Sermon preparation is like preparation of a scrumptious and nutritious meal. I open the Word of God, wrestle with the text through study and prayer, prepare it to be served up, and present it in a way that is inviting and engaging. However, I know there are many who come to the table as part of their regular Sunday routine, but refuse to eat or at least are unconcerned to.

I just returned from a preaching conference at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dr. R. Kent Hughes, pastor of many years and author of 30 books, was the featured speaker.

I’m not sure that I learned anything new but I did find the time stimulating and refreshing. It was nice to be back at my alma mater and to be reinforced in the importance of faithfully handling the Word of God for which I was trained within its walls.

Dr. Hughes stressed the value of ministering the Word, the Word properly understood and applied – not as a platform for pet peeves, social concerns or political agenda, but the word of God. He spoke of the power of Scripture in its preaching and exhorted those who preach it to be true to it.

But something occurred to me. What if I do all that Dr. Hughes has said but the congregation does not partake?

My grandson, Asher, is two and a half years old. He’s a little guy. On the pediatric scales of height and weight, he registers below zero percentile. I’m not sure how that works, just like I don’t know how a woman can be a size zero dress size. I do know that Asher is sweet, energetic, personable – and slight.

His weight is getting to be a matter of great concern. The pediatrician says that if he does not start gaining weight, he’ll need to be on a feeding tube at night. Fat is necessary to proper brain development.

Asher’s mother, Sarah, my daughter, goes to great lengths to try to get him to eat. She puts significant thought and energy into providing calorie-laden meals for Asher. He’ll eat a bit here and there but for the most part he’s just not interested in food.

Sarah is at her wit’s end.

That’s how I (and no doubt other pastors) sometimes feel. I know the needs of my congregation, at least to a degree as I walk among them. Certainly, God knows their needs. The source of sustenance for those needs is the same. It is the bread of life, given by God, by which a person will live. The inscripturated Word of God gives a complete and balanced diet for spiritual development and growth in godliness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

If my preaching of the Word does not always hit home, certainly the Holy Spirit is able to work off the page of my sermon manuscript, through His Word, to address those needs – if the person will partake.

Sermon preparation is like preparation of a scrumptious and nutritious meal. I open the Word of God, wrestle with the text through study and prayer, prepare it to be served up, and present it in a way that is inviting and engaging. However, I know there are many who come to the table as part of their regular Sunday routine, but refuse to eat or at least are unconcerned to.

It may sound like I am clamoring for attention. But it’s not about me, any more than it is about Sarah. Just like the concern is for Asher in his growth and development, so my concern is for those children Christ has entrusted to my care for their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. I want them to grow. I want them to mature in Christ likeness.

Spiritual atrophy is certainly no mystery when people absent themselves from corporate worship. But there are those who do show up and still shows signs of spiritual decline or stagnation.

Attendance is no guarantee of sustenance.  Just as sitting at the table with a nutritious meal in front of him profits Asher nothing unless he partakes, so attending church and being present for a sermon profits the congregants nothing unless they partake. Neither will grow. Both will be stunted and underdeveloped.

Those present at the table on which God’s Word is spread need to open their minds to take in that Word. They need to chew by engagement of their intellect. That bread of life needs to be absorbed into the body through the digestive juices of prayer. Only then will the meal prepared and served up by preaching be effective for spiritual nourishment and result in Christ-like growth.

The doctors have yet to pinpoint what’s going on with Asher. They have ruled out a few things. One thing that was discovered was that Asher had acid reflux. Unpleasant effects of eating discouraged him from it and have perhaps led to the unhealthy habit that now afflicts him.

That can be the case with baby Christians as well. Some believers are never trained in regular intake of God’s Word. They have not developed the habit of healthy eating. They have never experienced the sweetness of God’s word to their taste (Pss. 19:10; 119:103). They have not learned to crave the word of God in consort with the spiritual taste buds given them by working of the Holy Spirit.

Just as with Asher, those who refuse to eat and so are spiritually stagnant need to seek a physician to diagnose what is hindering them. The pastor who prepares the meal needs to cry out to the Physician of their souls to tend to them, and pull alongside them as he can.

Our prayer for ourselves and as preachers needs to be for open mouths and receptive hearts, hearing the promise of our God and Provider: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps. 81:10).

May God grant my grandson, Asher, the inclination to eat and so grow. May He do the same for His church.

Stan Gale is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, and is the author of the newly released book, A Vine-Ripened Life: Spiritual Fruitfulness through Abiding in Christ. This article appeared on his blog and is used with permission.