11/3/2024
Hebrews 12:28
“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with reverence and awe.”
We have been making a journey of visiting various virtues; the way that God’s love expresses through us into Creation. Today, I want to talk about reverence. Reverence is not a word we use every day, but it is at the heart of how we worship God and how we walk in faith.
Reverence means standing in awe before God—recognizing His greatness, His holiness, and His love. It is a posture of the heart that acknowledges we are in the presence of Someone far greater than we can imagine.
A point to keep in mind is that reverence is not just something we express through outward actions, like folding our hands in prayer or bowing our heads. It is a lifestyle. It is how we think, act, speak, our attitude toward life, and how we relate to God and others every day. True reverence shapes our decisions, guides our relationships, and frames how we live.
The words reverence and awe are sometimes used in conjunction with each other. The Old Testament uses two terms that are translated as reverence. First word is the Hebrew word shachah, which means “to prostrate, or fall down”. More commonly translated as reverence, still in the Old Testament, is the word yirah, which means “awe,” but also means, respect, fear, trembling, worship, and reverence. This is the word used when we read “Fear the Lord.”
In the New Testament, the Greek words aidos, phobeomai, and entrepomai, are translated as reverence and encompass the idea of humility and subjection, and considering ourselves inferior. The Bible uses reverence and fear interchangeably. To revere God is to fear Him in the fullest sense of the word. To fear God is to have an instinctive dread of displeasing the Lord. That implies our love for Him, as well as our awe of Him.
When we read that we should fear God, it does not mean to worry about God harming us. It is more like the idea of having our minds ‘blown’. Do you remember the first time you visited the Grand Canyon? I remember getting out of the car and walking over to the viewing area. I was just a kid, but it was overwhelming; a ’wow’ experience, but scary, in the sense that I was so insignificant compared to the vastness of what I was seeing. This is what is meant by ‘fear the Lord.” This is awe, part of being reverent and appreciative of God’s mystery, might, and magnificence.
Yet, reverence is more than just a feeling; it is an attitude and a way of life. It involves recognizing the greatness of God and our own smallness in comparison. It is about acknowledging His holiness and our need for His grace. Reverence leads us to approach God with humility, knowing that we are in the presence of the Almighty.
Reverence begins with knowing who God is. Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We know that this fear is not about terror; it is about awe, respect, and wonder at the greatness of God. When we catch even a glimpse of God’s majesty—His power in creation, His mercy in redemption, or His justice in truth—we respond with reverence.
This is why worship is not a casual thing. The God we serve is not just a friendly neighbor; He is the Creator of the universe, the One who spoke light and life into being. When we approach the Divine One, we do so with hearts that are aware of infinite holiness.
Even in His greatness, God also draws close to us. This is because He is our friendly neighbor in addition to being the Creator of the Universe. He is our friend, companion, Source of all, and in Him we live, move, and have our being. By sending Jesus to earth, He became Emmanuel—God with us, our Christ. Reverence doesn’t distance us from God; it draws us closer in humility and gratitude, knowing that this mighty and holy God invites us into an intimate and personal relationship with Him. When we gather for worship, we do so with hearts full of reverence. Whether we are singing hymns, praying, or listening to the Word, let us remember that we are in the presence of our holy God.
A reverent heart stays fixed on God. It seeks to honor Him not only in the sanctuary but also in the way we spend our time, our words, and our resources throughout the week. Worshiping with reverence means we enter God’s presence with thanksgiving, not as a ritual, but with genuine awe that the King of kings receives us. We remember that every prayer we utter, every song we sing, and every scripture we read is an offering to God.
Yet, we know that reverence is not limited to our time in church. It permeates every aspect of our lives and shapes how we treat others. When we revere God, we see His image in all His children. Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” We show reverence by treating others with respect, honoring our commitments, forgiving others as God has forgiven us, serving with humility, and living in a way that reflects God’s love and holiness. A heart filled with reverence avoids gossip, hatred, and selfishness because it knows that every person reflects the glory of the Creator in some way. God’s creation is a testament to His power and majesty, and we show reverence by caring for the environment, appreciating the beauty around us, and recognizing the sacredness of all life.
It is my prayer that we dare to work together to create a world where reverence isn't just an occasional visitor but a permanent resident in our lives. A world where we do not only see the sacred in moments or places but recognize it in the faces and stories of every person we encounter.
Yes, reverence can be about bowing our heads in prayer and quiet moments in nature when we breathe deeply and release the stress of the world, for those are beautiful expressions. Yet, reverence is more than just recognizing sacred places; it is also about seeing it in our homes, our workplace, our communities, and the world. It is about bringing our daily awareness to the extraordinary within the ordinary, seeing the divine fingerprints in the chaos and the mundane.
I pray that we allow our reverence to enfold others in love, as we honor their intrinsic worth, listen more than we speak, and stand in awe from the vast splendor of life. Holding reverence in our hearts compels us to act accordingly, to treat each other with kindness, to stand up against injustice, and to nurture the world around us. Reverence transforms us; all that we behold reverently is transformed. In the words of the philosopher, Rumi, “Whoever gives reverence receives reverence.”
So, it is my prayer that we make reverence an intentional daily practice as we spend time in the stillness with Spirit, honor each other through the commandment to love each other, and hold gratitude in our hearts. Let us always marvel at the mystery of life and let that sense of wonder guide our actions. I pray that we have the courage to look for the joy and the awe in God’s creation, and together, we can create a world of reverence, where it is not just an occasional sentiment that happens upon us, but it is a constant companion on our journey.
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