What Is Hidden Will Be Revealed

Let me ask you guys something. Did you have a good Sunday school today? How did Deacon Andy do? You think he did very well? Can you say thank you to Deacon Andy?

Does anybody remember anything that Deacon Andy was talking about today?

“How to make the sign of the cross.”

That’s very good. What is an important part of making the sign of the cross? Do you remember anything?

“You put your fingers together like this.”

Why do we do that? The Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is what we symbolize when we put our fingers together like that.

Now, let me ask you a question, just between us. Don’t worry about all of them. Was anybody not paying attention? Was everybody paying attention? Really, everybody? Everybody listened to every single word Deacon Andy said? Well, I think I need to take some lessons from you, Deacon Andy. If you know how to do that, then you are truly blessed among men.

If you weren’t paying attention, would you have told me? Rafi said, “No, I wouldn’t have said anything.” Not telling me—or withholding that information—isn’t necessarily the same as saying something false, which would be a lie. But it is hiding information. If I asked who was paying attention and maybe you weren’t, but you didn’t share that with me, then you would be holding back information. You wouldn’t be communicating the truth to me.

This message isn’t about Deacon Andy’s class. I know he did a great job, and I know you learned from him. But sometimes we feel like we need to hide things. Sometimes we feel like we need to hide things from each other or from our parents. Sometimes we feel like we have to hide things from our siblings.

I know that happens in my house from time to time, and it is also something I can tell you about from my childhood. When I was a little boy—maybe eight, nine, or ten years old—my parents put our old television in the bedroom I shared with my sister. We had gotten a new television downstairs, so they put the old one in our room.

The rule was that we had to go to sleep at a certain time, probably around eight or eight-thirty. We had to go to bed with the lights out, and we couldn’t watch television near bedtime. Guys, temptation is hard. So what did I do? I’m going to be honest with you. This is my confession. I lay in bed and pretended to be asleep until I thought everybody was gone or asleep. Then I crawled out of bed and turned on the television. Later, when there was a Nintendo in the house, I tried to play Nintendo.

I thought, “Oh, I’m a genius. I figured it out. I know how to do what I want, and nobody knows I’m breaking the rules. This is great! I get to do what I want, and nobody gets mad at me.”

I did that once, and I did it twice. Honestly, I’m much older than nine or ten now, and I don’t remember how many times I did it, but I probably did it many times. Then one day I woke up, and the television was gone. I said, “What happened? Where did the television go?” With all my righteous fury, I went to my parents and said, “What happened to the television in our room? That’s not fair. That was our television!”

My parents looked at me with pity in their eyes and said, “Did you think we didn’t know what you were doing the whole time? Did you think you were going to get away with it? Did you think we wouldn’t find out?”

I did think that, but I was wrong. I was so wrong. I thought I could hide what I was doing, but I couldn’t—not forever.

In today’s Bible reading, Jesus says, “Everything that is hidden will be revealed.” Does anybody know what “revealed” means? That is a big word.

“It will be shown.”

Everybody will be able to see it. Everything that is hidden will eventually be seen by everybody. A secret can be revealed. Something we thought nobody knew is no longer a secret when people can know it, hear it, or see it. That is what Jesus said: “Everything that is hidden will be revealed.”

Have you ever tried to hide something? You don’t remember? Do you plead the Fifth, Melly? “I have no recollection of a time when I may or may not have hidden something.”

“I tried to hide my candy.”

You tried to hide your candy. I know all about that—not about your candy, but about our candy. Sion, did I find a bag of candy in your bedroom? Sion thought he could hide a bag of candy from me, but it was revealed. Someone else had secret candy, and when her room was being cleaned, it was found.

One lesson from Jesus in today’s Bible reading is that nothing ever remains a secret, especially from God. Even if you got away with sneaking some candy, taking something from your brother or sister, or doing something you weren’t supposed to do—even if your parents never found out—do you know who would know? God. God knows all the things we do.

When we feel that we need to hide something, that is the feeling we have in our hearts when we know we are doing something we shouldn’t. That is called our conscience, and it helps us know the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes we let temptation get the best of us and do something wrong even though we know we shouldn’t. But we can’t fool ourselves into thinking nobody will ever find out. In the end, God will always know.

Can I tell you the good news? The bad news is that you are never going to get away with anything, so I need to let you know that right now. Don’t try.

The good news is what Jesus said before that. He said, “Nobody lights a lamp and then covers it up.” Why would you light a candle and then put something over it so that nobody could see it? What would be the point? You lit the candle so you could see its light. If you turn on all the lights in your house and then cover them so that the house is dark, what was the point of the light?

Although there are sometimes things in our lives that we feel bad about and want to hide, there are other things God has given us—gifts, talents, and blessings—that we should never feel we have to hide. Even the fact that you believe in God and believe in Jesus is something you should never feel you need to hide.

If you are a good dancer, singer, or artist; if you are good at math, talking, or listening—you never have to hide these things. You should be proud of them. Not only that, you should use them so that other people can see how great God is through the amazing gifts he gave you.

Today, let’s not try to hide those things that we feel other people shouldn’t know. Let that feeling be a sign that perhaps we should not be doing those things. And let’s make sure that we don’t hide the things that are great about us. In our families, our schools, and our church, let’s share them as much as possible. God bless you.

Այսօր կրնամ ամփոփել եւ փակել այս պատգամը։ Կարծեմ՝ բոլորին համար հասկնալի է, բայց կ՚ուզեմ ըսել, որ չկայ պահուած բան, որ պիտի չյայտնուի։ Այս աշխարհի մէջ բոլորս պէտք է գիտնանք, որ ի վերջոյ մենք հաշուետու ենք մեր կեանքերուն համար։ Այո՛, բոլորս կը սխալինք եւ կը շեղինք։ Այդ բնական է, բայց մեր պարտականութիւնն է, որ մենք ուղղուինք այս կեանքի ճանապարհին վրայ։ Այդ ալ հաշուի պիտի առնուի, երբ կանգնինք մեր Արարչին առջեւ։ Յանուն Հօր եւ Որդւոյ եւ Հոգւոյն Սրբոյ. ամէն։