Father of Joy

The following thoughts came largely from a PCA minister from Virginia with whom I enjoyed a recent, stimulating conversation.

The Triune fellowship is a fellowship of eternal infinite joy. The Father delights in His beloved Son, and eternally pours out the abundance of His Spirit on Him. The Son delights in His Father, returning joy for joy in the Spirit. The Triune fellowship is an eternal festival, an eternal party.

To say that the Father is head of the Son (1 Cor 11:3) is to say that the Father is the initiator, coordinatory, and provoker of this joy. In some ineffable and non-temporal fashion, the Father eternally begets the Son out of pure joy in the having of a Son, and eternally and necessarily fills the Son with His joy. The Father's joy depends on His being able to expend His joy on the Son through His Spirit, who is His joy. The Father has no joy "in isolation" from His Son, since He has never been "in isolation" from His Son. And yet, the Father is the "head" of this joyful community, from whom all joy flows.

Now, if this is something close to the truth, it has profound implications for family, church, and politics. To be head of a wife is to be the initiator of delight and joy; to be head of a family is to be initiator and coordinatory of gladness. To be a father is to be a party-master. Of course, being a father also means carrying out discipline (Heb 12), but the discipline itself is designed to produce further joy, not to suppress joy. This supports a point I heard from Doug Jones some years ago: How can Calvinists make sure that our faith is sustained through the coming generations? Answer: Play with your kids.

The role of elders in a church is similar - to keep the party running. Again, discipline is essential, but essential for joy. At the center of the church's life is a feast - the feast of the Eucharist that is a participation in the festive life of the Trinity through the Son and Spirit. And the role of church leaders is to maintain that focus.

The role of political authorities is to create conditions in which the festival can flourish. The ideal political order in Scripture is the reign of Solomon, which is described in 1 Kgs 4-5 as a continuous feast, centering on the richly provisioned table of Solomon.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 03:59 PM

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