Perfect Peace: Sermon for the Funeral of Ronnie Muller

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“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

Elaine, Randy, Rick, Shari, and other family and friends of Ronnie:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Perhaps you’re sensing a theme. Yes, it is peace. When we finish this service today, I would like you to take with you peace, the perfect peace of God.

The hymn that we just sang, “When Peace Like a River,” counsels contentment at all times, even in the face of trials, suffering, and death! The hymn explains why: Jesus has borne the soul’s sin on the cross and will return to be with His own.

The first stanza reminds the soul that God has taught it to say, “It is well” in all circumstances, using an image from Isaiah’s description of the Messiah’s blessing of Zion (Isaiah 66:12), with peace overflowing “like a river.” Shalom, translated as “peace” here, is more than just a lack of conflict; it is health, prosperity, and harmony among family, friends, neighbors, and God. When “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) fills our hearts and minds, everything is right with the world. In such times, it is easy to say, “It is well with my soul.”

In the face of a “messenger of Satan” (2 Corinthians 12:7) and other trials that beat us down (stanza 2), we have a “blest assurance” that can comfort us, for Christ saw our lost and helpless condition, and He shed His blood to save us. The third stanza explores this glorious thought: Jesus lives, so the souls of His people live forever. We no longer bear our sins because those sins were all nailed to the cross. So, we praise the Lord for God’s incredible grace.

The hymn closes with a prayer, echoing the cry of the Spirit and the Bride (Revelation 22:17), who call the Lord to hasten the day when we will no longer have to walk by faith because we will see our Redeemer face to face (Job 19:25; 2 Corinthians 5:7). This is the day when we will fully have perfect peace.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

 Before we study this verse, we look at the context because no verse stands alone. This verse is part of a group of verses that form a "song," the prophet Isaiah says the people of God will learn to sing in the future. “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah…” (Isaiah 26:1a).

Isaiah preaches to the people of God, for whom “that day” has not yet come. As Isaiah preaches, the people are enduring hardship and slavery under a foreign power. The Babylonians would destroy the holy city of Jerusalem along with the Temple, and then its people would be carried off to Babylon.

The prophet makes it clear that this will happen because God’s people, like sheep, have gone astray from their Shepherd. They have turned to other gods and have done things their own way.

But God will never give up on His people. He will keep reaching out to them. He will never leave or forsake them but will keep sending preachers to call them "to repent and put their trust in Him.”

 One day, a remnant of His people will return. “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: ‘We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You’” (Isaiah 26:1-3). What a reversal!

 For those who trust in the Lord, there is never a reason to worry or fear, for God redeems His people. God’s forgiveness and restoration remove the guilt of those who have spurned His love. For those who trust in the Lord, there is deliverance from slavery to an evil lord into a new life of grateful service under the God who is love.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

The word for “peace” in Hebrew is “shalom,” which entails wholeness, security, flourishing, and well-being, not only the absence of war. Shalom, or “perfect peace,” is that inner peace that is confident and at rest no matter what is happening outside, just because it knows everything will turn out fine. Everything is going to be okay because God is with me, and God is in control.

I love the poetry of the Hebrew here. There’s no word for “perfect” in the Hebrew text. In the Hebrew, it’s “You will keep Him in shalom, shalom.” By repeating the word twice, the Hebrew essentially says, “This is a deep peace, unlike any other peace that this world has to give.” A perfect peace as only God Himself is perfect. “Shalom, shalom.”

To be “kept” by God is to be “safeguarded” by the One who is strong enough to “protect” you and “deliver” you from all evil. He is Almighty. There is great “peace” in knowing that you are being “kept” by One who is strong enough to keep you from all danger, even the devil and hell. We close many services with this benediction: “The Lord bless you and keep you…” We have a wonderful gift of “peace” when we know we are being “kept” by God.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). What a wonderful theme verse for one’s life.

And yet, this verse does not describe Ronnie perfectly. In his 86 years, Ronnie never actually attained that “perfect peace” that God promises to him “whose mind is perfectly stayed on you, who perfectly trusts in you.” His mind was never perfectly focused on God. He had doubts and fears and worried about things, just as we all do because we are mortal, and sin plagues all mortals. His "trust in God” wavered occasionally, as it does for us all.

But there is One whom this verse does describe “perfectly.” “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). Isn’t this the perfect description of Jesus Christ?

Even as Christ was taken into captivity by the High Priest of Israel and the Governor of Judea, even as He suffered the punishment that was ours to suffer, unjustly accused of crimes He didn't commit, brutally beaten and nailed to a cross, even as Christ hung suspended above the world that He created, His mind perfectly “stayed” on God the Father, in perfect trust in God, God the Father kept His beloved Son in “perfect peace.”

By raising Him from the dead on the third day, God declared for all the world to hear, “Behold the prince of peace.” “Listen to Him.” “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you,” Jesus declared. “Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). “Peace be with you.”

St. Paul writes to the Church declaring, “For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19–20). “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

I don’t know about you, but I find it relieving that I don’t have to persuade you that Ronnie Muller was good enough or faithful enough to attain this “perfect peace” that only God can give. How refreshing to be able to say through faith in the One who is good, who is perfect, Jesus Christ our Lord, all that is His becomes ours, even as all our sins became His.

A lifelong member of Trinity, Ronnie publicly confessed the faith given him as an infant in Holy Baptism in the Rite of Confirmation on May 15, 1952. His confirmation verse was Revelation 2:10: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” What a tremendous promise!

Ronnie lived out his faith in his various vocations: as a farmer caring for the land that God had given him and Elaine; as a husband, married to the love of his life, Elaine, for more than sixty-four years; as a father of Randy, Rick, and Shari; grandfather to Stephanie, Jessamy, Greg, Daniel, Mitchell, Amanda, Allison, and Abby. He was a family man who loved spending time with his wife and family, a role model who passed on his values and priorities to those who followed him, as I witnessed as they gathered in his room for his birthday last Friday.

Ronnie’s life of faith is over. Faith based on what is not seen has run its course and reached its goal. What was “not seen” is now seen. What was mixed with doubt and fear and worry is now perfected peace. What was mixed with sin, suffering, and struggle is now perfect peace for the sake of Jesus Christ.

By the grace of almighty God, through the love of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Ronnie knows in full what he had only known in part. In the presence of our Lord, he knows that perfect peace that the Lord, his God, kept for him all along. May God grant the same to us all!

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.