Who is my Neighbor?

“Who is my neighbor?” A lawyer asked Jesus, to test him.
So Jesus told him a story to answer his question:
Lonely the way…
Lonely the traveler one day…
Robbers attacked him and left him.

First down the road came a priest who just chose to ignore him.
Next came a Levite who wouldn’t do anything for him.
Then one despised,
Hated in everyone’s eyes,
Knelt down to heal and restore him.

Tending the wounds of the man, the Samaritan labored.
He was the one with compassion, the one in God’s favor.
Not by a creed
But by responding to need,
He proved to be the good neighbor.

Disaster response hymn inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan, by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette 
Tune: LOBE DEN HERREN 14.14.4.7.8 ("Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty" PH #482) 
Tune: Straisund Ernewerten Gesangbuch, 1665. Harm. The Chorale 
Luke 10:25-37 
Book for England, 1863 Text: © 2007 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is a co-pastor of the Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and author of Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today’s Worship (Geneva Press, 2000).