While my farmer father only had a fourth grade education, he was a wonderful story teller. One of his favorite yarns was about a chicken and a pig who encountered a hungry man beside the road. Moved with compassion, the chicken said to the pig, “Why don’t you and I go together and give this man a great ham and eggs breakfast?” The pig pondered the proposition for a moment and then replied, “For you that would be a contribution; but for me that would mean total commitment.”

On this Sunday when we are asked to declare our prayers, presence, gifts, and service to the work of God through this great congregation, I want to chat with you about the power of a personal commitment. Paul put it this way: “I appeal to you brothers and sisters by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as liv…