Sermon of the Day: An Oldie but a Goodie

Fatih is in the US by now, but before he left we met at the WZB on Thursday to discuss sermons in depth.  He brought with him a copy of the first sermon he ever preached back when he was just 15 years old.  The sermon was written by an imam from Turkey with a background in theater who was coaching Fatih on how to address an audience and communicate effectively (Fatih remembers that after he delivered this sermon, the imam gave him a discrete thumbs up).  Today Fatih is critical of the sermon, saying that it’s too poetic and not written using language that the average Turk could understand, but he’s still held onto it for over 10 years.

The sermon is on God’s mercy and the duty of Muslims to likewise have mercy on all those in need.  Who are the needy?  It’s interesting that the sermon describes the plight of widows, the elderly, orphans, and poor families living in “our villages and towns.”  Of course these are villages and towns back in Turkey, not in Germany (Fatih confirmed this).  The sermon goes on to chastise those who have lived it up in casinos and night clubs while those back in Turkey are suffering.  The price for this selfishness and debauchery?  God isn’t going to help you anymore.  No more embraces “with wings of mercy” or anything like that.  If you’re brazen enough to forget about those back home, you can kiss God’s mercy goodbye.

One of the goals of my project is to figure out just how representative sermons such as this one actually are.  Was it just a coincidence that the first sermon Fatih showed me made this kind of appeal?  Is it less common to hear such a message today now that German and Turkish officials are focusing more energy on economic and social integration?  This remains to be seen.