The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
June 17, 2001

Note: Most sermons are written for adults and the kids listen in and get out of them what they can. Hopefully there is something in every week's sermon that children learn from. However, the following sermon works the other way around. This week following our Kids in the Kingdom Week seemed an appropriate time for the adults to overhear a sermon for the kids.

When You’re on the Wrong Road Go the Other Way
2 Samuel 11:26-12:15

During our Kids in the Kingdom Week this week, the number one hit song with the kids was Bugs for Lunch. It’s a great song about John the Baptist that uses the fact that John lived off locust and wild honey to give us the unforgettable line, “He ate bugs for lunch.” However, the song tells us more about John the Baptist than his habit of munching on insects. Bugs for lunch gives a Cliff Notes version of John the Baptist' message. The song says, “If old John was with us today, he’d tell us something like this.” And then we get the heart of John’s teaching. Help me out kids. What would John the Baptist say?

"If you’re on the wrong road go the other way!
If you’ve got two coats give one away!
When Jesus comes prepare the way!”

And then that last bit of Johannine advice:

“And don’t forget your bugs!”

John, who we now call the Baptist, went out in the desert. People came out to see and hear this holy man. John told the people who came to hear him that he was preparing the way for the Messiah, who he later identified as Jesus. John also told the people to prepare by turning away from doing things they knew were wrong and to begin to live as God would have them to live. That’s why the song says, “If you’re on the wrong road go the other way” and “If you’ve got two coats give one away.”

Giving one of your two coats away was John’s way of telling people who had been blessed with many things to share what they have with folks in need. We acted that out this week during Water of Life. Near the entrance to the church, you can see the stack of more than 100 cans and other non-perishable food items we collected during the week. These will go to the Salvation Army Food Bank to share with needy families in our own community. In that way, we lived out the song lyrics telling us to give away one coat if we own two.

I want to stop for a minute and consider what the song means when it says, “If you’re on the wrong road go the other way.” The word in the Bible for this is repent. It comes from the Greek word metanoia meaning to turn around. The meaning of the word is that if you are going this way headed away from what God wants, you should turn around the other direction and go back toward God.

All of us can end up on the wrong road at times, like a bully in school who always picks on other people, making fun of kids and beating them up. That is someone who is on the wrong road. If you cheat on tests so that you can make good grades to keep your parents happy or impress your teachers, then you are on the wrong road. For adults, there are many wrong roads as well. Do you find yourself on a road that is taking you away from your spouse or family? Are you on a road taking you away from God, instead of bringing you closer?

When you are doing things wrong, you are on a road that will take you places you don’t want to go. Further down the road for the bully or the cheater is more trouble. John the Baptist would say, when you’re on the wrong road, do what? Go the other way.

God became human in Jesus. God knows how hard it can be for us to always do things right. God understands when we make mistakes and loves us anyway. But God wants us to change for the better. God wants us to get off the wrong road. When we are doing wrong, God wants us to go the other way.

What might it look like if we were on the wrong road? How could we know? Let me try some examples. I want to see if any of the kids or even adults who were with us this week for Water of Life can tell me whether these people are on the right road or the wrong road.

If someone is being nice to his or her father on Father’s day, is that the right road or the wrong road?

If you beat up someone just because you can, is that the right road or the wrong road?

If you take illegal drugs, is that the right road or the wrong road?

If you help someone who is having trouble in school to learn how to do their math homework, is that the right road or the wrong road?

If you steal something, is that the right road or the wrong road?

If you cheat in school, is that the right road or the wrong road?

We had an example of this in our Bible readings this morning. In our first reading, we learned about King David. Now elsewhere in the Bible, we can read about how much God loved David. God loved David when he was just a boy. When David was a young boy with lots of older brothers and sisters his family didn’t see anything special about him. But God could still see how special David was and how great he could be. Just like God can see how unique and special you are now, even if you don’t always feel so special.

God planned for David to be a great king over all Israel. God was with David to give him courage when all by himself the little shepherd boy David defeated the great warrior Goliath. God was with David when he played the harp and wrote beautiful songs. Later God sent a prophet named Samuel to anoint David with oil to mark him as Israel’s king.

The boy David grew up to be a great king. But David also did something very bad. David fell in love with Bathsheba. Bathsheba was the wife of one of David’s soldiers. David made it so that Bathsheba’s husband Uriah would die in battle. That way David could marry Bathsheba. David’s plan worked. Uriah died and Bathsheba married David. David thought he got away with being bad. But God saw what David did.

When David made sure Uriah died so that he could marry Bathsheba, was he on the right road or the wrong road?

David was on the wrong road. What are you supposed to do when you are on the wrong road? Go the other way.

David had been very bad. God sent the prophet Nathan to David to warn David that he was being very bad and to tell David that David better change. God was telling David that he was on the wrong road and he needed to go the other way.

David listened to God. David got off that wrong road. David turned his life around and started back toward God. David went on to be a great king over Israel. David was even most honored by having his great, great, great, great, imagine that I kept saying great 40 times, grandson be Jesus. God loved David very much. God certainly did not love David because David had Uriah killed. God loved David in spite of that. God loved David, because David knew that when he was on the wrong road he needed to go the other way. God loved David and David loved God enough to stop doing bad things. David loved God enough to change and be good again.

When you are doing things you know that you shouldn’t do, stop. Quit doing the things you know are bad. Ask God to forgive you for doing things wrong. Then change. Go the other way and God will be very happy with you, just as he was happy when David changed and started being good again.

Amen.