Listen to a recording of this homily here:

We all want control. And when we finally think have control… we immediately start to worry that we’re gonna lose it.

That is exactly the dynamic we see in our first reading today from the first book of Kings.

The Davidic Kingdom has recently been divided and Jeroboam finds himself as king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He has 10 of the 12 tribes under his rule. So far things are going pretty well for Jeroboam, except for the fact that the Southern Kingdom of Judah has something the Northern Kingdom doesn’t: The Temple in Jerusalem.

So we hear Jeroboam wondering:

“If now this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, the hearts of this people will return to their master…and they will kill me.”

1 Kings 12:27

Jeroboam is worried that he’s losing control — and he’s afraid.

So he resorts to the unthinkable: He makes two golden calves, saying: “Here! This is your God! The same God who saved you from Egypt! Worship him right here in your own backyard. Stay far from Jerusalem.” In other words: “Stay under my thumb!”

The sin of idolatry is always about control. Think about it. It seems so easy and safe to control a golden calf. It’s just a dumb piece of metal. You can cast it and recast it as you like. It makes no protest about where you put it, or how you pray to it. It has nothing to say about how you live your life. 

What a conveniently dead god!

On the other hand, the True, Living, GOOD God — the God who is Love — is infinitely beyond our manipulation. And if we’re totally honest, this fact kind of terrifies us! It’s like what C.S. Lewis said about Aslan the Lion from the Chronicles of Narnia: “Of course he isn’t safe… but He’s good.”

Loving the True God is a risk worth taking. Because in the end, a golden calf can’t love us, can’t show us mercy, can’t save us…

And yet, that deadly combination of fear and control leads us to worship all sorts of really lame, unworthy, fake gods!

One that is particularly dangerous for us today is the golden calf of a full calendar — We think to ourselves: “If only I can stay constantly busy: As long as I’m still productive… achieve a series of tasks, then I’m still in control. I don’t need to be afraid of becoming worthless or unneeded… If I can only keep doing more and more stuff.”

Another one is public approval. So many people will gladly bow down in fear to any new ideology, as long as it makes them seem progressive… modern… advanced… woke: And so they recraft, manipulate, and distort the meaning of things like marriage, gender, and the fundamental right to life. 

It’s all about control. Textbook Jeroboam-syndrome!

The great irony, of course, is that while we think we’re the ones controlling our idols… it’s really our idols that are controlling us!

It turns out that even dead gods still demand our entire heart. They steal our joy and rob us of hope. They turn us into slaves! You cannot serve two masters.

The fantastic news is: Jesus Christ came to smash our idols. He was sent by the Father to free us from all fear. Indeed, His perfect love casts out fear! Look at what he did in our gospel passage today when he fed the 4,000! Jesus is still busy multiplying loaves in our lives and making sure we have everything we need… 

If that’s true, if we really believe that… then what do we need to be afraid of? What do we need to control?

Out of selfish fear, Jeroboam multiplied dead gods and led the people into sin and darkness.

Out of compassionate concern, Jesus multiplied the loaves — and all ate and were satisfied.

We are getting closer to the season of Lent. Now is a great time to re-examine our hearts: What are we still afraid of? What are we still trying to control? Invite Jesus to smash those idols. Receive His abundant Life.