The Substitute

The rumors usually started before the class did. “Did you hear? We have a substitute today!”

A broad sly smile usually followed on the face of the recipient. “Ah, a substitute!”

Laughter ensued.  There would be no boring chemistry lesson today; or perhaps it was trigonometry, or English.  It needn’t matter. The prospect of the substitute teacher always brought on the same response. There would be no discipline today. Therefore we need not behave. Get out the spitballs, chew some gum, and make fun of a teacher when his back is turned.

Somehow the presence of the substitute always seemed to empower the most emboldened of those predisposed to misbehave and gave the best students a chance to relax and goof off. Only two sets of people were in peril on a substitute day; the sub and those students least liked, sometimes those with the most challenging circumstances who ordinarily had a hard time fighting back.

And, it seems that no one, from the administration of the school to the weakest of those students, expected anything worth-while to get done on a substitute day.  Oh, there was the occasional sub that would pore over the lesson plan, march into class with the utmost determination yet most, unfortunately, were to become a blithering mess by the end of the last class of the day.

See, no one respects a substitute. I suppose that, deep-down, we recognize that the substitute is only a facsimile, a poor copy, of the real thing.  Full time teachers work with their students to build trust and create a learning atmosphere.  Some are congenial and easy going, yet there are also strict disciplinarians who require complete focus and attention.  The kids aren’t any different, but the expectations are different from class to class and the effective leader teaches his or her class to function within the expectations of that particular classroom.

Not so, the substitute. With no previous history, no real authority, the substitute can only hope to muddle through the day. There is no respect for the substitute, a mere place-holder for the real deal.

But something subtle happens in real life. Daily, we treat various substitutes as if they were the real deal. Daily, we expose ourselves to the whims of marketing, simply having to have the newest, coolest, most popular gadget, cell phone, big-screen television. You name it. We want it.

But it’s even more subtle than that. Others choose the substitute of adoration, or perhaps fame and fortune. Others find a substitute in a bottle of liquor, the smile of a pretty face, or the shoulder of a strong man.

Still more subtle, we substitute the wanting of these things, the expectation of these things and giving our lives for these things in place of something far more real.

Eventually, we forget there is even more to this life than these things. And, thinking them real, we literally guard our substitutes with our lives. We seek and hold on to the illusion of safety as if safety is the real deal. We puff up our chests and take pride in our works and our success as if works and success are real deals. We point fingers, yes, even condemn those perhaps not as strong as we, the mighty guardians of all things worthwhile.   And while we march confidently and without care or discipline in the presence of our substitute, the real deal becomes the illusion. The real deal begins to fade.

“Certainly”, we say to ourselves, “we have arrived! We have bestowed upon ourselves our self-given right to judge others, to roll our eyes at the weak and the so-called less fortunate.”

But…

The full time teacher eventually returns to class.  And, with the return comes the expectations of the real deal. “Why did no one do their work yesterday? Why does the sub insist on never coming back here? What did you do? “

And then the most lethal question. “What do you think I should do about this?”

The class members, so rowdy, boisterous and full of themselves only a day before, fall quiet. There is no answer.

While having the time of their lives at the expense of the substitute, the class members had forgotten about the real deal.

And now, they have been asked a question none of them can answer.

One or two will try to answer and most answers will go something like this, “Oh, give us a break, teach. You remember what it was like. Besides, no one expected us to get anything done anyway”

But the teacher, the real deal, knows that each wasted day is a lost day. That each lesson left uncovered could have been the lesson that made a difference for a lifetime. And so, the punishment will be levied.

Yet, we carry on with our own personal substitutes, never expecting the return of “The Teacher”.

“”You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.”  John 13:13, NIV

But, as in school, the teacher always returns.  Depending on how engrossed we are with our own personal substitutes, we might not even notice his return.  It might be a gentle whisper at first, “I’m back. What have you done?” We might not hear the gentle whisper. But, as with the classroom teacher, this teacher will get our attention.

“What do you think I should do about this?”  He will get our attention. He must.

So maybe He returns with less subtlety. Maybe he is a police officer’s knock on the door at 2 AM with the news of son or daughter’s car crash, or maybe he’s a doctor delivering the terminal diagnosis of a parent or child. Maybe he arrives with news of your own imminent demise.

“You can run on for a long time.
Run on for a long time. Run on for a long time.
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down.
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down.” – J. Cash

Make no mistake about it. He will get our attention.

But, just as the teacher fully understood the importance of every day, the Real Deal fully understands the need of our heart.

So, do not fear Him. Despite the circumstances around which he gets your attention, he does so out of love; the only love that really matters in this world. The Love of God, the love of Christ, the love found only through Him.

You see, He is the REAL DEAL.  And He is love. And Love is patient. Even with you.  He fully understands your relationship with your substitute. He knows the world is hard. He knows the world can be stressful. He knows we lack direction and misbehave in the presence of that substitute.  He understands it all.

And just like those students, there is a price to pay.

In the classroom, failure to respect the direction of the teacher must be dealt with.   Perhaps detention will be served. Perhaps extra homework will be assigned.  But make no mistake. The behavior in the presence of the substitute will be punished.

But we live in real life.  This is not a classroom. This is not a last minute substitute that we’ve chosen to abuse. Our Teacher must deal with our substitute of choice; alcoholism, pornography, the love of “self”, pride, the self-righteous condemnation of others. These are all substitutes that we have chosen ahead of the Real Deal.

And so he gets our attention.

Imagine now, the Real Deal standing before you, looking at the mess you’ve made of your life with your stubborn willingness to cling to your substitutes.   Hoping for a break, you meekly speak up with something like “Oh, give us a break, teach. You remember what it was like. Besides, no one expected us to get anything done anyway”

“There’s a God-Shaped Hole in all of us” – Plumb, God Shaped Hole

And he weeps.  For he knows there can be no break. Just like the classroom teacher who metes out punishment after a classroom’s disrespect for the substitute, the Real Deal knows that punishment that is done with love and for our own good is required.

Yet, this is real life. Adoring our substitute in place of the real deal is deadly.  There will be no extra homework; there will be no time after school. In real life the punishment is nothing short of death itself.

You are literally steps away from the gallows.

And so the Real Deal holds you in his arms looks you in the eyes and asks, “Do you believe I love you? Do you believe that even this punishment comes from my great love for you? Do you believe that I want nothing but the best for you, now and forever?”

“You know you must die for this.  You simply must die for this.  I’m not going to beg you to believe I love you. So I ask one last time, do you believe I Iove you?”

Timid, shy, scared and now crumpled at the foot of the Mighty God of the universe himself, you simply have to ask yourself one question. “Do I believe that this is the Real Deal?”

The hangman’s noose is ready.  You answer, “Yes, I believe!”

You look then, in total disbelief, as the Real Deal walks up the steps to the gallows platform, to the  hangman. He nods and speaks a few words to him, looks at you and smiles. The noose settles around his neck.

You gasp as the platform opens and the Real Deal takes your punishment. Lifeless, his body now dangles before you in place of your own punishment.

You’ve finally witnessed the only substitute that really matters. The Real Deal.

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 – NIV.