Subject: Can the gravity of the Sun be used to magnify distant planets?

In his book, "Is Anybody Out There?" Astronomer Frank Drake briefly 
described a method by which the gravity of the Sun could be used to 
obtain images of very distant objects, such as solar systems with 
Earth-sized planets. A special telescope, at a very distant position 
beyond the orbit of Pluto, would be designed so as to detect and focus 
faint objects - and send signals of the images back to Earth. Images 
that are beyond the limits of present telescopes. I have not found 
additional articles or papers about this concept.
If such a scope existed, how would it work? Which way would observers 
look in relation to the focal point of the Sun's gravity? How does the 
Sun's gravity enlarge distant images? (One observation: Such a space 
telescope would have a lot of fail-safe devices; as robot or human 
repair missions to the borders of the Ort Cloud would be very difficult, 
though not impossible.) 

Re: Can the gravity of the Sun be used to magnify distant planets?