Throughout Scripture, individuals reveal the reverence and awe owed to God. Gideon beholds an angel and is in awe. Manoah, father of Samson, saw an angel of the Lord and became so fearful he thought he and his wife ought to die. Zacharia went to offer incense and behold an Angel came and so frightened, he lost his voice.
Reverential Fear respects the presence of God’s power. St. John fell as though dead (Rev. 1:17), because of the Divine Presence. Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, overwhelmed when the Father appeared and spoke, became absolutely frightened when they heard the voice of God. Confronted by God’s awesome power and presence, we with Isaiah cry out:
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Is 6:5)
This grandeur, a place where heaven and earth intersect, happens in our Sacred Liturgy. God’s glory and majesty become real and present. Yet, instead of fearing God as slaves or fearing his correction, He comes to make us holy for we are sacred unto the Lord. Yet, this is the dilemma. Do we embrace this fear, this reverence with awe; or not?
Throughout the Scriptures, generation after generation fail to reverence and stand in awe of God. Irreligious, we create our own worship. We worship our created gods, typically our own wants and passions, which distort God’s law, replacing them with human laws. Our hearts are filled with unruly passions, not the new heart which Ezekiel promised. In fact, we become hard of heart and thoughts of evil reign: “Unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly” (Mk 7:23).
We fail because we fear the sacred. We dread the awesome majesty of the Living God because his presence reduces us to what we are, his creation.
Reverence and Awe, in contrast, inverts each of these sins against God’s majesty. With God’s gift of reverence and awe, He instills into our hearts desires so we may be at peace in his presence. In his presence, Ezekiel asserts,
“I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances” (Eze 36:26).
During the Sacred Liturgy, we sing the prayer, Holy, Holy, Holy, which lifts us up into the presence of the Almighty, the Throne of God. We with angels bow down and worship. Full of fear and trembling, we know we are in his presence, and in his presence, God speaks.
“Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Is 41:10).
Through his gift of Reverence and Awe, we no longer fear God as a slave. Rather, we honor God as our Father. He infuses in us his wisdom so we think, act, and love as He does.