“Gentlemen, this is a football.” That’s what Vince Lombardi told the Green Bay Packers in 1961, reminding them of the importance of the fundamentals of the game. And that’s what the author of this letter was telling the “Hebrews,” the first-century Christians of Jewish descent, who were being tempted to turn away from Jesus and to go back to the synagogue teachings that were based on religious rituals and legalistic ethics.

So, in the middle of his explanation of how Jesus is our Great High Priest, and how He is similar to the Old Testament figure Melchizedek (to which we’ll return in tomorrow’s passage), our author stops to remind us of some basics. What’s really important is repentance, turning away from our sins and turning back to God. What’s really important is faith, trusting Christ to be our Savior and Lord (6:1). What’s really important, in spite of all the troubles and persecutions we may be facing, is to trust in God the same way that Abraham did, patiently waiting for Him and relying on His promises to protect us today and to return to this world to make all things right (6:15).

So, why is all this so important? Because the sad truth is that, once we have learned the fundamentals of the game, we can take our eye off the ball. For we all know folks who have heard the truth about Jesus and who have gotten a taste of the means of grace – the consolation of prayer, the truth of the Holy Scriptures, the assurance of the Sacraments, and the comfort of the fellowship of the saints – but have then turned away from Him. Having been effectively inoculated against the gospel of grace, they become easy prey for all sorts of false faith – legalism, materialism, stoicism, cynicism, Romanticism.

But the good news is that Lombardi gave his speech to the Green Bay Packers after the 1960 season, when Bart Starr had led them to 8 wins, and to an appearance in the championship game. And the Packers would go on to win 11 games in 1961 and 13 games in 1962, also winning the NFL championship in both seasons. Lombardi thus took his team back to basics because he was sure of his team’s abilities, just as our author was confident in the faith of his readers (6:9). He drew their attention back to the fundamentals not to discourage them, but to inspire them to even greater faith, hope and patience (6:11-12).

So today, let’s keep our eye on the ball. Let’s fasten our faith on Christ, resting in His promises and hoping in His salvation. And let’s express that faith and hope in love for Him and for others, living out our repentance in obedience and service, in prayer and praise.

Hebrews 5:11-6:20 (ESV)

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3 And this we will do if God permits.
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things– things that belong to salvation.
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.