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'At this time of Advent': a Francis Atterbury sermon from Advent 1710

On Christmas Eve 1710, Francis Atterbury -  later Bishop of Rochester, then Dean of Christ Church, Oxford - preached in the Rolls Chapel, Chancery Lane, London. His text was Matthew 11:3, the words of Saint John the Baptist, "Art thou he that should come? or do we look for another?". The sermon contained a number of significant Advent themes, evidence of how the liturgical observance of Advent (and other seasons) shaped early 18th century Anglican preaching. At the outset of the sermon, Atterbury defined the season: 

At this time of advent, particularly dedicated by the church to a devout commemoration of our Saviour's coming in the flesh, and set apart to prepare us for a worthy celebration of the approaching feast of his nativity ...

As with his early Advent 1709 sermon, we see Atterbury here giving voice to a well-established understanding of Advent as oriented towards Christmas. There is much to value in this, not least the quite natural recognition of the approach of the Lord's Nativity, and a refusal to engage in a pastorally and culturally clumsy, awkward and inevitably futile attempt to prevent anticipation of Christmas.

Having set forth Advent as oriented towards Christmas, Atterbury - in light of his text - turned to the figure which looms large in this season, that of Saint John the Baptist. The 1662 Gospel readings for the Third and Fourth Sundays in Advent are focussed on the Baptist: indeed, Atterbury's text was in the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday in Advent. The sermon text was, as Atterbury acknowledged, perhaps one of the more puzzling sayings of John the Baptist. Did the Forerunner actually doubt the Lord to be the Messiah? In light of the significance of John in Advent, Atterbury addressed the question:

as to the enquiry itself, it maybe a matter of just surprize to us, that the Baptist should, so long after he had continued discharging the office of Christ's harbinger, put such a question as this to our Saviour, Art thou He that Should come? or do we look for another? For could John be ignorant of our Saviour's character? Could he entertain the least doubt of it? He, who had formerly baptized Christ, had seen the Spirit descend on him in the form of a dove, and heard the the voice from heaven thus testifying concerning him, This is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am welt pleased? He, who had borne record of our Lord more than once, that he was the Son of God, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world? Could He possibly afterwards be under any degree of hesitancy or doubt, in relation to our Saviour's character?

Certainly he could not; and therefore we must look out for some other reason of his sending this message, besides the desire of satisfying himself; and that plainly was the procuring satisfaction to those by whom the message was sent, his disciples and followers, who, notwithstanding all the asseverations of John to this purpose, continued still incredulous. 

Atterbury thus expounds the words of John so as to cohere with, as he states, the Lord's subsequent words on the Baptist's prophetic role, "enlarging on the Baptist's character, and the dignity of his office". We are, in other words, assured of the witness of John, which resounds across the season of Advent.

Mindful that "the answer of our Lord to these enquiring disciples is expressed in words taken from a prophecy of Isaiah", the sermon goes on to address the "manner of meditating upon" Holy Writ:

We do not sufficiently consider, who it is that speaks to us there, nor what it is that he says: What weight, what fulness of sense, what excellent variety of matter, and wonderful depth of thought, there must needs be in words dictated by, or at least spoken under, the over-ruling influence of Infinite wisdom. And therefore, though the Scriptures are read everyday in our churches (and sometimes perhaps consulted in our closets) yet we make but slow proficiency towards a true taste, and a clear discernment, of those high truths which are contained in them. We dwell on the letter only, on what offers itself to us at the first view; but we do not make ourselves acquainted with the life and spirit of them. 

This call for us to grow in "a true taste" of the Scriptures also, of course, reflects a significant Advent theme within the Prayer Book provision for the season, which Atterbury explicitly invokes in the sermon's conclusion:

Wherefore, search the Scriptures for as in them ye have eternal life, so have ye room also for an eternal growth and improvement in that knowledge, which leads to it; in that knowledge, which we can here attain unto a part only, but shall hereafter, when the veil of this flesh is done away, more perfectly comprehend; and the more earnestly we aspire after it, and labour for it in this state of imperfection, the more exalted a degree of it shall we possess in another world. And do Thou," Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our instruction, grant that we may in such wise read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ."

On Christmas Eve 1710, therefore, Atterbury preached a sermon rich in Advent themes: reflecting how the season was oriented towards the celebration of the Lord's Nativity; pondering the witness of the Forerunner, so significant in Advent; and encouraging reading of the holy Scriptures, after the example of the great collect of the Second Sunday in Advent. The sermon exemplifies a serious preaching of Advent in early 18th century Anglicanism, rooted in the seasonal provision of the Prayer Book, and expounding great Advent themes that, in the words of Atterbury, "prepare us for a worthy celebration of the approaching feast of his nativity".

(The picture is of Rochester Cathedral, Atterbury's see 1713-23.)

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