Living Out Isaiah 61

Wednesday evening, a few Oil of Gladness members collected in my sitting room.  The kitchen door was open, waiting for more people to arrive, but none came.  Only four of us sat there... quiet, until Sam made us all look at our TLT Action Plan.  We are all supposed to memorize Isaiah 61:1-3 because that is the passage from which we chose our name.

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim 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,^[a]
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 joy (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.

 

After really searching through this passage and having a great Bible study, we started wondering if Oil of Gladness is living up to its name.  We began thinking that maybe we need to change our ministry approach. Yes, we are a great praise team, and churches love it when we lead worship, but are we doing all the things we are called to do?  We spent time in prayer and worship together and slowly a new plan came.  Especially as we deeply looked into what it means to provide for those who grieve in Zion.

Moses and his girls came in the house near the end of the meeting, and he led us on the piano, singing together I Surrender All we felt the Spirit leading us in a new direction.

So last night, five of us hopped into Sam's car, with a few shakers, a local drum, and a guitar...  no fancy sound system, no microphones... just our voices, hearts, and Bibles.  Followed by another member on a motorcycle, we arrived at the Sub-Dean's house.  He is one of the leaders of the local Anglican church here and we knew that he was not feeling well.  We bought some medicine and oranges and spontaneously arrived for a truly awesome evening of worship.  We wanted to bless this church leader and encourage him in his faith and ministry.  It was inspiring, sitting in his living room, sharing God's Word and the old hymns together.  His dear wife also blessed us with tea and bread and surprisingly we each went home with a bag of peanuts. 

"Mama, how many years have we been married?" the Sub-Dean asked.

"Thirty-two," she replied.

"And have we ever had an evening like this in this house?"

"No," she said with a smile.

With his hands held to his chest in thanksgiving, he asked us all to kneel on his floor.  We were all given an emotional benediction.

I am so personally touched by last night's sweet fellowship.  I have a feeling that the band is going to completely switch direction and focus, because we dug a little deeper in to God's powerful Word!