Staying on Campaign

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,
David sent out Joab along with his officers
and the army of Israel, 
and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
David, however, remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David rose from his siesta 
and strolled about on the roof of the palace.
From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.
David had inquiries made about the woman and was told, 
“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, 
and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”
Then David sent messengers and took her.
When she came to him, he had relations with her.
She then returned to her house.
But the woman had conceived, 
and sent the information to David, “I am with child.” (2 Samuel 11: 1-5)

One of the saddest and most detrimental of events in David’s life is David’s committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah the Hittite killed when David discovered Bathsheba’s pregnancy. David married Bathsheba to cover up his adultery, but the sin became known. The long-term result of this was not only the death of an innocent man, Uriah, but also the death of the innocent baby, the later rebellion of David’s sons, and the splitting of Israel into two kingdoms. All of this happened because David took a walk on the roof when he should’ve been out on campaign.

Nevertheless, in all of these terrible circumstances, we learn about the mercy of God. God shows mercy to David when David repents. God does not remove the kingship from David nor will He abolish the covenant that he made with David when he told David that one of his sons would sit upon the throne of Jacob forever. David will still share paternity with God in Jesus, and this through Bathsheba, the very woman with whom he sinned. Bathsheba became the mother of David’s son Solomon and, through Solomon, the great great great great great great grandmother of Jesus.

The origin of David’s sin was sloth. It was a lack of attentiveness to his duty. Scripture tells us that this incident happened at the turn of the year when kings go out on campaign. David was a king, so why wasn’t he on campaign? He should’ve been campaigning, that is rallying his troops and fighting his enemies. Instead David was home where he got into trouble. In his idleness, he is walking on the rooftop when he spies Bathsheba. And thus his great sin begins.

In the spiritual life, sloth and idleness become the doorway to sin. The saying goes that an idle mind is the devil’s playground. Think of a motorboat that is not anchored but is not moving through the waves. The tide will take that boat wherever the tide flows. The evil one waits for us to be idle, that is not seeking a virtuous life, because when we are idle we become prey to the tide. We then fall into sin either through the evil one or through our own fallen nature. We are prone to influence by both of these. One or the other will sweep us away.

In the spiritual life we need to be always on campaign. The campaign to holiness requires virtue, fortitude, attention to the matter at hand. We need to give God our attention, be mindful of Him, be attentive to our state in life and our vocation. David’s state in life was that of a married man who was also a king. But he got lost in wandering on a rooftop, and he probably made excuses about why he did what he did.

Once we recognize our vocation, we must give ourselves completely to it. Our duty is to our vocation. We are to be on campaign, to engage in the battle to become who God intended us to be. If we grow lax and slothful, this will have an effect on our own soul and the souls of others who we were to lead to God by our example. St. Francis said that whenever we turn back to our own wills, we become murderers. Yes murderers, because we fail to participate in the salvation of souls. We are not there to lead others to God. We must give our whole selves and our attention to our vocation. We can’t be slothful. David took a walk on his rooftop that devastated his life, caused his kingdom to be divided, and brought destruction to Israel. St. Paul said, “Let us fight the good fight and not grow gloomy or lax,” because “rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength.”

We need to keep on campaign for the holiness of life. This will cause us to drink the cup of suffering, but self-denial will lead us to glory in heaven. Keep the end result in mind. “Great things we have promised,” St. Francis said. “But greater things have been promised to us.” We must yearn for the eternal and the heavenly homeland, and not grow lax or weary because rejoicing in the Lord must be our strength. Give us the grace of fortitude, Lord, to fight the good fight and to remain on campaign.

-- Transcribed as best as possible from a homily by Father David Engo, FBM