Early Christians observed Good Friday and Easter Day—separated by a fast—as a singular observance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  However, this approach to the culminating events in the life of Jesus quickly changed.  By 100 A.D., Christian writings mentioned a period of fasting and praying called Lent.

 The season of Lent developed as people recognized the importance of Easter celebrations.  Christians developed a period of preparation to adequately ensure a proper observance of the resurrection event.  To truly prepare for Easter, Christians originally believed that a “tithe” or a tenth of the year should be given for such preparation. Forty days, which is roughly a tenth of the year, was chosen.  This is also the number of days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry.

In most churches today, the Lenten season is the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter, excluding Sundays. Since the resurrection of Jesus, Christians have regarded every Sunday as “a little Easter.” Services were moved from the Sabbath to Sunday to celebrate the resurrection, thus, the Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter are referred to as Sundays in Lent rather than Sundays of Lent.

One of the most important ways to prepare for Easter during Lent is to recognize one’s sinfulness and need for God’s grace that is fully revealed in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Throughout history, both Jews and Christians have used ashes to symbolize their sinfulness.  Wearing ashes is an Old Testament symbol of grief, penitence and mourning.

This Wednesday, First Christian Church joins Christians all over the world in this simple service. We gather to express sorrow for our sin and our mortality and to acknowledge the necessity to repent and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Together, we recognize our need for the salvation made possible through the death and resurrection of Christ.  The service on Ash Wednesday has been very common among Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians and Lutherans.  However, since the 1990’s, the service has been adopted by mainline denominations including Methodists, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, and moderate Baptist churches.

Mainline churches believe there is an increased relevance for this service in light of the contemporary church movement to exclude signs of the faith that people may find offensive.  In an age where many churches have removed crosses from their sanctuaries and potentially offensive language such as “repentance,” “lost,” “sin,” “blood” and “death,” First Christian Church proudly and humbly embraces these basic tenets of our faith.