The Pursuit of the Kingdom of God

Today is the first day of one of my favorite annual sporting events. Today is the opening round of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The event is contested every year on the fabled grounds of the Augusta National Golf Club which is located on Washington Road in Augusta.

In the mid-nineties I served a couple of years as the Associate Pastor of the St. John United Methodist Church in Augusta and I lived about a half-mile from the grounds of the Augusta National. I was fortunate during my time in Augusta to attend the Masters quite frequently.

I will always remember standing in the gallery at the eighteenth green for that stirring moment in 1995 when Ben Crenshaw holed his final putt to win his second Masters tournament. Crenshaw then slumped over and wept profusely because earlier in the win he had served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Harvey Penick, his long time friend, mentor and coach. It was a stirring moment in which those of us gathered around the eighteenth green shared in Crenshaw’s grief and also shared in the celebration of his triumph.

I have seen many beautiful sights in my life but there is very little that compares to the beauty of the grounds of the Augusta National. With its countless azaleas, grass that is mowed to perfection and towering sturdy pines, there is no spot that can compare with the August National when it is clothed in its springtime splendor.

Thousands of people stroll across its ground to watch the exploits of the wizards of the links. Those thousands are the most orderly and well behaved crowd one could ever see. When a marshal holds his hand aloft and asks for quiet thousands will obey the command and cease conversation and moving about. I’m sure there are countless school teachers that would long for the same response.

This morning the world’s greatest golfers will tee off on those historic grounds of Augusta in pursuit one of the most famous articles of men’s clothing ever manufactured. In addition to a rather substantial pay day the winner of the Masters receives a green jacket which is emblematic of being a Masters Champion. In fact, many talk about the competition of the Masters Tournament as the “Pursuit of the Green Jacket.”

This leads me to wonder about the things which we pursue in life. It is understandable that one who competes at the highest levels of professional golf should pursue the famous green jacket. I would hope that all of us would strive to be the best at whatever we do whether it is in our chosen professions, our roles in our families or other endeavors.

That said, we often pursue things which in the end leave us little satisfaction. I heard a story about a greyhound who had retired from the game of dog racing. In a dog race the dogs are loaded into a box and a stuffed rabbit is placed on an electrical runner that circles the track. When the rabbit passes the box the dogs are released and they chase the rabbit. The spectators place bets on which dog will cross the finish line first. Of course the dogs never catch the artificial rabbit.

When the retired greyhound was asked why he retired from the sport his reply was, “One day I caught the rabbit and I found out that what I had been chasing all those years wasn’t even real.”
Are we pursuing the things in life that are real? Are we pursuing the things in life that will truly give us satisfaction? Folks, there is only one thing in life that will not disappoint us and that is the love of God which is made manifest in his Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.

In fact, I believe Jesus had something to say about the subject when he said, “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NRSV) Ultimately our satisfaction in life is found in pursuing those things which are real and nothing is more real than the love that God has for us. In the end we really do not have to pursue God’s love, it is simply a matter of accepting it.