The First Transplant

In 1954, Richard Herrick was dying of chronic kidney failure at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. No existing treatment could save him. Then Dr. Joseph Murray proposed something never successfully accomplished — transplanting a healthy kidney from Richard's identical twin brother, Ronald, into Richard's failing body.

There were no case studies to review, no long-term survival data to cite. The medical establishment was deeply skeptical. But Richard, facing certain death, made a choice. He trusted. Ronald offered his kidney freely, and on December 23, 1954, Dr. Murray performed the five-and-a-half-hour surgery.

It worked. Richard lived eight more years, married his recovery nurse, and had two children.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Richard Herrick could not see inside his own body to confirm the transplanted kidney would function. He could not guarantee the outcome. But he placed his life in the hands of someone who offered what he could never provide for himself.

This is the shape of saving faith. We come to God not with proof in hand but with empty hands extended. We cannot heal our own souls any more than Richard could grow himself a new kidney. But Someone has offered what we desperately need — freely, at great cost to Himself. Faith is simply saying yes to the gift.