The other day I explained to my youngest son, the difference between a microscope and telescope.  Microscopes have the ability to make tiny things big.  Telescopes have the power to make far away things look close.  Worship has a two-fold purpose in our relationship with God.  When we experience worship, the Spirit of God uncovers the tiny, hidden places of our hearts.  His truth reveals the good and bad secret, microscopic things moving around in our souls.  Simultaneously, the Spirit magnifies the presence and power of Christ by revealing His greatness and glory—His holiness.  “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3 NIV).  The microscopic (small things of the soul) and the telescopic (the great things of God’s glory) are not revealed in worship, then experiencing God defaults to a mere religious routine, empty of meaning, void of emotion, and powerless to change us. 
          The goal of worship is to bring glory to God and make me more like Jesus.  Paul told the Colossians that the mystery of the ages is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 NIV).  Our personal experience with God in worship does not depend on the “how” of worship (though the “how” is significant); it depends on the “Who” of worship.  Is Christ being formed and fashioned in my uniqueness as the person God created me to be?  Are the intricacies of my personal character and integrity illuminated in the light of Christ’s glory and holiness in worship?  Am I paying attention to the voice of the Spirit as He takes the truth of God and applies it to the issues of my soul and heart? 
          In Mark Buchanan’s The Rest of God, Buchanan uses the story of Lucy’s encounter with Aslan in C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspain, part of Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.  Lucy, along with her brothers and sister have been living in Narnia, and for a long time have not seen Aslan, the great Lion King.  Lucy longs to see him, and one night she awakens to a rustling in the forest and hears a voice calling her.  While her siblings sleep, she heads out in the forest and into a clearing.

          A circle of grass, smooth as a lawn, met her eyes, with dark trees dancing all round it.  And then—oh joy! For he was there: the huge Lion, shining white in the moonlight, with his huge black shadow underneath him. 
          But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but Lucy never thought of that.  She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not.  She rushed to him.  She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment.  And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far around his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.
        “Aslan, Aslan.  Dear Aslan,” sobbed Lucy.  “At last.”
 The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws.  He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue.  His warm breath came all around her.  She gazed up into his large wise face.
 “Welcome, child,” he said.
 “Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”
 “That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
 “Not because you are?”
 “I am not.  But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Category : Tommy Talk