I was recently in a village church near here. The wall which faced the congregation (Anglicans might call it the east wall, even if in St Ursula's it is to the south!), bore the imprint of a cross and two symbols, α and ω. These two characters may look strange, but they are alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet - which occur three times in the Book of Revelation as a title for God, the first and the last of all existence. (You see their capital forms, too - Α and Ω.)
Greek was the most widely used language in the eastern Roman Empire in Jesus' time. Not only was the Book of Revelation set down in Greek. The Gospels as we have them were written in Greek, Paul and his fellow writers composed their epistles in Greek, and Pilate's title attached to the Cross, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" was "in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek."
Bible Greek has not left many traces in modern English. The old translators left a few words unchanged - anathema, for example, was generally translated as "accursed", but not at 1 Cor 16:22. And some words, like apostolos and episkopos have percolated their way through Latin into the English language as "apostle" and "bishop", rather than "emissary" and "overseer". We tend to use names in an English adaptation of their Greek form - Peter rather than Cephas, Judas, not Judah, Jesus rather than Joshua. (Who can remember the name of the "disciple" whom Peter raised in Acts 9:40?!)
In English, too, we have hardly any traces of the Greek in which the early church worshipped. The Book of Common Prayer deliberately translated not only Latin, but also Hebrew and Greek words which had been used in pre-Reformation worship - you won't find any Hebrew hosannas or hallelujahs, although Amen ("Truly") slipped through the net. So the Greek response, Kyrie eleison was changed to "Lord, have mercy". The words themselves survive in occasional choral settings, and in a couple of rubrics in today's Common Worship.
Three other symbols still remind us that many early Christians spoke Greek. We use the sign of the Fish as a logo on our cars: our Old Catholic friends use it on their notepaper; some of our oldest Christian paintings, in the catacombs in Rome, show it. It recalls the miracle of the loaves and the fishes at the Feeding of the 5000, but it is also an acrostic. The Greek word for fish, ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ), forms the initial letters of Iesous Christos, Theou hUios, Soter (Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ) - Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. Which came first, the acrostic or the sign, is not clear, but it's good to be reminded!
We sometimes see the letters IHS. In fact these are the first letters of the name "Jesus" written in Greek capitals (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ), but this was soon forgotten, and it was thought that they stood for the Latin Iesus Hominum Salvator, (Jesus Saviour of Mankind), or Iesum Habemus Socium (We have Jesus as our Friend). Or In Hoc Signo vinces (In this sign, you will conquer).
The "conquering sign" refers to the story of the Roman emperor, Constantine, who is said to have had a dream before a decisive battle in 312 against his pagan rival. In his dream, he saw the chi and the rho, Χ and Ρ, the first two letters of Χριστος, Christ, superimposed. He adopted the chi-rho symbol for his army's standard, and won the battle. As a result, Christianity became the "official" religion of the Empire.
We remember at Pentecost that the Gospel (the euangelion, as the Greeks would say) was spread in many languages. Language is always changing, and no language, no country, no generation, has a monopoly of the News about Jesus. We heard in church recently how translators still work to reach people with the Bible in their own language: but this is only part of the story.
Yesterday's language, even words in dead languages, can reach into our hearts if we understand it. But language - in the Bible, in teaching, in worship - is only a medium, and words are only tools. It is through the Spirit that we come to know more deeply the Word Himself. What is ultimately important is the message, and the relationship between us and our Saviour: not the words, but the Word.
HD