Insufficient Awe

In Sacrament Meeting yesterday one of the speakers suggested that we too often have “insufficient awe” towards the Savior. In other words, we think of Him too casually and emphasize Him in the roles of Friend and Brother while forgetting that He is also the Creator of heaven and earth and our Everlasting Father and Eternal Judge. The scriptures of the restoration should help us feel the reverence, respect and humility that is due to He who, in the words of Isaiah, is “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 40:28). One revelation begins with these words: “Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:1-3). Those words should inspire a sense of awe and wonder towards Him who knows all things and has all things present before His eyes. After Moses had a real encounter with the Premortal Christ, he came awe with exactly this sense of awe and his own nothingness before the Great Jehovah: “And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth. And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:9-10). Perhaps the message of those verses is not so much that we should focus on the nothingness of man but on the great glory of “the Lord God Almighty” whose name is Endless.

                I think the brother of Jared is one who showed true reverence and awe for the Savior as he went before Him on Mount Shelem. He took the 16 stones to the top of the mount and in total humility he prayed, “Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually…. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock.” He recognized man’s weakness and sinful nature before the Lord who is holy and dwells in the heavens while seeking for His help: “And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man.” When the Lord did come and stretch forth His finger, “the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear.” When questioned, he told the Lord, “I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me” (Ether 3:1-8). I think that what motivated such a response was the fact that the brother of Jared felt he truly deserved to be smitten. He recognized the great power and goodness of God compared to his own nothingness before Him, and so when he saw the Savior’s finger his unfiltered response was to feel that he deserved to be smitten. We need a lot more of that kind of humility and reverence and awe before the Lord who is “from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am, even Jesus Christ—The light and the life of the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 39:1-2). He is “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” even “Jesus Christ, [our] Redeemer, the Great I Am” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:1, 45:7). Our attitude towards Him should be like that of the Nephites when He came among them: “They did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him” (3 Nephi 11:16-17). Nephi put it this way: “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29). We must come before Him and worship Him with all our hearts, looking with perfect awe and humility to He who is mighty to save us even in our fallen state.