“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:1-4
First, the Greek doesn’t say “righteousness,” but “alms,” a donation to the poor. Also, the Greek word translated as “reward” is more literally translated as “wages,” compensation you earn. So, according to Jesus, if you make donations to the poor, you earn compensation from your Father. That sounds transactional, an exchange of something of value for another thing of value.
I find it interesting that Jesus teaches that our relationship with the Father is tit-for-tat. If you give alms in secret, then the Father will reward you. Jesus teaches cause and effect: Action on Earth results in consequences in the heavens.
Also included with this teaching is the idea of not putting out a press release when you make a donation. If you do, you participate in the worldly economy and get your full recompense right here on Earth. You haven’t earned any credit or benefit with your Father in the heavens. Earning honor and praise from humans has no value in the heavens.
So, it’s a tradeoff: You can benefit from your reputation with people on Earth, or – if you keep your do-gooding secret – you benefit with the Father in the heavens.
Jesus teaches his followers to build up credit with their Father in the heavens. If they do that, they may miss out on benefits they might get on Earth … but that’s not the teaching. Even if they give in secret, while the Father rewards them in the heavens, they may benefit on Earth. But the idea is that, they should have a single-minded focus on the Father, and no regard for honors from the world.
Jesus is pretty harsh about those seeking worldly benefits, calling them hypocrites. They look like holy people, but their hearts are corrupt. So, he is really discouraging his followers from seeking after or even hoping for honor for doing good. They are to do good (period).
Apparently, his followers are to do good solely because they earn rewards in the heavens. Tit-for-tat.
Yet, in modern thinking, we do good without expecting rewards – either on Earth or in the heavens, but to do good because we are good. We love our enemies and we love the poverty-stricken because we are practicing to be children of God.