5:11-14
The text opens by rebuking the reading community for their lack of maturation, which prevents further teaching. The rebuke is not based on the level that they are at, but on the level they are at in relation to the time that they have been disciples! The implication is that Christians should grow over time. The longer they walk behind Jesus, they should demonstrate fruitful growth. This is very challenging to the notion that seems all too common that Christianity is about being saved, and then you just coast along until you die and go to heaven. Against that view Hebrews presupposes that we are increasingly changed as long as we remain faithful. The author is astonished that the readers haven't matured further, and they need milk, not solid food. He characterizes their condition as being unacquainted with the "teaching about righteousness." Perhaps this can be understood to mean that they are unacquainted with the understandings that they need to become more righteous.
6:1-3
The writer then continues that line of thought by encouraging the readers to leave behind elementary teachings about Christ in pursuit of greater maturity. That line of thought becomes quite interesting when we look a the list of foundations that don't need to be relaid. the writer includes several dimensions which seem to be primarily concerned with either acts of initiation (repentance, faith, baptisms, the laying on of hands) or with things that would occupy the minds of new converts (the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment). The writer is not encouraging the readers to change their beliefs or doctrines about those issues, or to take them lightly, but simply to deepen and expand their faith to encompass more than these basic elements. It is easy for discussion of such matters to preoccupy those whose faith should have moved on! Gratefully, the author expresses the conviction that by God's will we will do so.
this section provides us with an opportunity to ask in what ways our own understanding of faith is deepening, growing. are we moving forward, or is our understanding pretty much the same as it was when we first believed? There is an interesting place for discussion here where class members share what kinds of growth they have experienced, what brought that growth on, what it has meant to them, etc. Why does our growth stall at times, what provokes us to greater growth?
6:4-6
The text moves from this catalog of elementary foundations to a discussion of those who have fallen away. It seems a little random and out of place, but the connection is that those who stagnate, who stop growing, are really not that far away from falling back. Stagnation allows other things to crowd out our hearts, our vision, our passion. Also, this passage serves to show us the difference between being initiated into being Christians, and beginning the journey of discipleship. those who are initiated then turn away to something else flaunt the sacrifice of Jesus which was for their sins. Those who are pursue maturity are contrasted by this, because their lives bring about praise for God, and they lead lives of increasing righteousness.
6:7-8
It seems random, but the text then moves to a very telling metaphor about land. On one side you have land that receives God's blessing because it takes God's gift of rain and produces something that is useful to those for whom it is farmed. On the other hand is some land that, even though it presumably has received the same rain, only becomes a briar patch. It's uselessness means that it is in danger of being cleared by fire. The metaphor hear encourages us to take advantage of those things which God gives us and can lead us to become fruitful, and challenges us to check what we are producing...fruit or thorns?
I think this section could spark discussion about what kinds of things class members perceive God has given them as "rain". What does it mean to drink in the rain? That could be a powerful metaphor for how we interact with the Word. I want to become a person who drinks in the rain often falling on me, and who produces a crop useful for those for whom I am farmed.
6:9-12
this section closes this whole rebuke by softening the blow a bit, giving the readers some assurance that the author really does believe in them, and recognizes the work they have done and the love they have shown as they have helped God's people. They are encouraged to remain diligent in order to have a sure hope. So here the section concludes by calling their attention back to the theme of faithfulness and perseverance. By faithfulness they become able to claim the promises of God b imitating those who have already claimed such promises. This leads the reader to flesh out the meaning of God's promise a little more clearly.
6:13-20
I don't have much to say about this section, since it seems relatively straightforward. the important element is that the writer continues to pound away at how firm God's promise is. The faithful simply must take a confident posture towards God, not based on their own actions, but based on God's certainty. God has arranged things so that we may be greatly encouraged!I also find this section inspiring, with some really beautiful language. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. God does not will us to be cowering, fearful, pitiful beings. He intends us to be confident, assured, hopeful.
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