Preachers find inspiration for their sermons at funny times and in funny places. For me, it was an insomniac night as I lay in bed scrolling through my Facebook feed. Then, I came across a video by Christian comedian Michael Jr. (Talk about funny inspiration!).

In the video, Michael Jr. started a conversation with a man in the audience. He asked the man what he did for a living. “Musical director,” the man replied. “Can you give me a couple bars of ‘Amazing Grace’?” Michael Jr. asked. The man obliged by singing the first verse in a beautiful baritone voice.

“Now I want you to give me the version as if your uncle just got out of jail [and] you got shot in the back as a kid,” Michael Jr. said. The man replied by singing the same words so soulfully that the audience was on its feet by the time he sang the last note. It was that good.

But then Michael Jr. turned serious. “The first time I asked him to sing, he knew what he was doing,” he said. The second time I asked him to sing, he knew why he was doing it.” And then Michael Jr. summed up the moral of the story: “When you know your why, your what has more impact, because you’re walking in or toward your purpose.”

In just a few seconds, this Christian comedian had turned a “ha ha” exchange into an “aha” moment. What is my what and why? I asked myself. But then I wondered, as an occasional preacher and sermon team member, Why don’t more preachers preach like this?

Good thing I’m the executive editor of a Christian leadership magazine! So I called Michael Jr. to pick his brain about what a comedian might teach pastors about preaching. Here’s what I learned. 

Setup and Punch Line

We start with the structure of a joke.

Every joke, Michael Jr. explains, has two elements: setup and punch line He cites the famous poultry joke: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” That’s the setup. “To get to the other side.” That’s the punch line.

But it’s not just jokes. “[E]very time you laugh, there’s a setup and there’s a punch line” Michael Jr. says. For example, “If you see a guy walking down a street and he trips and falls, you laugh. The setup is anyone should be able to walk down a street. The punch line is that this guy couldn’t do it.”

A joke works by establishing an expectation (setup) but delivering a radical alteration (punch line). That’s how I felt about Michael Jr.’s what-and-why video. I expected comedy, but I was given a life-altering insight.

Interestingly, many stories in the Bible have the structure of a joke. Michael Jr. points to the healing of the lame man in Acts 3.

Setup: “Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money” (3:2-3).

  Anyone reading this story for the first time expects that the apostles will give the man money.

Punchline: “Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong” (3:6-7).

Neither the man nor the crowd saw the punch line coming, but they laughed. He was “walking and jumping, and praising God” (3:8). They were “filled with wonder and amazement” (3:10).

I start to wonder whether the gospel itself has the structure of a joke. 

Setup: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

Punch line: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (2:4).

No wonder the angels described the gospel of Christ as “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10)! We expect death (setup), but God gives us life through Jesus Christ (punch line).

“When you know your why, your what has more impact, because you’re walking in or toward your purpose.”

Reflecting on the healing of the lame man in Acts 3, Michael Jr. expands on the setup-punch-line structure with four other words: expectation (setup), alteration (punch line), revelation and transformation. A joke ends with the punch line, but the gospel goes further. It results in a new way of thinking (revelation) and a new way of being (transformation).

How might joke structure help pastors when they’re preparing their sermons? “A lot of people, when they’re writing their sermons or figuring out what they want to do, they’ll start with a topic and just kind of maneuver their way through a topic until suddenly it ends.” What they should do, Michael Jr. says, is “start with the punch line and then write the setup so you can get to the punch line.”

It’s not just sermon preparation that benefits from understanding joke structure. The entire worship service should be an alteration of the congregation’s expectations. “[E]veryone in the room, everyone walking in has an expectation,” he explains. Often, those expectations are not good. “This pastor, he wants my money; he’s going to steal it; he’s going to run off.” But he goes on to say, “When you create an alteration to their expectations”— the music is good, the people are friendly, the pastor is likeable — “you’re in a better position as well.”

Human effort only gets you so far, though. Of expectation, alteration, revelation and transformation, Michael Jr. thinks we only do the first three. “The only one who can create the final one, which is transformation, is God, through Jesus,” he explains. “But we can be great stewards at those first three so we can tee up the transformation that God is going to create as a result of it.”

Setbacks As Setups

From joke structure, we turn to the source of Michael Jr.’s jokes themselves.

As I talk to him, Michael Jr. is transparent about his childhood battle with dyslexia. “I used to struggle with my reading — I mean, really, really struggle. I couldn’t sound things out phonetically. Even now I don’t sound things out phonetically.”

He reads just fine now, but it’s because he developed a highly unique method of looking at words. “[A]s a child, the way I would do it is I would look at the font size of the word, I would look at the color, the positioning, what’s in front of it, what’s behind it and how people are responding to it. I came up with seven different ways, and I didn’t really do it on purpose. It was really out of survival.”

This unique way of reading words shaped the way Michael Jr. looks at everything. “I still have this ability to look not just at words but people and situations and clothing. I look at everything from seven different ways immediately, and it’s the primary place from where I pull my comedy.”

Okay, that’s an interesting biographical detail about him, but what does it have to do with preachers? I wonder. Michael Jr. delivers the punch line: “So, that very thing that looked like a handicap, it’s actually turned into a strength of mine.”

A lightbulb goes off in my head. “You know, pastors — like most people — don’t want to expose the shameful parts of their lives, the weak parts of their lives,” I say. “A lot of pastors cultivate an image of strength and confidence, and they’re always spiritually on and they’re always happy.” I tell him, however, that I get the greatest personal response from people when I talk about my experiences of clinical depression and chronic illness. “It creates an in for people where I’m not Mr. Perfect or whatever, and they can relate.”

Michael Jr. agrees. “What we have to understand is our setbacks are part of our setup so we can deliver what we’re supposed to deliver.” He points out that some people think, I got really bad setbacks, though. “Here’s the thing,” he counters, “just like a slingshot, the further your setback, the further you’ll be able to reach.” That’s a good image: the harder the pull of the sling, the farther the distance of the shot. “But if you’re not aware or if you don’t want to talk about it, if you want to hide the setbacks, nothing changes. You’re still set back. You’re just not reaching anybody.”

What I hear Michael Jr. saying is this: who preachers are is an important part of what we say. Sometimes I can deliver a message more effectively to some audiences because of who I am. Sometimes you can. Rather than running from our weaknesses, we embrace them because they are part of God’s providential plan for us. Even the apostle Paul said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Rather than running from our weaknesses, we embrace them because they are part of God’s providential plan for us.

Giving Laughs

I raise one final topic with Michael Jr. In addition to speaking to churches and doing corporate gigs, he has appeared on some big stages: The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Oprah. He’s funny — not just Christian funny but funny funny. How does he keep success from going to his head?

“I was performing at a club in Los Angeles,” Michael Jr. begins, “and right before I got on stage, I said a prayer, and I had a change of mindset about comedy.” By way of explanation, he says that every comedian he’s ever met wants to “get laughs” from people. This night, he goes on, “God simply said to me, ‘Instead of going out there to get laughs from people, I want you to go out there and give them an opportunity to laugh.’” According to Michael Jr., “that right there just changed everything.”

Later that night, he says, “I saw a homeless guy that night, and I’ve never seen a homeless guy outside this club before — ever. … So when I noticed this homeless guy, it inspired me to ask the question: What about them? How can I give laughter to people like that?”

After this experience, Michael Jr. stepped way out of his comfort zone and began doing comedy in, well, not very funny places: prisons, homeless shelters, children’s hospitals. “A lot of my comedian friends will say to me, ‘Dude, how are you going to go to a homeless shelter? What if they don’t laugh?’” It’s a good question, I think. “And I go right back to the fact that I’m not there to get laughs,” he replies. “I’m there to give them an opportunity to laugh.”

Getting, obviously, is about the ego needs of me, myself and I. Giving, on the other hand, is about prioritizing the needs of others.

And that’s where Michael Jr. takes this story as he applies it to pastors. “If you have a message, and you really feel like God wants you to deliver that message, get yourself out of the way and deliver the message,” he says. “If you need to talk about money, don’t concern yourself with how they respond to the gift you’re bringing them, talk about money. If you need to talk about sex, and it’s an awkward conversation with them, take that gift to them and don’t worry about their response. I think at the end you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the true ministry that takes place as a result of your obedience.”

A Pastor Walks Up to the Pulpit…

As I close this article, let me circle back to Michael Jr.’s what-and-why video that inspired me to interview him about preaching in the first place.

“When you know your why, your what has more impact, because you’re walking in or toward your purpose.”  

As ministers of the gospel, we have the awesome privilege and serious responsibility of proclaiming the gospel week in, week out. It’s the best news anyone will ever hear, inspiring more joy and holy laughter than the funniest joke Michael Jr. or any other comedian could ever tell.

How are we doing with that awesome privilege and serious responsibility?

• Are our sermons altering people’s expectations, leading to revelation and transformation?
• Are we using our setbacks as God’s providential setups for effective ministry?
• Are we preaching out of selfish ambition (getting) or out of a desire to serve God and others (giving)?

This coming Sunday, here’s your setup: “A pastor walks up to the pulpit…”

What’s your punch line?