Election Fear, Holiday Excess and the Way of St. Francis

Last updated on: October 6, 2026 at 2:27 pm by Rob Giannamore

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Election Fear, Holiday Excess and the Way of St. Francis 2026-10-06T14:27:14-04:00 Rob Giannamore

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Celebrating Saint Francis

Image taken by the author.

Miller’s Station UMC| October 4,2026| Anchor Verse: Matthew 10:7-10

Who Was St. Francis

As the story goes, Francis was born in 1181 CE to a wealthy family. His life was indulgent, and he enjoyed the luxuries afforded to him by his wealthy parents. As many of these tales go, he encounters what is described as a “beggar” and, feeling compassion towards this person, eschews his formerly wealthy lifestyle. After a stint in the military where he is taken prisoner of war, he returns home to resume his wealthy lifestyle, but again begins to become disillusioned and then has a vision that causes him to abandon his way of life and devote himself fully to God. Our passage today is often noted as a foundational passage for Francis.

Francis heard Christ’s command as a new way of life. Turning from the lavish life of luxury he once knew, he embraces humility, service, and kinship with the poor, the excluded, and the whole created world.

Today, as we close our series on creation and creation spirituality, we end a series, but we also set the stage for our preparation for two significant upcoming seasons – election and the consumer-driven holiday season. Francis challenges us to ask whom we serve and with what spirit we serve them. Care of creation is caring for the least of these. As we have seen, all of creation is sacred.

Models of Poverty and Simplicity

Turning to our passage today, Matthew 10:7–10 illustrates Jesus sending the disciples to proclaim that God’s reign has come near, to heal and restore, to give freely, and to

Image: St. Anthony of Padua Church. Stained glass. Saint Francis of Assisi wearing the stigmata. Vung Tau. Vietnam.
Courtesy Godong Photo on Adobe Stock.

travel without depending on possessions for security. I challenge you to take this passage with you this week and read it intentionally. Reading this over several times in preparation for this message, I found that four words or phrases stand out: Proclaim, restore, give freely and travel lightly. This too was one of the first passages I came across when I was still in high school and considering my call to ministry. These words resonate strongly today as much as they did thirty-five years ago.

When we proclaim God’s word, our words and the choice of our words matter. We are speaking on behalf of God and our words should make God’s nearness visible. If we are not speaking of love, we are just clanging gongs and noisy cymbals. The loudest voices in Christianity today want to exclude and make this love conditional; this is not the posture of Christ.

Our presence must be restorative. Our ministry must tend to the wounds of the excluded and help our communities become whole. We give freely because grace is gift to share, not a possession to protect. Finally, we must travel lightly. We must trust that God loosens the grip of status, comfort and accumulation. Our election season preys on our fears and insecurities, and the holiday season preys on the illusion of scarcity. But rest on this truth – God provides. We have all we need. Nobody is taking our jobs. And we need our natural spaces. If we are not taking seriously and modeling intentionally Matthew 10:7-10, we are missing Jesus’ point.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

In the prayer of St. Francis, Francis prays “make me an instrument of your peace.” Jesus in his sermon on the mount tells us that the peacemakers are blessed. Francis demonstrates to us that peacemaking is active ministry. Francis crossed boundaries and approached others with humility. Following Christ today means refusing contempt, listening before reacting, repairing relationships, and standing with those harmed by violence or division.

Peacemaking begins with us. Our politicians prey on our insecurity and then try to influence us to vote for them based on these insecurities. Our relationships can also be based on these insecurities. Peacemaking begins by asking where fear, resentment, or rivalry is shaping our relationships.

Peace is an intentional posture that challenges us to practice truthful speech without humiliation or hostility. With this posture in mind, we become reconcilers in homes, churches, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Finally, take this with you, peace is not avoiding conflict; it is pursuing justice, mercy, and restored communion. We cannot be complicit when others suffer.

Live Simply

As many of you know, I have been involved in the monastic life for a very long time. Simplicity in dress and belongings are key elements among all monastic organizations. When we choose simplicity, we create freedom for mission. In our call to mission from Matthew today, Jesus tells the disciples to take no extra money, bag, or clothing. Francis treated voluntary simplicity as trust: receiving enough, sharing generously, and refusing to let possessions determine identity or purpose.

I am not asking you to do what I did when I was seventeen and first read this – threw away all my rock and roll tapes and CDs. Instead, I challenge you as we go into our consumer heavy season to examine what we own, what we consume, and what consumes us. I challenge you to choose enough over excess and generosity over accumulation. Let simpler habits make room for prayer, neighbor, and service. Finally, measure abundance by gratitude, relationships, and usefulness to God’s mission.

Care for Creation

Last week, we looked at the sacred presence of all creation. Here, I challenged you to look through the lens of seeing God’s presence in all of creation. Creation is our neighbor, not our property alone. Francis’s language of kinship—brother sun, sister moon, and fellow creatures—echoes the biblical truth that all creation belongs to God. Caring for the earth is therefore an act of gratitude, justice, and love for present and future neighbors.

In my Benedictine community here in Erie, our sisters echo Francis’ call to care for all of creation. We are called to reduce waste and unnecessary consumption. We are called to protect water, soil, air, and living creatures through daily choices and shared action.

Last week, I talked about how environmental harm falls most heavily on vulnerable communities. A small farming community like Miller’s Station may not always recognize that harm, but consider how abundant farming once was across this region. Large-scale agricultural practices that damage the wider environment have also stripped away the livelihoods of many small farms we once knew. Now we are hearing more about data centers moving into small, often impoverished communities that have few financial resources to challenge their well-funded lawyers. Strapped for cash, politicians sell these communities a bill of goods, only to leave them worse off than before. We have seen this pattern before: other industries have also preyed on rural America, taking what they need and leaving communities to bear the cost.

Finally, when we go into the natural world, it is a time of wonder, we must receive the natural world with wonder, restraint, and responsibility.

Sent to Make God’s Reign Visible

I want to close this message by considering how we are to be sent. Christ still sends disciples to proclaim good news with their lives. This week, I challenge you to make one peace, release one unnecessary possession or habit, and take one concrete step to protect creation. We do not need to carry everything; we need to carry the peace of Christ. Amen.