The pasuk says (6:4) "And he removed his clothes and he put on other clothes and he brought the deshen outside of the camp to a holy place." Rashi explains that it was not a requirement for the kohen to change his clothes, rather it was just derech eretz, that he should not wear the same clothes to clean the deshen as he wears to bring tamid. "The clothes that one cooks for his master would not be worn to serve him a drink."
There is an idea in halacha that one should wear special garments specifically for tefillah. One must stand in davening as he would stand before a human king. Another halacha is that a talmid chacham's shirt cannot be dirty.
There is just one problem with this. Is it not true that Hashem can see you no matter where you go. Just because the kohen left the mishkan now he does not need to act as if he is before Hashem. So too, someone who davens does he not need to constantly think that he is before Hashem? Also, why does it matter if a person is a talmid chacham or not, he should always look presentable.
If one thinks about the mashul that Rashi gives on this subject it is very enlightening. Although it is true that both the waiter and the chef are in the palace all day long their jobs on intrinsically different. While the waiter is in constant contact with the king, available at the moments notice, the chef is more behind the scenes. the butler must always look perfect since he will be constantly in front of the king. On the other hand, while it is true that the chef is in the palace even if the chef were to walk by the king in the palace the king would not care what kind of shirt the chef was wearing, since he will not be around for that long.
This is true also by all of the other places that we discussed. Even though the kohen is still doing a job in the mishkan it is a clean-up job so it would be disrespectful to wear the same holy garments that one presents the korbanot with to "throw out the garbage."
By tefillah a person is literally standing before Hashem. At this moment to not be wearing appropriate clothing would be a total lack of disrespect. But, other times during the day, when you are going about your normal business it would be wrong to be wearing those same garments.
Finally, by the halacha that a talmid chacham must always have clean clothing the reason is now obvious. A talmid chacham is constantly before Hashem. Every moment of every day he is in Torah. Therefore, he is constantly like the waiter in front of his master. For even one moment to have clothes that are soiled would be a total lack of respect, and possibly deserve death.
Have a great Shabbat!
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