It is fitting that the Sunday before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday we read the “thanksgiving” portion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Paul’s letters usually followed a traditional design: the formal greeting portion was followed by a section focused on giving thanks and offering prayer. Paul’s “thanksgiving” here is not just a thankfulness for the faithfulness and love for Christ demonstrated by the Ephesian Christians. It is also a profound expression of thanks for the greatest gift ever made possible, the gift of Jesus the Christ. The theme of thanksgiving is so prevalent throughout this first portion of Ephesians that some commentaries suggest all of 1:15-3:21 should be understood as Paul’s thanksgiving section in this letter.

But first Paul’s thankfulness is expressed for the Ephes…