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Pushy and Demanding                        Mark 10: 46-52                   October 25, 2009

Ron Popeil is perhaps the greatest TV "pitchman" of all time. He is familiar to anyone who has watched an infomercial on late-night TV as the inventor of - and chief salesman for - the famous Ronco Showtime Rotisserie and Bar-B-Q, the countertop oven that sells, not for $400, or $375, or $350 or even for $200. It sells for four easy monthly payments of $39.95.

Popeil's oven just may be, in the words of The New Yorker magazine's Malcolm Gladwell, "dollar for dollar, the finest kitchen appliance ever made."

But as fine an appliance as the Showtime Rotisserie may be, its success has little to do with its ease of use, its sturdy construction or its patented two-pronged spit rod. Lots of gadgets are easy to use, lots are sturdy and virtually all come with all sorts of bells and whistles. The success of the Showtime is a direct result of the consummate skill of Ron Popeil - his unparalleled ability to make viewers on QVC and other similar channels happily take out their wallets, call in and make a purchase. Popeil, in point of fact, closes the deal as well as any salesman ever has.

Popeil gets his skill as a kitchen appliance pitchman honestly. His great uncle, Nathan Morris, worked the boardwalk in Asbury Park, in Atlantic City and in the five-and-dimes and county fairs up and down the Atlantic coast selling kitchen gadgets, and his father, whom he barely knew and to whom he barely spoke, interestingly enough; his father, S.J. Popeil, brought the world the Dial-O-Matic, the Chop-O-Matic and the Veg-O-Matic.

And Ron's success as a pitchman has exceeded all those before him in the family - or anyone else's, for that matter.

He produced the first television infomercial for the Showtime Rotisserie in 1998, and it has literally been running ever since, often in the wee hours of the morning, alongside the get-rich-with-real-estate schemes and re-runs of The Cosby Show and Home Improvement. Sales have already passed the $1 Billion mark.

"He didn't use a single focus group. He had no market researchers, Madison Avenue advertising companies or business consultants. He simply dreamed up something new in his kitchen and went out and pitched it himself." *

Yes, I think it's safe to say, Ron Popeil's is one great story.

Our Gospel lesson for this morning is another great story - the story of Blind Bartimaeus, one of the Bible's greatest Pitchmen.

The story happens, Mark tells us, in Jericho. A city less than 20 miles from Jerusalem, the end of Jesus' final journey. Evidently, nothing significant happened in this ancient city on the West Bank of the Jordan - at least nothing worthy of mention. But as Jesus, his disciples and what Mark simply describes as "a large crowd" are leaving Jericho, a very significant encounter unfolds.

As Jesus is leaving Jericho, Mark tells us, there is a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road.

The beggar's name is Bartimaeus - son of Timaeus.

Blind Bartimaeus hears all the commotion of the crowd. He can hear their voices, the movements of their bodies, the rustling of their clothes. He can hear the laughter and the conversation. He knows that a big crowd is passing by.

So blind Bartimaeus asks what all the commotion is about, and he is told that the famous miracle-worker, Jesus from Nazareth, is passing by.

Jesus from Nazareth! When Bartimaeus hears who is at the center of the crowd, an impulse erupts from within him. Blind Bartimaeus shouts at the top of his lungs. He literally bellows out, "Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

He shouts out so loudly that everybody can hear him.

Jesus hears him. The Disciples hear him. Everybody hears him.

Now, many people don't particularly like the blind beggar calling out so loudly and rudely at the top of his lungs - they don't like the idea that a blind beggar could be so pushy and demanding - so they tell him to "quiet down, tone it down, keep your mouth shut."

And what does Blind Bartimaeus do in response? He shouts all the more loudly, "Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me."

And, lo and behold, it works. Jesus, when he hears Bartimaeus shouting over the noise of the crowd, stops doing what he is doing and says, "Call him. Bring him here to me."

Jesus didn't shout back to Bartimaeus. He quietly says, "Call him," and the crowd responds. They call the blind beggar and tell him, "Take heart, get up, he is calling you."

We can only imagine what goes through Bartimaeus' mind when he hears those comforting words, "take heart; get up, he is calling you."

His actions, though, are clear. He doesn't just calmly stand and walk over to Jesus. He jumps up, leaving his cloak behind.

Bartimaeus is one eager blind man. He knows that he is going to be healed. He feels it in his bones. Loud, pushy, demanding Bartimaeus jumps up when he hears Jesus acknowledge his cry for mercy. Then, when Jesus asks him, "What do you want me to do for you?" he asks for the order, without hesitation. He tells Jesus exactly what he wants: "My teacher," he says, "let me see again."

Finally, Jesus, who can spot a hypocrite at 100 paces, does exactly what Bartimaeus asks. Recognizing his trust and his sincerity, Jesus says to him, "Go; your faith has made you well."

And immediately Bartimaeus regains his sight and follows Jesus.

A pitchman, writes Malcolm Gladwell, "must be able to execute what in pitchman's parlance is called "the turn" - the perilous, crucial moment where he goes from entertainer to businessman. The pitchman must make you applaud and take out your money." **

Obviously, Blind Bartimaeus did not ask Jesus for money. But he got exactly what he wanted from Jesus because, like a good pitchman, he executed the turn. He asked for the order. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He was confident that he would be healed if he got Jesus' attention. So he was pushy and demanding and loud.

Mark doesn't say that there were other blind beggars beside the road outside of Jericho - but I bet that there were. Bartimaeus stands out from the rest because he was willing to shout out and ask Jesus for mercy. Bartimaeus stands out from the rest because he had great faith.

Jesus almost certainly would have been compassionate toward all of the blind beggars, but he didn't walk down the road healing everyone he encountered. He healed only Bartimaeus. The one who showed the depth of his faith by being pushy and demanding and loud.

One scholar puts it this way: "Bartimaeus offers us a portrait of faith, and this is what faith looks like.

• " Faith is needy. Faith is eager. Faith is assertive. Faith is hopeful.
• " Faith is impetuous and persistent and risky and raw.
• " Faith is personal and relational.
• " Faith is about God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves, and faith is about us, out of dumbstruck gratitude, doing for God what only we can do." ***

I believe God wants all of us to be healed. Healed so we can be God's followers.

But if we simply sit beside the road and silently endure our blindness, or our brokenness, or whatever suffering we might currently experience, the healing may not come.

The example of Blind Bartimaeus teaches us that not only is it OK to be pushy and demanding and loud when it comes to asking Jesus to heal us, it is what he expects.

May we, like Bartimaeus, jump up and ask for the order. May we shout, "Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me."

And may we also take note: the healing Jesus freely gives is never the end of the story.

Mark did not casually choose his words about what Bartimaeus did after he is healed. Bartimaeus, Mark writes, "regained his sight and followed him - followed Jesus - on the way."

The next scene in Mark's Gospel is Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The "way" on which Bartimaeus follows Jesus is the way to the cross.

Healing, Mark reminds us, always needs to be followed by discipleship. And 'lest we forget, on the third Sunday in our four-Sunday stewardship season, discipleship requires stewardship.

So, my friends; be pushy and demanding and loud. Demand to be healed. Expect to be healed. And then respond to that healing in proportion to the gift so generously given.

                                                                             AMEN

* "The Pitchman," by Malcolm Gladwell, from his book, What the Dog Saw, p. 9
** Ibid, p. 12
*** Susan Andrews, from a sermon entitled "How Eager Are You?" Day1.org, 10-26-03

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