From Max Lucado and his book “Just Like Jesus”:
The words of Matthew presuppose a decision on the part of Jesus to stand in the presence of God. The simple fact that he then chose his disciples and went up on a mountain suggests that this was no spur-of-the-moment action. He didn’t awaken one morning, look at the calendar and then at his watch, and say, “Oops, today is the day we go to the mountain.” No we had preparations to make. Ministry to the people was suspended so that ministry to the heart could occur. Since his chosen place of worship was some distance away, he had to select the right path and stay on the right road. By the time he was on the mountain, his heart was ready. Jesus prepared for worship.
Let me ask you, do you do the same? Do you prepare for worship? What paths do you take to lead you up the mountain? The question may seem foreign, but my hunch is that many or us simply wake up and show up. We’re sadly casual when it comes to meeting God.
Would we be so lackadaisical with, oh, let’s say, the president? Suppose you were granted a Sunday morning breakfast at the White House. How would you spend Saturday night? Would you get ready? Would you collect your thoughts? Would you think about your questions and requests? Of course you would. Should we prepare any less for an encounter with the Holy God?
Let me urge you to come to worship prepared to worship. Pray before you come so you will be ready to pray when you arrive. Read the Word so that your heart will be soft when you worship. Come hungry. come willing, come expecting God to speak. Come asking, even as you walk through the door, “Can I see the pilot today?”
Reflecting His Glory
As you do, you’ll discover the purpose of worship—to change the face of the worshiper. This is exactly what happened to Christ on the mountain. Jesus’ appearance was changed; “His face became bright like the sun” (Matthew 17:2).
The connection between the face and worship is more than coincidental. Our face is the most public part of our bodies, covered less than any other area. Our face is the most recognizable part of our bodies. We don’t fill a school annual with photos of people’s feet but rather with photos of faces. God desires to take our faces, this exposed and memorable part of our bodies, and use them to reflect His goodness. Paul writes: “Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord. . . .
God invites us to see his face so that we can change ours. He uses our uncovered faces to display his glory. The transformation isn’t easy. The sculpture of Mount Rushmore faced a lesser challenge than does God. But our Lord is up to the task. He loves to change the faces of his children. By his fingers, wrinkles of worry are rubbed away. Shadows of shame and doubt become portraits of grace and trust. He relaxes clenched jaws and smoothes furrowed brows. His touch can remove bags of exhaustion from beneath the eyes and turn tears of despair into tears of peace.
How? Through worship. We’d expect something more complicated, more demanding. A forty day fast or memorization of Leviticus perhaps. No, God’s plan is simpler. He changes our faces through worship. Exactly what is worship? I like King David’s definition. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. (Ps. 34:3). Worship is the act of magnifying God. Enlarging our vision of him. Stepping into the cockpit to see where he sits and observe how he works. Of course, his size doesn’t change but our perception of him does. As we draw nearer, he seems larger. Isn’t that what we need? A big view of God? Don’t we have big problems, big worries, big questions. Of course we do. Hence we need a big view of God.
Worship offers that. How can we sing His praise and not have our vision expanded? Or what about the lines “It is Well with My Soul”? ~~~Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus (Nashville, A Thomas Nelson ( © 1998 by Max Lucado.)p. 80-82
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