storytelling from an academic as well as practical standpoint. We will ask about the biblical warrant for storytelling as well as the use of humor in preaching. We will seek to understand both the philosophical/theological reasons for using humor and stories; listen to and watch some great stories; and learn to be better storytellers ourselves. Humor and storytelling is a learned art. If you find yourself thinking, “I have never told a story” this class will show you how mistaken you are. Human beings are created by God to be “story machines” and all of us are storytellers. Our world-view at its deepest level is expressed in story. Dr. Lamerson is from the south, and has done a fair amount of preaching. He was a pastor and assistant pastor from age 21 until he moved to Chicago to work on his Ph.D. at 35. He filled the Sunday Morning pulpit for two and a half years when Dr. Kennedy died and for six months after the last pastor left. He has preached around the US as well as in Jamaica, Korea, China. He paid his way through school working as an entertainer and has an undergraduate degree in public speaking with training in storytelling. This is the first time he has taught this course and he is passionate about it. His goal is to make this the best class he has ever taught. Join in listening to a recording of the storyteller, Garrison Keillor from “A Prairie Home Companion” as he talks about the town of Lake Wobegon.