If you have been
following this blog at all (or peeking at my facebook wall), you know I have
been working as a substitute teacher this year. It has been the most exciting, eventful, changing,
stressful, fun, difficult, challenging, and hilarious job I’ve had. I have felt like a vagrant teacher; I
have felt like a nomadic teacher.
I have no “home” school; I have no consistent schedule. And the work can be far more difficult
than what my paycheck indicates.
Clearly, I have
truly enjoyed it, or else I probably wouldn’t force my facebook friends to read
daily updates and “moments” from my days in the classroom. I always have a story to tell by the
day’s end.
But I don’t post
everything on facebook. Like when
I line the class up to head to music, only to realize I don’t know where the
music room is and I receive 12 different answers from Kindergarteners about
where the music room is located. I
don’t tell you about the times I abandon an entire lesson plan because, well,
things just aren’t working. I
don’t tell you about the times I can’t find the materials and forgo the science
lesson that was supposed to take place at 10:45. I don’t tell you about the days I end feeling worn out and
ineffective. Simply put, I don’t
tell you about my faults as a substitute.
The definition
of substitute is, “one that takes the place of another; a replacement.” This is precisely what I do on a daily
basis. I take the place of a
teacher who is sick, who is out of town, who is at a meeting, or taking care of
sick kids at home. Being a “substitute” is difficult due to its own definition;
it’s hard to take the place of someone else.
When I serve as
a substitute, I make a lot of mistakes.
I simply cannot be the exact
replacement of another teacher. I
can’t count how many times I’ve been told “that’s not how Mrs. So-And-So does
it!” I don’t know how to run each
teacher’s “math warm-up.” I often
struggle to figure out the password to the copy machine. I don’t line up the students like they
usually do to go to lunch. I
probably tell too many jokes. I am an imperfect substitute.
I was thinking
about this the other day: I come into a classroom, do my best to decipher
(sometimes seriously lacking) substitute plans, and leave the day not being all
too responsible for what happened (or what DIDN’T happen) during the day. I always end my sub notes with something
along the lines of “don’t hesitate to call me with any questions about the
day,” but I know they really won’t call because the moment that teacher walks
back in the room, they are back to being responsible for their students and I
am out of the picture, at least until the next 24 hour flu comes their way.
So what makes a
“perfect” substitute? A perfect
substitute is a complete replacement; a perfect substitute wholly takes the place
of another; a perfect substitute does not leave any loose ends; a perfect
substitute leaves nothing more to be desired. Sound familiar?
Jesus is our complete replacement, wholly takes our place, does not
leave any loose ends, and leaves nothing more to be desired.
During this
Easter holiday, this truth becomes a focus of many. Rather than give us the punishment due our sins, we are
offered the perfect substitute requiring only one thing: saying “OK.” All we have to do is believe and accept
the gift of perfect substitution.
We don’t have to write sub plans (we don’t need to come up with an
elaborate way to accept this gift; we can simply say “OK”), don’t have to make
copies ahead of time in case the substitute can’t figure out the copy machine
(we don’t need to have all our ducks in a row before we are eligible for this
gift), and we don’t have to worry about the issues of student problems and
unfinished lessons when we come back (this gift will never be revoked, even
when we continue to sin).
Our substitute
is complete and enduring. And the
sub notes? They look something
like this:
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who
believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing
in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25, 26)
