This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with a headline from world news:

RIO DE JANEIRO TO WASTE ITS WASTE MOUNTAIN 

scavenger with recovered plastic

Psalm 24

Entrance into the Temple

Of David. A Psalm.
¹ The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,    the world, and those who live in it;
² for he has founded it on the seas,    and established it on the rivers.
³ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?    And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,    who do not lift up their souls to what is false,    and do not swear deceitfully.
⁵ They will receive blessing from the Lord,    and vindication from the God of their salvation.
⁶ Such is the company of those who seek him,    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.^*
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!    that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is the King of glory?    The Lord, strong and mighty,    the Lord, mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!    that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?    The Lord of hosts,    he is the King of glory.           Selah

This psalm is associated in my Scottish tradition with holy communion: the first section reminding me of the Lord’s requirements of those who want to stand in his holy place; the second section welcoming the victorious Lord who comes not just into the church but into the courts of heaven which he opens to his disciples. Of course its original meaning was different, reflecting the true Israelite’s pilgrimage to the Temple, matched by God’s triumphant entry into the place that bears his name, which in turn stands for the whole world welcoming its creator.

The more specific association of the psalm with Ascension Day is in the image of the risen Christ ascending from the earth into heaven, that is, (back) into the very being of God. The ascension narratives of the bible are frankly ludicrous, resting as they do on the notion that heaven is “up there” somewhere, and that Jesus took off like a rocket. We have to say: these are bits of mythology designed to give a wordly shape to the disciples’ conviction that God had not merely raised Jesus to life again but had restored him to his place in the life of the godhead. The King of Glory carries our humanity into the heart of God.

Hebrews 10:32-39 

32 But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,³³sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.³⁴For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.³⁵Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward.³⁶For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.³⁷For yet
‘in a very little while,    the one who is coming will come and will not delay;
³⁸ but my righteous one will live by faith.    My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.’
³⁹But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.

One significance of Christ’s ascension is that he will “come back” to take the believer to that same place. That’s why people are prepared to suffer persecution and deprivation in this present life in the hope that they will receive “what is promised.” Because Christ has attached himself indissolubly to humanity, human beings can trust that they will be with him forever. This must not be seen as a place that excludes the earth but rather a place that includes it in justice and goodness: the kingdom is everywhere amd always.