I. Introduction

A. Illustration – I have to confess that I’m a little uncomfortable with today’s topic. I think we all tend to feel a bit uncomfortable with things we can’t figure out, don’t we? And I haven’t got this whole healing thing figured out. I know of folks who God has miraculously healed, either physically or emotionally or spiritually, in an instant. I know of others who have experienced a more gradual healing over a period of years. And I know others, like myself, whom God has not chosen to heal physically. He has worked spiritual and emotional healing in my life and in the lives of others I know, but it’s not complete yet and He hasn’t chosen to heal the physical. About all I can figure out is that who and why God heals is totally up to Him, and that He has some form of healing, whether physical or emotional or mental or spiritual, for all of us. With that in mind, let’s read together Isaiah 61:1-4, remembering that this is the passage Jesus said was fulfilled in Himself. I’m reading from the New International Version, and you can follow along in your own.

B. Isaiah 61:1-4 from NIV – The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has appointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

C. Remember, Jesus said that this passage applies to Himself. But it also applies to us as well. We are called, as Christ-followers, to be Spirit-anointed healers of our world. Let me explain.

II. Healing for Ruined Lives

A. Verse one – The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me. Did you know that the word sovereign means “having supreme power or rank”? Think about it. The highest ranking, most powerful Being in the universe has put His Spirit into the hearts of those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. What kind of power do you think that Spirit within us would have? Supreme. Preeminent. The greatest power in the universe. If the Spirit of the most powerful Being in the universe is in us, we can do anything and everything He calls us to do. Why? Because it’s His power, not ours. Power greater than any military weapon. Power greater than anything man can produce. And it’s in us. Why?

B. Going on – The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. God’s powerful anointing is on us! In the Bible, to anoint someone was to give them your authority. Since God has anointed us, He has given us His authority to do proclaim a message to the people on earth who need it the most – the poor. There are many kinds of poor – financially poor, emotionally poor, spiritually poor, mentally poor. But there is one message of good news, and He has anointed us to preach it. To preach means to urge acceptance of or compliance to, so you don’t have to stand up in front at church to preach. You preach in how you live, how you comfort others in times of need, how you share what God has given you with those in need. There are many ways to preach. I believe it was St. Francis of Assisi who said “Preach always; if necessary use words.” We have God’s Spirit and anointing to proclaim His good news.

C. So what is that good news? He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Now when we think of binding up we tend to think of tying someone up, of something negative. In this passage binding up refers to a wrapping of wounds. We all know how many times wounds will not heal unless they’re wrapped, so how much more a broken heart! We are called and anointed to bring healing to broken hearts, to let Jesus’ love so shine through us by the power of the Holy Spirit that healing will come to all who are brokenhearted. We’ve all more likely than not had our hearts broken – I know I have many times. We all know how badly that hurts, the incredibly deep wounds that are left behind, and how much of a work of love it takes to heal that brokenness. When we love the brokenhearted with God’s anointing and power, those deep wounds begin to heal. God has sent us to bring healing to the brokenhearted by the power and anointing of His Holy Spirit.

D. There’s more. To proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. What is it that makes a captive of every man, woman and child on this planet? Sin. What have we been called and anointed to proclaim? Freedom from sin. Release from the spiritual darkness that imprisons those who are enslaved to sin. If we have a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ, then we have been freed from bondage to sin and are called and anointed to proclaim that freedom to others. All of the power of the most powerful Being in the universe is available to us to break the bondage of sin in our own lives and to help others break that bondage too. All we have to do is to obey that call, to receive that anointing. Like many things in life, it’s a lot easier said than done. We like to hang on to sin, not because we like spiritual darkness, but because at least it’s something familiar and we’re scared of what life will be like if we leave it behind. It’s kind of like Linus in the Peanuts comic strip hanging on to his blanket. Rather than grow up and leave his blanket behind, Linus has totally adjusted his life so that he can include his blanket in everything he does. In the movie Mr. Mom, one of the boys hangs on to his “Woobie” even though it’s grimy and ripped and looks like it came from the garbage dump. This kid can’t even stand to let go of it long enough for it to be washed. Sin gets very comfortable to us because, even though it’s stinky and dirty, it’s something we know. Jesus came to bring us to a greater experience of love and freedom in Him, and that’s a far better life than being stuck with sin. We’re called and anointed to experience and proclaim that freedom from sin that Jesus brings.

E. Moving on – to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of the vengeance of our God. How is this connected with what we’ve been talking about? All of mankind is given a choice – to renounce sin and receive Christ’s free gift of salvation and a transformed life, or to refuse to do so and experience God’s judgment for sin. Binding up the brokenhearted and proclaiming freedom for captives of sin and prisoners of spiritual darkness are ways we proclaim the year of God’s favor. Ever since Jesus Christ was born as one of us and died for our sins, we’ve been in a season of God’s grace, His unmerited favor, that’s not going to last forever. Jesus will return to judge the world, and it’s our calling and anointing to prepare people for His return by proclaiming His message. I believe one of the things we will be judged for when we die or He returns, whichever comes first, is whether or not we devoted our lives to preparing people for His return. There’ve been times in my life when I’ve done a pretty good job of it and lots of times in my life when I’ve done a lousy job of it. What matters an awful lot is where we keep our focus. Do we focus on why we’re here, or do we focus on other things? We’ve got to focus on God’s end result – taking someone who doesn’t know God and being God’s instruments in transforming that person into Christlikeness. Nothing else will prepare a person for judgment day. We are called and anointed to prepare people for Christ’s return by proclaiming His good news of healing and transformation.

F. Isn’t it awesome and an incredible responsibility that God has placed on us? But remember – with God’s anointing comes God’s power. Let’s read on – to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. How do we comfort those who mourn? 2 Corinthians 1:4 – He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. God comforts us, and He calls and anoints us so that we can comfort others. We can provide comfort for those who mourn by the power of His Spirit within us. We can help them trade the symbols of grief and mourning for those of blessing. In Bible times, Jewish people poured ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning and despair. We can help them wear Christ’s beauty as a crown that overshadows their grief. Jewish people would go around without washing or celebrating in time of grief and despair. In good times, olive oil would be poured over the head so the sweet smell would permeate every fiber of their beings. We can help them pour the oil of God’s persistent presence over themselves that infills and blesses them even in times of mourning. Jewish people would put on sackcloth, a form of rough burlap, as their clothing during times of mourning and despair. We can help them put on a garment of praise to celebrate God’s goodness during tough times. We are called and anointed to be God’s instruments of comfort and provision during those times in people’s lives. We can be God’s blessing to our grieving world by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

G. It gets ever better – They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. God is promising that those we proclaim His good news to, those we help to be released from bondage to sin, those we comfort in their mourning, will be planted as firmly in their righteousness as oak trees in their soil. That’s exciting! And it all depends on two things – our obedience in proclaiming the truth, and their obedience in beginning a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ and allowing Him to transform their hears and lives. God will plant them firmly. It’s up to them to stay healthy in Him. We have an oak tree right by our mailbox here – I’m sure many of you have seen it. But there’s a problem with that tree. Rot has set in. That tree will have to be cut down to keep from branches falling and killing or hurting someone. I think you can probably see the spiritual parellel here. We can be firmly planted in God’s righteousness, growing in Him, and yet at some point allow the rot of sin to set in and destroy the work He has been doing in us. We probably all know folks like that. Let’s make sure we all stay planted in and feeding from God’s righteousness.

H. Verse four – They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. To me this is one of the most powerful parts of the passage. This is a promise from God to rebuild the sin-devastated parts of our hearts and lives. What an incredible promise! One time a while back I was really struggling when I read this passage during my regular Bible reading. Usually I stopped the passage at verse three, but I felt the Spirit of God saying to me, “Verse four is My promise to you and to those you love that I will rebuild and renew those parts of you that have been devastated by sin.” I remember weeping for a long time, in fact, as I was writing this sermon tears came to my eyes once again. Joel 2:25 says I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. Again, a powerful affirmation of what God wants to do in our hearts and lives. We may have been bound by generations of sin and godlessness. God will free us and rebuild and renew those areas of our hearts and lives that have been devastated by sin. We may have been bound for years by habitual sin. God will free us and rebuild and renew those areas of our hearts and lives that have been devastated by sin. We are God’s instruments, called and anointed, to bring renewal and rebuilding into the hearts, lives and spirits of those long-devastated by sin. Because God rebuilds and renews us, we can rebuild and renew others.

I. Illustration – Oswald Chambers wrote, The Spirit of God is always the spirit of liberty; the spirit that is not of God is the spirit of bondage, the spirit of oppression and depression. The Spirit of God convicts vividly and tensely, but He is always the Spirit of liberty. God who made the birds never made birdcages; it is men who make birdcages, and after a while we become cramped and can do nothing but chirp and stand on one leg. When we get out into God's great free life, we discover that that is the way God meant us to live "the glorious liberty of the children of God (as cited on PreachingToday.com).

J. God has set us free, and has called us to proclaim that wonderful message throughout our world. But often we either forget about our freedom or get ourselves trapped into bondage again. And we need healing, the healing only He can bring. Do you want to be healed?

III. Conclusion

A. If you believe that Jesus is the One who was born to heal us, and you would like prayer to be healed for anything, physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, come forward now and I’ll anoint you with oil and pray for you. There is no stigma attached at all to anybody coming forward, because all of us need healing in some part of our hearts and lives. So if you’d like to be anointed and prayed for, please come forward now.

B. Let’s pray together.