Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Notice in this Gospel that Jesus does not ask the disciples for anything except what they have. Jesus did not scold any of his followers because they did not have more than those five loaves and two fish. Jesus simply took what they had and made it useful for five thousand people.
God does not call us to use things we do not have. God asks that we offer what we do have and let God do the rest. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people cannot offer ourselves as heterosexuals, we were not made that way. A transgendered individual cannot offer himself or herself as someone happy with the gender that they were born, they were not made that way. Sexual orientation and gender identity/expression is a gift given to the individual(s) to be given back to God exactly as it was given, not as something it was never meant to be.
Ex-gay ministries such as Courage that was started by Cardinal Cook in the late 70's and early 80's, Exodus International, JONAH and so many others work to change the sexual behavior of LGBT people by getting them to suppress the feelings that make them lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered. The consequences of such suppression leads to feelings of guilt, shame, fear, loneliness and total abandonment. These are not the emotions that God blessed LGBT people with, so as to offer back to God, simply because their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is some kind of disorder.
God has blessed LGBT individuals with an outstanding ability to love other people just as we are created to love others. We have opportunities to love and serve others in wonderful and unique ways. Just as all Jesus wanted was those five loaves and two fish that the disciples had to help feed the five thousand, so all that God asks of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people is to offer who we are, as we are for the purpose of loving other people in sincerity, holiness and freedom. All God asks is that we serve others as we are, not as others would like us to be. If we offer ourselves as we are, and what we have, God will take what we offer and work God's holy will in and through our lives.
O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and earth: Put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things, and give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Collect Proper 4, Book of Common Prayer, Page 229).
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