There’s a terrible blizzard. The pastor pushes his way through the drifts from the parsonage to the church to find only one congregant present, an old farmer.
The pastor asks if he wants him to conduct the service anyway. The farmer says, “Well, if I brought a wagon load of hay out to the far pasture and only one cow showed up, I’d still feed her.”
“Fair enough,” says the pastor, and he goes through the whole service, including a long sermon. He got excited as the worship continued, singing every verse of each hymn, and adding some new ideas to the sermon. At the end he told the farmer how glad he was that the farmer had suggested having the service.
“Well, pastor,” the farmer drawled. “If I brought a wagon load of hay out and only one cow came, I wouldn’t make her eat the whole load!”