Memento Mori

by David Haberstock

The Latin phrase “Memento mori” means “Remember that you will die.” Lent starts on Ash Wednesday with this same reminder: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Remember, in other words, that you will die.

Death is all around us. From the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they were spiritually dead. Cut off from the source of life, they began to die physically. The Lord had given them the tree of life that they might eat of it and live. But now, to live apart from Christ is to live in death.

An eternal life of death was unfathomable for our merciful Lord, so He banished Adam and Eve from the Garden—for paradise is no longer paradise if you cannot walk with our Lord face-to-face. What good is it to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul?

Remembering that we shall die is repentance: dying to self daily in baptism, dying to sin, turning away from that which leads to death, turning again to the Lord in faith. But even this turning in faith to the Lord is His gift! The Lord works it by the preaching and working of His Law in the hearts, minds, and lives of mankind, allowing the wages of sin to work on this world, so that all men are without excuse.

Then the Gospel works faith to return people to the Lord our God. This is called contrition, which is godly sorrow over sin. Despair, by contrast, is demonic sorrow over sin which causes one to despair of the goodness of God. Despair is contrition twisted by demons and separated from the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Repentance. This is life. Life here below. We must always repent. We must be bold to do so. This is why it is good, right, and life-giving to have a general confession (repentance) and absolution at the beginning of the Divine Service. It is also why individual confession and absolution is such a blessing, so that your own specific sins which you know and feel in your heart can be nailed to the cross, and die, removed from you and buried in the wounds of Christ Jesus.

The absolution of Christ through your pastor gives strength for living the Christian life. General absolution from the mouth of your pastor is good. Specific absolution to you over the sin you’ve named out loud before God and your pastor buries that sin in the ears of your pastor, and Christ our Lord, never to be brought up again. It is dead to you. Removed as far as the east is from the west. No more to condemn you. For there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Repentance is the focus of the Christian life. It is the focus of Lent. Lent is life! Lent is 40 days, just like the 40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness. Just like the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. Lenten fasting is about repentance, for as the Catechism says, “fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training, but that man is worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Fasting is good for your body. Christian fasting is a form of prayer. It is not just dieting, losing weight, beating your body so that it may be in subjection to you, but specifically spiritual discipline for the sake of your prayers. For when our desires run amuck with us, our prayers suffer. When you stare at your phone from morning till night, all sorts of good that the Lord would give you and have you receive is missed—from the pleasure of a tidy, orderly house to actually talking to the loved ones the Lord gives you.

Turning away from sin and death brings a need for the new. New habits. New thought patterns. Repentance and renewal bring new godly desires, and those desires need to be honed, practiced, given form and freedom to move in your life.

This Lent I have been using devotions and a general guide for fasting from a new Lutheran men’s organization called memento70.com. The devotions have been enriching, and teach beautifully on Lenten disciplines, their need and purpose, while properly distinguishing Law and Gospel at the same time.

It has been a great encouragement, and the spiritual discipline, formation, guidance, and nudging I receive makes the joy of our Lord’s bringing life and immortality to light on Easter that much more joyous—for we remember that we will die, but we live in the sure hope of the resurrection in Christ Jesus.

David Haberstock is the Central Regional Pastor

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