Junior Taskmaster: A reminder not to rush

As Junior Taskmaster continues on Channel 4, Kathryn Barwise gives us an objective for Advent.

I am an avid watcher of Taskmaster. I watch it as a way to switch off my brain and enjoy some comedy and fun. Junior Taskmaster is currently airing on Channel 4 on Fridays at 8pm and I am happy to confess I positively love it!

In every episode, five young contestants have to complete tasks that they have to read out loud in front of the Taskmaster’s assistant. The reading of the task normally ends with, ‘Your time starts now!’, followed by a frenzy of activity.

The children hurtle towards the objective of each task full-speed, guns blazing, to make the most effective use of their time. As the season of Advent starts this weekend, it’s incredibly tempting for us to go guns blazing into our objective, eager to complete the task. Certainly both children and adults do this. But what is the task? For what does our ‘time start now’?

The Bible tells us what will happen at the ‘end’ of Advent: ‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11 English Standard Version). What an impressive way to introduce Jesus!

In the first episode of Junior Taskmaster, the children had a task to hit a target in the most impressive way: one of the kids created a scene in which the Taskmaster’s handy assistant, Mike Wozniak, had to ‘hit’ their finger using an umbrella. It was an incredibly imaginative and entirely unique take on the task.

However, when this task was being read out, I was on my usual cup-of-tea-ad- break run and so returned to the living room with no context to see Mike stabbing a target with an umbrella and a young girl going, ‘Ahhh!’ 

Needless to say, I was entirely baffled and had no idea what was going on. Sometimes in life, you might feel like you’ve missed the singular read-out of the task and return quite baffled at the stage everyone else seems to be at. Surely someone gave an instruction while you were gone, you think, but you just can’t work out what it was.

Just so, in the season of Advent, sometimes it can seem like everyone has started before you. ‘Their tree’s already up!’ ‘Their carol service is next week, I haven’t even planned ours yet!’ ‘I’ve not got my presents yet – I’m running out of time!’ Cue the frenzy of activity to complete our objective – which is...?

We’d probably all immediately think ‘to prepare for the coming Messiah’. But how should we do that? A frenzy of activity? A really imaginative Nativity scene that no one can guess the purpose of?

‘My heart praises the Lord; my soul is glad because of God my Saviour’ (Luke 1:46 and 47 Good News Bible). Mary waited and praised God with joy, for he told her what would happen. 

We already know what will happen – a Saviour is born this day – so we should praise God all the more, adults and children, as we prepare. Our task? To rest in God’s presence, waiting for the coming Messiah. Go on! Your time starts now!

Reflect and respond

• How do I stop the ‘time starts now’ frenzy of activity at the start of Advent?
• How can I prepare a way for God this Advent?
• Do I have time to simply wait and praise his name?