I broke a windshield when I was a child. Spider-webbed it actually. My friend and I lived on a side street off of a busy street in Green Bay, WI. I think I was 5 and he was 4. We were really young, and this was a time when parents let their children wander around the neighborhood. So my friend told me that you can throw a rock at a car. He claimed he had done it, and nothing had happened. Remember, he’s 4 and I’m 5.
So I grabbed a stone from the curb and timed my throw as a car was coming. They traveled about 30-35 miles an hour on this street. I wish we had a video of it. It was my first time throwing rocks at a car, but it landed like I’d been doing it all my life. It was a beautiful arcing throw that landed right on the front windshield of this car. Immediately the windshield had a spider web of cracks all over it. By the way, since then I’ve come to the conclusion that my 4-year-old friend had never actually thrown a rock at a car. At least he hadn’t hit one. He was just a 4-year-old big talker—you know the type. 😉
So I hit the car. Guess what my friend and I did then? We didn’t stay to admire our work—my work really. We took off running. Again we were four and five, so we weren’t setting any speed records. His house was the second one on the block and mine was the fourth, so I left him in my dust pretty quickly.
It occurred to my little 5-year-old brain that I probably shouldn’t actually go home. I ran behind my house and then hid in the neighbor’s backyard behind a bush.
My friend was seen going to his house so the victim of my crime stopped and talked to his parents. They confronted their son, and he pointed the finger at me. The little weasel… I’m kidding.
So the victim drove two more doors down and talked to my Dad. Mind you, all of this was going on without me knowing since I was hiding. Apparently my Dad told him he would pay for his windshield. I wasn’t at home, so he couldn’t talk to me. My Dad essentially issued an All Points Bulletin for me in the neighborhood. I just remember the neighborhood bully found me and dragged me home. Never liked that kid. Again, kidding. He was right to find me.
That true story illustrates the sinful reflex that all of us have. While I was running, I made the decision to hide. I’m only 5 years old. Who taught me that? No one. Or maybe we could say Adam and Eve did. Genesis 3 records their response to their sin in the Garden of Eden. They weren’t 5 years old like I was, but they actually hid in the bushes too—just like me. While I was hiding from my Dad who maybe wouldn’t have been able to find me without help, Adam and Eve were hiding from the God of the universe who never didn’t know where they were.
We like to hide, but it’s better if we come out into the light. God wants you to be characterized by an honest admission of sin in your life. If like most you’ve been hiding and pretending, it’s stunted your spiritual growth. We have to get honest about who we are. You need to become a terrible hider. You need to get worse at it. Do you want intimacy with God? Do you want to have real, deep human friendships? Wouldn’t you like that with your spouse? The only way to be known like that, to have fellowship, is to live in the light.
The Genesis 3 person needs to become the 1 John 1 person. That’s where we learn to walk in the light, to confess sin, to claim Christ’s intercession for us. How do we become more like 1 John 1 than Genesis 3? How do those hiding in the dark start walking in the light? Humble confession.
You don’t have to hide anymore. You can walk in the light. You can confess sin. You know why? Because you have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). Jesus knows your sin and intercedes for you. Why are you pretending you’re someone you’re not when Jesus already knows and already intercedes for you? This promise should be the death knell to our hiding. We have an Advocate! His intercession is always successful. Quit pretending. Come out into the light.
Think about this: when you and I hide and pretend, when we cover our sin, we make a mockery of the gospel. We live as if our situation wasn’t that desperate; as if we really didn’t need Christ’s sacrifice. As if we really don’t need Christ’s intercession. But when we have a realistic view of our sin, we are continually marveling at God’s grace through Christ’s death. We see our desperate struggle with sin and we know that only Christ’s death could make us righteous before God. Maybe you’re not that impressed with the Gospel because you’re not that aware of your sin.
You must live in the light. Saved people admit their sin. You don’t need to hide.
(I preached 1 John 1:5-2:2 in three sermons that you can find on First Baptist’s YouTube channel–March 29, 2026; April 12, 2026; April 19, 2026.)