In this sermon, Basilia Schlink emphasizes the love of Jesus Christ and his act of washing the disciples' feet as a demonstration of his lowliness. She encourages listeners to accept Jesus' offer of lowliness and choose his way in everyday life. Schlink shares a story about a carpenter who struggled with injustice and received a word about the lowliness of Jesus. When the carpenter chose to embrace Jesus' lowliness, his difficult coworker was transformed and became quiet and friendly. Schlink concludes by urging listeners to surrender to Jesus' way of lowliness, as it brings peace, joy, and great fruit in eternity.

God lives and works today. He can totally change and transform people's lives if only they let him. Would you like your life to be different? Would you like to see some changes in the people around you? Today's meditation by Basilia Schlenk will tell what you can do to bring about these changes. Our Lord Jesus Christ has loved us more than any human being could ever love us. His disciple John writes about his love, saying, Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. In the last hour of his time on earth, he showed his love by laying upon the hearts of his disciples and upon ours today what he regards as the most important, the most precious thing for our lives. Jesus knelt down before his disciples and washed their feet. In this way he imprinted upon their hearts and ours the fact that our lives are to be marked by his lowliness. But what does it look like in everyday life when we accept Jesus' offer of lowliness and choose his way? I know a carpenter who is a good man and loved the Lord very much, but he simply couldn't bear injustice in humble silence. Once, when he came to a retreat on Canaan, he received a saying for the coming year about the lowliness of Jesus. Your Lord and Savior is Jesus the Lamb. Be gentle, and as a man of meekness, you shall rule over others and govern with authority by the Spirit of the Lamb. Struck by the seriousness of this word, he immediately thought of one of his workers who was so hard to get along with. A battle started to rage in his heart. What would happen if he went the way of Jesus' lowliness while this worker was there? Wouldn't the other person get the upper hand even more and push him into a corner? In his prayer time, the carpenter read this word about the lowliness of Jesus over and over again. Finally, he struggled in prayer, saying, Jesus, you are the most lowly one of all. Please stay in my thoughts. I want to choose your way of lowliness, no matter what it costs. With this surrender, the carpenter went to work the next morning. And what happened? The other worker was suddenly completely changed. Instead of quarreling and arguing and trying to humiliate the carpenter, he was quiet and friendly. He silently did the work he was told to. It was the same way the following days. It seemed as though an evil power that had ruled over the worker had been broken. The carpenter could only be amazed. He had never expected Jesus' response to be so real. But this is the way Jesus acts. All of us may experience this if we accept his offer of lowliness and are prepared to choose Jesus' way in everyday life, in living together with difficult people, whether it be at home or at work. That can be painful. But at the same time, it brings peace and joy to us and others with whom we work and live. And in eternity, it brings great fruit and glory. For Jesus has promised us, Yes, blessed are those who are willing to humble themselves and follow Jesus on this way of lowliness. This program by Basilea Schlink has come to you from the Little Land of Canaan. If you would like a free leaflet by the same author, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85028-4099 or you can email me at basileashlink.org. That's God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85028-4099. God bless you.