“I kept my seat but lost my independence and self respect.” This was the confession of a devout Methodist woman who had attended worship in a fashionable New York City church, presumably on a Sunday in 1859. According to Bishop Marston, who tells the story, she “had the urge to worship as did her fathers.” However, “she had been told by a friend that it was no longer the custom to kneel in their church and she would appear ‘singular to do so.’” She reproached herself for failing to act upon her convictions.

Kneeling for prayer was a Methodist custom cherished for decades in the holiness movement. Our spiritual forebears knew, of course, that the condition of the heart, not the posture of the body, is what ensures the efficacy of prayer. Still they insisted with Dr. Adam Clark that “in all our private and public addresses to God, we should kneel as the most suitable, the most humble, and the most becoming posture…” We bend the knee, as they believed, to signify our deepest reverence for the Majesty of Heaven.

For this reason, we lament the loss of kneeling in our churches. But even more we lament the loss of that reverence for God which it expresses. For kneeling is only a visible gesture, but reverence is essential to authentic Christianity. For as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us, the only way we may serve God acceptably is “with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28).

Indeed, reverence is based in “godly fear,” though it is “fear tempered by love,” according to Dr. William B. Pope, who also emphasizes that it is “the source and issue of all godliness.” Its components, as he adds, are “sacred dread” and “loving fear.” The first causes us to exalt Almighty God, enthroned in highest heaven. The second prompts us to confess our unworthiness, while reaching out in love to Him who first loved us. Thus understood, reverence is the solid foundation for the entire structure of Christian life.

This is confirmed by the Psalmist, who declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”—that is, the inception of all “holiness of heart and life,” but also its continuing basis. To be sure, the “jealous, godly fear” of the righteous is “filial awe”—to quote a Wesley hymn—rather than servile bondage. For as the Father’s beloved children, they have a tender dread of offending Him very different from the terrible dread of His impending wrath which first moved them to “flee the wrath to come.”

Throughout all their lives, they approach Him with deepest love, but also with deepest awe. For even love, which must become the motivating purpose in all relationship with God, must be anchored in reverence, which guards it from cheap familiarity and sentimental fluff. “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13).

So Dr. Pope is right—reverence is the “the source and issue of all godliness.” It is equally true that its loss is “the source and issue” of all ungodliness, for those who no longer fear God treat Him with contempt and disrespect. This is the tragedy of secularized Western culture that so shamefully despises its spiritual birthright. But it is also the tragedy that has stripped, paralyzed, and gutted so much of the Christian Church.

From liberal bishops who deny the Resurrection and push perverted sex to evangelical pastors who sugarcoat sin and fill God’s house with profane entertainment, the underlying problem is the same. This is the sin of sacrilege, defined as “gross irreverence” toward God and sacred things. It is seldom mentioned in our pulpits, and that is why it is so widely practiced. Even many who sincerely love Our Lord have been ensnared by its deception.

Massive stones have fallen from the foundation for all Christian life, and the structure built upon it is trembling in the storm. Four of those stones that we must firmly and courageously put back into their place are reverence for God’s name, God’s Word, God’s day, and God’s worship.

Reverence for God’s Name. In Scripture, God’s name represents His being and His character. Thus the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be Thy Name,” is a plea that God shall be glorified, worshiped, and adored. If we offer this prayer sincerely, we will continually “hallow the name” in our own lives, doing “all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31).

In the Third Commandment, God requires that we use His name only with holy purpose and profound respect. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” To connect His name with profane cursing or false oaths is sacrilege, but then so is any other act that brings discredit to His honor.

Renewed reverence for God’s name will cause us to guard both our lips and our lives. It will cause us again to tremble before “the great Jehovah,” and it will topple the ugly caricatures we have made of Him. It will replace “Jesus our Buddy” who spices up our fun and panders to our pride with the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ to whom every knee shall bow. It will silence the empty deception of the “health and prosperity gospel” with the robust call to repent, believe, and follow Jesus.

Reverence for God’s Word. Secularists deride the Bible as a collection of ancient legends and early Christian propaganda. Left-wing churchmen twist it to support their own “politically correct” agenda. But evangelical Christians view it with deep respect and defend its full inspiration by the Spirit.

Too many of us, however, regard the Holy Book primarily as a sacred icon. Of course, we must treat it with greater visible respect than any other book, but we must do more than this. “Stand humbly and quietly before the Book,” as Dr. Sangster says. “Let its great truths soak in. Through the operation of the Holy Spirit, the Bible will search your soul, expose the shams and deceits, reveal the truth of God to you, and bring you to the Cross.” In its sacred pages, we encounter God who loathes our sins but loves our souls.

Reverence for God’s Day. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” This is the Fourth Commandment, and it is merrily disregarded by modern Christians, including many in the holiness movement. Yet the Sabbath is solemnly guarded by the moral law, and it is grievous sin to desecrate it.

For it did not originate with the Decalogue, but at creation when “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” The apostolic Church changed the day of its observance to Sunday honoring the Saviour’s resurrection. But the ancient cycle continues still—six days of labor followed by one day of rest; and the ancient Sabbath principle is still fulfilled each “Lord’s Day.” This is God’s gift to us, and we should hallow it with good works, rest, and worship and by abstaining from all work, business, or pleasure that violates its sacred use.

If we are serious about being “real Christians,” we will renew the joyful and conscientious observance of the Sabbath. This may bring conflict with our semi-pagan culture which mocks at all holy things. But “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord…“ (Isa. 58:13-14).

Reverence for God’s Worship. Public worship, the corporate prayers and praises of the congregation, is the very life of the Church. Its most basic element is the adoration of God, Holy, Blessed, and Undivided Trinity, and by St. Paul’s direction, it is to be conducted with “decency” and “order.” This means structured reverence in the house of God.

But it is structured reverence that is so often missing. To many of us, “traditional worship” means our casual, free-wheeling style, featuring “gospel songs” and personal testimonies, mostly about our feelings and experiences. There is little sense of awe before the “Lord high and lifted up,” and often we whisper and gawk around as at an auction sale. On the other hand, “contemporary worship” often means hip-shaking “Christian entertainers” shrieking into a microphone, vacuous “celebration” choruses endlessly repeated, amusing little skits, and shallow little talks. The atmosphere isn’t much different from that of a pop concert or soccer game.

In either case, there is little adoration of the Triune Holy One, for the focus is on our pleasure and satisfaction rather than the majesty and holiness of God. To restore reverent, God-centered worship in our churches is more basic to spiritual renewal than we know. For if we draw near to Him, He will most certainly draw near to us. True, this implies many of the old pieties we once practiced—undivided and respectful attention, dressing our best for audience with God, reading the scripture as a specific act of worship, and perhaps even kneeling for prayer. Certainly it means the devout ministry of Word and Sacrament administered “decently and in order.”

Yes, reverence is the foundation for the entire structure of Christian life, and it’s time to fix the foundation! For as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, the only way we may serve God acceptably is “with reverence and godly fear.”