The separation of church and state is rooted in the Scripture in the declaration of Jesus: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Mk. 12:17). It was defined by Roger Williams in the seventeenth century when he referred to a "hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world." And it was codified in the First Amendment to the constitution which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

I believe in the separation of church and state. However, in this worship service, as we gather to celebrate our nation's 219th birthday, I want to take another approach. I want to talk about the point at which church and state come together.

The point at which church and state come together is not in our belief in God, for we have many different understandings of God prevailing in America today, and we always have. The point at which church and state come together is not in our understanding of morality, for there is a wide divergence in the ethical understanding of Americans today, from those who think it is a sin for a woman to wear makeup to those who think it is a sin for a woman not to wear makeup! Where church and state come together is not in our theology and not in our morality but in our love for and belief in and commitment to freedom.

At the heart of our nation is a commitment to freedom.

The force that compelled our forefathers to come to this land was not only their love for God but their desire for freedom. The power that prompted our forefathers to resist England and establish a new nation was not simply a desire to be good but a desire to be free.

Freedom was one of the inalienable rights mentioned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, the first right guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, the name given to our nation in the closing phrase of the Star Spangled Banner. America is the "land of the free," a nation which guarantees the right of freedom to all its citizens: freedom to choose, freedom to think, freedom to speak, freedom to be different, freedom to live.

I read again this week Patrick Henry's famous speech which was delivered in 1775 to the Second Revolutionary Convention of Virginia. He concluded the speech with these striking words: "Is life so dear and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Patrick Henry epitomized the central commitment that has driven the grand experiment called the United States -- our love for, belief in and commitment to freedom.

Likewise, at the heart of biblical faith is a commitment to freedom.

In the Old Testament, from the time God sent Moses to deliver the Hebrews from slavery to the time God brought back the Hebrews from Babylonian captivity, He has revealed Himself to be a "let-my-people-go" kind of God.