Once upon a time, well, to be more exact, on this day exactly two hundred and twenty-five years ago, Thomas Jefferson was pensive. As he paced back and forth across the room, the sweat on his brow was not just the result of the sweltering Philadelphia heat. He was worried that all their efforts would be for nothing. It had been over a year since they first gathered together, following the turmoil in Massachusetts, to discuss the idea of independence. It had been over a month since Richard Henry Lee, a fellow Virginian, had put forth the resolution for independence for the colonies, and Jefferson had been commissioned to write up the formal document. Now, in the room behind him, the representatives were debating every word he wrote. The Pennsylvania delegation, led by John Dickinson, had spent the entire morning tearing apart every idea Jefferson set out. Tensions and tempers seemed to simmer in the heat, and things were nearing the boiling point. Even those who favored independence fought with one another. Jefferson had almost come to blows with John Adams over the question of whether it was "inalienable" or "unalienable" rights. But the biggest issue was slavery-Jefferson wanted to offer a condemnation of the institution, but the Southern delegates refused to support the document with the inclusion of that clause. Even though he himself owned slaves, Jefferson thought the institution of slavery was incompatible with the statements set forth in the declaration about equality and freedom. Freedom. Jefferson imagined it-freedom from the king, freedom to govern themselves, to establish their own system of government. At liberty to follow one's own conscience and creed.

Little did Jefferson know exactly how powerful his words would become, just how influential his articulation of freedom would be. As you know, the delegates to the Continental Congress did finally agree and vote to support Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, without a condemnation of slavery. Their actions solidified the events of the American Revolution. But even more, Jefferson's powerful words about freedom and equality formed the cultural ethos for the new nation. The Declaration of Independence and the freedom it declares have shaped the cultural identity of the United States and of all who find their way to live within its borders.

Just think about the Declaration of Independence. How many of us have memorized its opening sentences in our elementary history classes? "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another," and so on and so forth. Most of us recognize it as soon as we here the opening line. And even if you forget how it goes, this famous sentence has been burned into our minds and hearts, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It's one of the most quoted lines in our country.

A commitment to freedom, to liberty for all, is the number one ingredient in American patriotism. Freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction. The power or right of acting according to choice. The Declaration turns our attention to our individual rights-the ability to live our lives unhindered by invasions of neighbors and government. This idea of freedom, first captured in the Declaration of Independence, grew and expanded throughout the history of our country into a prerequisite for happiness.

Just think about the ways this idea of freedom shapes American culture. Movies, books, TV and music contain an abundance of romantic visions of freedom and independence. Freedom dangles like a carrot on a string in every television commercial for a Sport Utility Vehicle. Almost every commercial I've seen shows a lone individual driving across rugged mountain terrain, unburdened by obligations to family and friends, free to go anywhere the heart desires. One of the commercials even has as the words to its jingle, "Freedom is coming!" through the ownership of an SUV to take you away from it all. It's well summarized in a pop song with the refrain, "Everybody wants to live, like they wanna live. Everybody wants to love, like they wanna love, and everybody wants to be, closer to free." If you can be free to do as you please, free from obligation, independent, then happiness must surely follow. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness blend together into one vision-happiness.

As much as we know the legacy of Independence Day and the cult of freedom, we also know that the Declaration of Independence did not grant that kind of freedom. It did not even grant political freedom to all who lived in the colonies. White men without property were forbidden from participating in government. Women were still subject to the absolute rule of their husbands or fathers. Native Americans were not free even to live on the land they had inhabited for centuries. And, the most glaring of them all, ships from Africa brought men and women in chains, bought and sold into a life of bondage as slaves. It took almost another 100 years after the Declaration of Independence to abolish slavery and grant freedom to hundreds of thousands of enslaved people.

When emancipation finally did make its way across the South behind the Union army in the Civil War, freedom seemed overwhelming to the newly-released slaves. What did it mean to be free? The most tangible way they found to understand their new status as free men and women was to exercise the freedom of movement. Freedom meant leaving the plantation whenever you wanted, with no explanation, no pass, no permission slip required. Moving became the most critical sign of freedom, and throughout the South, former slaves journeyed out. The roads were crowded with what seemed to be thousands of newly-freed men, women and children, making their way from place to place. To the white observers, this movement seemed aimless. The former slaves seemed lost without their masters, roaming around the countryside, scattering themselves from town to town. It looked as though the former slaves were simply seeking independence, and with their new liberty had set out to move away from anything that had bound them.

But first-hand narratives attest that something very different was actually going on. A great many of those on the roads set out immediately upon emancipation not to wander about, but to search for loved ones-to find mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunts and cousins who had been sold to neighboring plantations. Some traveled for months or even years, crossing thousands of miles on foot in order to reconnect with lost family members. From 1864 to 1866, thousands of men and women flocked to the Freedman's Bureau, seeking to register their marriages and the names of their children, to legally constitute a family. In freedom, they set out to establish firm and fixed relationships with those they loved. Freedom did not mean independence, like in the SUV commercial highlighting the rugged individual. Freedom was the opportunity to connect in loving relationship with one another, to bind together more firmly in love.

Here again these words from Paul: "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another."

This vision of freedom is not the rugged individual. This vision of freedom finds liberty in connectedness. These freed persons do not live in the fullness of their rights, but in the fullness of their relationships.

Turning our attention back to the Declaration of Independence, the familiar celebrations around the Fourth of July seem to point in the exact opposite direction. But upon closer examination, maybe not. Jefferson's powerful sentence about the self-evident truths, equality and unalienable rights, may be the most famous sentence in the Declaration, and the most eloquent one, but I believe it is not most outstanding testimony that document offers. I would like to turn our attention today to two other sections of the Declaration of Independence that were just as important to the founding of our country. One is the very first sentence, and the other is the very last.

Even before "when in the course of human events," there is another statement of great importance. It's in big print, right under the date, yet frequently readers skip right over it. The Declaration of Independence begins by labeling itself: "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." When it first gathered to discuss the idea of independence, the Continental Congress was most well-known for what they couldn't do-agree, on anything. They had been exchanging letters across the colonies for a number of years, but the delegates were never able to overcome their bickering to reach a unanimous decision on even one small point. Yet that venerable Massachusetts native, John Hancock, cast the deciding vote that declared any decision on independence, the biggest and most controversial vote of all, must be unanimous. John Adams and the other Massachusetts delegates were livid-they believed the requirement for a unanimous vote doomed any hope for a successful bid for independence. Hancock stood his ground. He stated without regret, that any declaration of independence without the full support of all 13 colonies was meaningless. So it took days of debate, many compromises, and a firm commitment, but in the end, the document begins: "the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." Never before had the colonies seen themselves as "united" in anything. To be independent, they had to stand together.

There is another critical line that is usually overlooked-the very last statement of the Declaration of Independence. The last sentence reads: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Not only did the Declaration need the support of all 13 colonies, it needed the personal dedication and commitment of the men who convened to vote and to sign it. They pledged their whole selves to this tentative union, this fragile confederation. Freedom meant sticking together, bearing the weight of their actions as a single body. Benjamin Franklin, that esteemed statesman who was baptized as an infant in this very Old South congregation, stated concisely at the signing of the Declaration, "We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

The Declaration of Independence is framed, in its first and last lines, as a Declaration of Interdependence. Freedom comes not through the release of independent wills, but the dedication of one's entire self to the building up of a new community. Freedom is not hampered by our interconnectedness, but it is formed within it, built upon our connections to one another. Here again from Paul: "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Freed slaves seek immediately to rebuild binding connections with family members. Those who declare independence find it only when they are inextricably linked to one another. Paul's words are not a commandment to curtail our liberties, but are a prescription for finding true liberty-freedom comes through relationship with one another.

So as we turn to this Fourth of July, with fireworks and barbecues, red, white and blue and the Boston Pops, let us celebrate that kind of freedom. Let us celebrate this Declaration of Interdependence, uniting with one another in God's world. As people of faith, we know that freedom in Christ does not pull us away from one another, but draws us closer together as God's children.

Freedom comes when we build relationships of love, and we are free from loneliness and isolation.

Freedom comes when we build networks of care, and we are free from worry about our safety.

Freedom comes when we share our resources, and we are free from fear of hunger or homelessness or want.

Freedom comes when we work together to make peace, and we are free from violence and war.

Freedom comes when we cultivate loving relationships, and we are free to be ourselves and know we are loved.

Freedom comes when we give ourselves completely to God, and we are free from anxiety about our future.

Freedom comes when we live in love, and you and me and all the children of the earth dwell in the loving arms of the Holy One.

So on this day, two hundred and twenty-five years ago, Thomas Jefferson was pensive. What were they getting themselves into? A new community, a new government, new alliances, new relationships. He continued to pace.

But we know what happens next-just three days later, the Continental Congress reached agreement, and declared themselves independent from England, and pledged themselves wholly to one another. A Declaration of Interdependence. It wasn't sufficient, and it didn't come close to reaching everyone, but it was a beginning, for freedom through relationship.

As we celebrate this Fourth of July, let us turn our attention not to our individual liberties, but to our common community. Therein lies the path to freedom.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

So be it.

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