Turns Out He Was Holding Back

“We turn now to another point in this list of the various things one has to consider in a sermon whether written or extemporary, namely the place of humour in preaching . . . What makes all these things difficult is that they are natural gifts, or the place of the natural gifts, in this great work of preaching . . . In the case of an outstandingly great preacher like Spurgeon there was a great deal of humour . . . You have heard of the lady who went to him and complained about the humour in his sermons. She was a great admirer of Mr. Spurgeon and derived great benefit from his preaching. But she felt that there was too much humour in his sermons and told him so. Spurgeon was a very humble man and he said to her, ‘Well, madam, you may very well be right; but if you know the number of jokes I do not tell you, and the number of things that I refrain from saying you would give me more credit than you are giving me.’ Now I believe that was true. He was a naturally humourous man, it bubbled out of him” (Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, pp. 240-241).