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b'(Is.45:1,4-6;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.96:1,3-5,7-10;\\xa0\\xa0 1Thes.1:1-5b;\\xa0\\xa0 Mt.22:15-21) \\xa0 \\u201cI am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me.\\u201d \\xa0 Oh brothers and sisters, how clear our Scripture today makes it that \\u201cgreat is the Lord and highly to be praised; awesome is He beyond all gods.\\u201d\\xa0 Indeed there is no other God.\\xa0 It is He who grasped the \\u201cright hand\\u201d of even the pagan king, Cyrus, \\u201csubduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service.\\u201d\\xa0 The heart of this king and all kings and all lands are in His hands \\u2013 He alone rules all nations!\\xa0 Do you see this?\\xa0 Do you understand that if He calls this foreigner by \\u201cname, giving [him] a title,\\u201d that there is none that is beyond His reach, that is not under His eye?\\xa0 By the Lord\\u2019s power this pagan has conquered the nations of the world.\\xa0 And why?\\xa0 Why does He arm him who knows Him not?\\xa0 \\u201cSo that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none beside [Him].\\u201d Our psalmist sings so well of the singular power of the Lord God: \\u201cAll the gods of the nations are things of naught, but the Lord made the heavens.\\u201d\\xa0 Again I ask, do you see this?\\xa0 All nations recognize Him who made the heavens and the earth; even these \\u201ctremble before Him.\\u201d\\xa0 And so all are called to \\u201ctell His glory among the nations, among all peoples, His wondrous deeds.\\u201d\\xa0 For all must be encouraged to \\u201cgive the Lord the glory due His name\\u201d; all must be offered the honor of knowing the greatness of our God. One of these nations who have come to knowledge of the one God we hear of in our second reading.\\xa0 Paul calls the Thessalonians \\u201cbrothers and sisters loved by God\\u201d for their \\u201cwork of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ.\\u201d\\xa0 He gives thanks to God the Father that this Gentile people has come to faith in Him \\u201cwith much conviction.\\u201d\\xa0 What has been proclaimed so long now bears fruit.\\xa0 For even the millennium before our psalmist had called the \\u201cfamilies of nations\\u201d to \\u201cbring gifts, and enter His courts,\\u201d to \\u201cworship the Lord in holy attire.\\u201d\\xa0 None has ever been barred from adoring Him who is the One God and Father of all.\\xa0 But now the Gospel comes not \\u201cin word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.\\u201d\\xa0 Now the word is anointed by Jesus\\u2019 blood.\\xa0 So now all nations indeed come before Him, giving \\u201cthe Lord glory and praise.\\u201d And when Jesus says, \\u201cRepay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,\\u201d He does not remove anything from under God\\u2019s domain.\\xa0 For even the things of Caesar are in God\\u2019s hands (as is the coin between Jesus\\u2019 fingers today), as the Son makes clear in His words before Pilate: \\u201cYou would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above\\u201d (Jn.19:11).\\xa0 And, \\u201cthe Lord is King\\u201d and King is His Son, and \\u201cHe governs the peoples with equity.\\u201d\\xa0 Let all declare the glory of Him besides whom \\u201cthere is no other.\\u201d Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The World Is a Work of Art (Made by the Hand of God)" (1st half) from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, all the earth belongs to you; let us run in the way you command, ever giving praise to the glory of your NAME.\\xa0 YHWH, there is none beside you \\u2013 you are the Most High God, the only God, the living God\\u2026 and greatly should we praise you.\\xa0 We should worship you alone, for you alone are worthy of worship.\\xa0 O let us sing to you all the day long! All the nations are in your hands, LORD and God; all kings run in the way you lead them.\\xa0 There is none above your power or beyond your reach \\u2013 the world is at your command.\\xa0 As Jesus holds the coin of Caesar between His fingers, so all this earth is under your power, to be disposed with as you desire. Send your Spirit into us, dearest LORD, O mighty God, that your power might come to us and conform us to your will, that we might labor each day for you and our poor work find your favor.\\xa0 Let us test you not, O LORD, but trust in your goodness toward us and be obedient to your Word. Praise you for your glory, LORD!\\xa0 Let all souls give you due praise, that we might join with you who made us, that we might share in your surpassing glory.'